VE Roof mounted antenna, a cautionary tale...

[Supe]

Earlier this week I had a bad start to the day, and had a whole lot on my mind when getting into the car and heading off to work.

What I didn't realise as I warmed the Calais up, was that I had pressed the garage remote control twice. The roller door almost made it all the way open when I for some unknown reason pressed it again briefly, which had the affect of pausing it at about 70% open.

Anyone see where this is going.....

Into reverse gear I go, I can see daylight behind me so I put the foot down and off I go... BANG CRASH, Grind... F***.......

I had driven my poor beast right into the partially opened roller door and it snagged the base of my roof mounted antenna, not the antenna itself, but the actual mounting in the roof. Moments later I just stood there swearing and feeling like an absolute tool, looking at the the hole in my roof, the ripples in the steel and the black marks where the antenna did a 90 degree flip under the garage door...

So off I go to my local dealer, and as any regulars may know, my local dealer has not always been as helpful as I think they could have been.. But they were bloody awesome this time. Without notice, or without a booking, in my Calais went to be looked at, parts ordered and the paintless dent removal guy booked.

Two days later, car fixed, fixed very well fixed too, virtually no signs of the carnage I had caused on the roof two days prior. The local dealer was just 10 out of 10 this time, the guy there took the time to oversee the whole repair, the subcontractor for the dent removal and offered to drive me to and from work. Full points to my local dealer for this one.

Here's the sting in the tail... Anyone wonder how much a stupid little mistake like this costs to fix... $588.00 Ouch! And that's with a discount.

 

[vicarious]

good to here its fixed, i remember reading in the car manual that its says to unscrew the antenna before running car through the automatic car washes because it will crease/damage the panel work near the antenna. But i would never take my pride and joy into one of those washers anyway.

 

[Holdfast]

Crikey!

Airstrike Plus

 

[Supe]

good to here its fixed, i remember reading in the car manual that its says to unscrew the antenna before running car through the automatic car washes because it will crease/damage the panel work near the antenna. But i would never take my pride and joy into one of those washers anyway.

Yeah I read that too, never tried it before though as like you, I would never put my baby through a car wash ...

In fact, I felt so bad about the whole ordeal, I washed and polished it today.

 

[Supe]

Two great bits of onfo there:thumbsup: I didn't know you could unscrew the antenna:thumbsup:


Supe, I did the same damn thing except with my boat.:bang: To get it in and out of the garage I have to disassemble the light assembly:whistling but guess who forgot:yeah:
A vice and lump hammer fixed mine but crikey that's a pretty expensive mistake mate:wax: Sorry to hear the bad news:bang:

Oh no... Glad to see it's not only me who has done this sort of thing...

You know, it was funny, the guy at Holden was so polite, he explained it to the mechanic as a little mishap, I think he was being nice.

I was thinking of mounting a large mirror on the shed wall in front of my car so I could see backwards over my roof from inside the car, this might work for you too so you can see the lights on your boat trailer and still have time to stop... :thumbsup:

Good news out of the whole thing is that they repaired it real nice, and I washed and polished it today to try and make amends.. It's sparkling and shining in my shed right now and unless you know exactly what to look for, it basically back to new...

 

[CSP]

$588??? HOLY ****!!! You were ripped off mate.

 

[Supe]

$588??? HOLY ****!!! You were ripped off mate.

No, it breaks down on the bill ok.

They had to totally remove the roof lining to get access to the mounting area which had been bent, this is fiddly and takes a while to take out, let alone get back in. Apparently it needs to be totally removed and not just dropped down in the rear so it wont crease. This also includes removing the plastic trims on all pillars, plus the roof mounted things, lights etc.

Then they had the paintless dent removal guy come in and do his bit, that was $110 just there, antenna mount base $92, antenna $30 approx, hours of labour and some clips and bits and pieces and it gets there pretty quickly.

If you saw the damage you'd know what I mean, the thing was really bent out of shape and had actually damaged the roof of the car. Thank god it wasn't raining otherwise the rain would have gone straight in the hole and into the roof lining.

God when I first got out of the car and saw what I had done I nearly died. Couldn't believe it. Now I'm paranoid when backing out of the shed..

 

[JanetSSV]

Hey know what you's mean about pain with damage to our baby's. Our's has a drag scratch down the rear bumper from the damn garage door. Someone didn't park close enough to the wall b4 hitting the remote button, bugger. Glad we haven't broke an aerial yet!

 

[Supe]

Hey know what you's mean about pain with damage to our baby's. Our's has a drag scratch down the rear bumper from the damn garage door. Someone didn't park close enough to the wall b4 hitting the remote button, bugger. Glad we haven't broke an aerial yet!

I feel your pain mate!! It's horrible when you realise you've stuffed up and have gone past the point of no return, and all you can do is get out of the car and be confronted with the result..

Something I did notice, even when the aerial was broken and even the mount was all mangled, I still got perfect FM reception.

 

[CSP]

I back into my garage. Driving straight out is much better