So I was picking her up after work on a busy downtown city-center street this past Friday about 5PM. After scurrying around to get in the driver seat (after I opened the door for her of course ) .. the upstream traffic light was about to to turn green... Once seated and as I looked with incredulity at the drivers side rear-view mirror, a HUGE mail truck fills the view and WHAM! WHACK! WTF!

That mail truck cargo bay wall was ZOOMING by, mere inches from me and my brain bucket! The mirror I gazed at seconds before is folded forward and SMOKING! We were rocked off what seemed like BOTH driver side wheels for a moment! The magnitude of the impact was surprising. A few inches closer and it could have been, well.. lets not even go there.

So we take off in pursuit of the US Mail Courier Driver and eventually, he pulls over.. the rest is insurance hooey.

Minutes after the assident and on the way up a pot-holed dirt road to my shop to get that mirror reflector properly tacked back on, guess what?

THE HOOD FLIES UP AND CRUNCHES THE AIR INTAKE COWLING, BENDS BOTH WIPER ARMS, WASTES THE HOOD HINGES AND DENTS THE WILBUR OUT OF THE HOODS EVER LOVIN' PREVIOUS PERFECTION!

?#*&$%!

So I cobble up a fix from the hinges off her 'old' 1997 Disco, free-***** the wiper arms from the shattered cowling and tie-wrap the mirror reflector back in place on what appears to be a fully functional mirror assembly, sans scuffing and melting..

Take it back to her, head hung low...

Then I get a call from her that it won't start. Then it did start. Then the traction control light, ABS light and downhill descent lights go on for the first time ever. I know, we are blessed and the truck was built on a Wednesday..then she says the wind noise is very audible (it really is now).

I pulled the ABS fuse after the pedal oscillated on me and made a stop weird at best. GEEZ! Now she really has a light show on in the instrument cluster. Almost a decade of nothing but normal and now..this.

Then the alarm sounds for no good reason. Then the doors unlock and lock auto-magically. Then the rear view window defroster called it quits by that Sunday, less than 48 hours after getting whacked postal. Then the rear defroster starts working again yesterday morning.

What's next? Will it start blowing milk out itz left fog lamps nostril?

This is the 3rd Rover we have owned. After the first one (1996 RR) I absolutely refuse to take anything besides a Wal-Mart toy truck to our local Rover dealer ever again. We know excellent dealers and independent Rover shops abound elsewhere, just not in this region.

I would sure like to hear any suggestions and ideas you Rover scholars and Gentle-People have to offer on this posting and how to get started to debug our (her?) truck. Snow is here in a few days... this Rover Disco II is her winter safety snuggle thingy..

.. And yes, the hood is lashed down with Bowline Figure -Eights, hangman knots and parachute cord until those recessed hood hold downs arrive.

 

I got nothing....

 

pictures please.

you try resetting the Alarm system? the inertia switch?

 

Thank you for the suggestion, HillTopperSX.

Not sure how to reset the alarm, but I will find out in short order. I did not reset the inertia switch, as the truck started (ie; apparently the fuel pump was not disabled) after impact.

 

unlock and lock the doors 3 times using the key fob.

 

Neither did I.

 

So she hears back from the insurance appraiser earlier this afternoon:

" Hi hon. Just got off the phone with the appraiser. He seems skeptical about subsequent damage, i.e., inadvertent hood release, and electrical issues, etc. Suggests we take it in to the Rover dealer to have it assessed. They or we can call him if the repair costs need to adjusted. No indication what he assessed the cost at….hmmm. "

Phantastic.

 

I feel like I walked in during a really exciting scene of a movie and I don't have a clue what is going on....No character development or back-story....

So the mail truck hit your passenger side mirror and nothing else right????............And now your hood came unlatched and you have the 3 amigos amongst other things??? I understand why the insurance appraiser might be a bit skeptical.

 

X2 I thought there was a page one or something... hahaha

I think we are going to need pics to understand the extent of the damage... Your hood shouldnt just fly open after getting your mirror knocked off....

 

thats why i asked for pictures. so i can figure out WTH is going on.