My van was involved in an accident a few weeks ago. My daughter was driving it when the van was T-Boned and she survived without a scratch! A city contracted wrecker showed up right away, I demanded that my van be placed in my driveway, not at an impound lot. So the wrecker placed my vehicle second, putting the Jeep on top of the flat bed.
- Mazda MPV Accident 05.jpg (185.67 KiB) Viewed 1439 times
The vehicle is really durable, even after the passenger doors were crushed, she still drives straight and true. I was at a dilemma on what to do with the van since she ran so good with many great memories over the years. I spent the next couple of weeks hanging on to her, even attempted jacking the bent door frame with a pipe and scissor and bottle jack. I used an abandoned store wall early in the morning to avoid an encounter with the police. No luck, the van would just lean to one side. I could have taken a torch and lopped off that center post and weld in a new one along with two replacement doors from the junkyard. Still would have set back around a grand for the parts. Besides the bottom beam under the doors was crushed which would be trick to repair, even though underneath was sound. I relented and removed personal items, CDs and cleaned up all the broken glass.
Since it was only a couple more weeks until Halloween, I decided to make it the display this year. The car Insurance company needed time to work out the details on which driver was at fault anyways. My van due to the age was considered a total loss since it was only worth just over two grand in the current market. I did the House of the Dead thing again. Set up a CRT TV with Dreamcast outside in the back of the vehicle. Lightgun shooting zombies while passing out candies to the little monsters. Normally it would be in the SUV, but this year was special for the VAN OF THE DEAD.
This picture was taken AFTER the terrible accident above. Even damaged, still looks good.
- Mazda MPV 1990.jpg (188.55 KiB) Viewed 1439 times
After Halloween came and went, I removed a couple of the Mazda emblems and the front license plate. These will be mounted on the Garage wall alongside some vintage metal signs. I gave her one last car wash, topped off all the fluids and WD40ed the motor for a nice shine. The vehicle has been in the family for a very long time, so it broke my heart this morning when the large Flatbed Wrecker arrived. This was bigger then the Wrecker that dragged my poor MPV into the driveway a couple of weeks ago. It was a huge Semi Truck Five Car Carrier for a direct transfer to a large receiving lot up in Northern LA. I was wiping off the windows from the morning rain when the transport arrived. Silly that I would wipe her down before getting hauled off. Started to choke up and exclaimed "Its only a Mini Van!" while trying to regain my composure. But oh the memories, the road trips to Oregon and the Redwoods, many good times since my kids were babies. I showed the driver the engine which still looks good; the type that normally would be in a two seater mid life crisis car. Fired the beautiful 18 valve V6 motor up, then positioned the van behind the wrecker gunning the motor and making the van jump forward. The Motor and Tranny were both overhauled in 2005 so I had stuck a laminated description of this right on the steering wheel. The repair history was placed in the glove box for proof which I pointed out to the driver.
- Mazda MPV 18 Valve 3.0 V6.jpg (249.65 KiB) Viewed 1439 times
The Wrecker driver started setting chains down to drag it up the Flat Bed after raising the floor up. He saw how attached I was to my van and drove her all the way up the lifted ramp in style, and not using the undignified chains. Yes, my van drove up that big aluminum hill with class. He assured me since the motor was sound, the van would not be crushed but sold as an auction for parts or maybe someone just might replace those two doors and center post. I have the address of that lot, may visit if I'm in the neighborhood anytime soon. I commented I was half tempted to drop the van off to a poor family at the border, but maybe this was better. I thanked my MPV for protecting my daughter. At least part of the van will live on; less then a year old tire set are on her for someone, a replacement taillight on another and maybe the motor and transmission in another Mazda. It is just a Mini Van but one does get attached due to the memories. She almost is alive, as one of the family.
References
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MPV
Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com/mazda/mpv/
Kelley Blue Book: http://www.kbb.com/mazda/mpv/
MPV Forum: http://www.mpvclub.com/
1996 MPV Review: http://www.wheels.theadvocate.com/revie ... a/mpv/1996
Chilton Name Meanings: http://community.cengage.com/Chilton/bl ... /does.aspx
The MPV is the only model in Mazda’s line which has an acronym that means something, in this case, Multi-Person Vehicle. Or was it Multi-Purpose Vehicle or Multi Passenger Vehicle?
