Just tell me it will all be okay - ND2 Miata as a daily driver

Waiting on the insurance process has given me time to contemplate my next car. I'm honestly kinda lost. It's only been a week so I'm still hesitant at the thought of doing more track HPDE stuff. I was certainly having fun...but in hindsight it feels pointless with the risk so high, which I am too aware of now. I would feel like a big idiot if I got permanently injured and wasn't even racing. So that makes a replacement ND not as appealing if I'm not going to use it properly. And while I like driving, my real passion may actually be building. Track stuff takes time away from building projects, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. My wife is way too cool and supportive of whatever path I choose, though she does worry for my health. Overall, just feeling unsure about what I'm doing with cars, and why I do it. It's kind of a bummer. 

In reply to maschinenbau :

After that teenager T-boned me in my 64 El Camino it took a while for me to find my groove again in so far as cars go. I really had to assess whether I wanted to build or drive or collect or just what I wanted to do. I sold my daily driver Miata, and stopped using collector cars as dailies as well. I upped my safety game dramatically for a track car, and realized that my true passion is the fabrication side of car building. I really love Creative Solutions to problems whether that's on restoration or race car. Making something that doesn't exist and making it pretty just gets my jollies off. Going to an hpde or an autocross is fantastic as well for both social and stress purposes but not my main car enjoyment anymore. Hopefully that rambling borderline incoherent wall of text it helps sort out some things in your head

I totally get it. Not a bad line of questioning to think through.

If I remember correctly, you have a few cars and therefore you probably don't have to pick a replacement right away .... ;)

You don't need to take a Miata on track to "use it properly". The vast majority of your driving time is very much not on the track. So if you enjoyed the ND for that, then another ND would still work. But if you were making compromises in order to get the track abilities, it's a good time to consider something else.

I can totally see how an incident like this would throw you off your game for a while. 

maschinenbau said:

I was certainly having fun...but in hindsight it feels pointless with the risk so high, which I am too aware of now. I would feel like a big idiot if I got permanently injured and wasn't even racing.

I certainly understand what you're feeling, but I have a slightly different perspective on this. You've experienced pretty close to the worst case scenario; a wreck at a high speed track. The only thing you've really lost is your insurance deductible; that's not that bad. Having fun is the point; don't let the "racers" tell you that not "racing" is pointless. 

Sure, it's possible to get badly injured at a track day. But this is very rare. I feel like a track day is less risky than street driving (where somebody texting in their 8,000lb SUV can run a red light and T-bone you or shove you off the road into an unprotected tree). Tracks are designed to be as safe as possible in case of an accident. I also feel track driving is less risky than common hobbies like skiing. 

First of all... bummer that you crashed the blue ND.  It was a beautiful car.  Every driver that's ever come down the Turn 12 hill at Road Atlanta has feared doing exactly what you did, it's a high stakes track with real consequences for mistakes.  I think it's totally rational that you're questioning your commitment to track days at this point; on-track incidents often have that effect.  Track days are a hobby done purely for enjoyment and dealing with the stuff you're dealing with is not enjoyable.  Take time away to reassess your priorities and find your joy. 

If you decide to come back to track days, you've learned an important lesson- taking a nice daily driver on the track can have real consequences.  There are plenty of cheap and crappy track cars out there that are even more fun and much more safe, it just takes a little planning.  If I were you (and I'm not) I'd be looking for a daily that had some towing capabilities to enable project car activities.

In reply to ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) :

This doctor recommends a tow dolly with surge brakes and a slightly beat up 1.6 spec miata :) 

Then any DD you have is probably good enough to tow it and I would expect to pay around 6k all in if you're careful and observant. 

Totally understand where you're coming from.  At least you had track insurance, most DE participants don't.  Getting a cheap car just for the track is a good idea if you want to continue with the hobby, that way it can have all the safety equipment, you don't rely on it to get to work and aren't worried about ruining a nice car...

While waiting on the insurance check, which is still moving along nicely, I picked up a temporary beater DD and possible Gambler 500 rig. If you squint, it's basically the same thing...blue, hardtop convertible, 4 cyl, manual, 2400 lbs give or take...

I'll post pictures of the wreckage after the insurance thing is cleared up. It's going well and I'm satisfied with the process so far. Still not sure what's next, but this goofy 'Zuki will be a fun adventure into the world of off-roading, which I'm largely unfamiliar with.

I think the outside mirrors on these are repurposed NA6 Miata mirrors...so, sports car parts!

Wow, an X90!

...that is an X90 right? I've only ever seen them in magazine articles.  Aren't they just a rebodied Sidekick?  (Not a bad thing to be)

If you read the first post in this thread, you probably would not have guessed 75% of the cars that showed up. You MIGHT have guessed 50% of them, but not 100%.

I bet if you put snow tires on that it will absolutely embarrass many other rigs out in the woods.

With the settlement now safely settled, I am more comfortable sharing some details about the whole process. I was insured with a HPDE policy from Lockton Affinity. For my car, a 3 year old Miata, it cost about $200 for typical HPDE track day. Tough pill to swallow combined with a $300+ track fee, but in this case it paid off. It's an "agreed value" policy like Hagerty, who also offer similar coverage I have used before, so I always just type in the highest number from KBB. I think they do have some recourse to argue the settlement amount if it's unrealistically high, but I guess they thought my value was fair. 

The crash happened at turn 4 of Road Atlanta, which is a left handed hill-cresting turn right before the "Esses". Last few minutes of the last session, and I was mostly through the turn and it just stepped out on me into a slide. Not sure if I was too fast through that turn or tires gave up, I don't know, but I couldn't react in time and before I knew it, we were 4-wheel drifting through the grass, slowly spinning to almost 180, hitting the concrete wall almost dead-on sideways. Maybe 50 mph or so. We bounced off the wall and continued sliding until the car came to rest back on the track. I say "we" because fellow forum member rustomatic was riding along shotgun! He had already crashed his crazy Falcon-Vette custom that morning. We got checked over by the track paramedics and luckily no serious injuries, though he took the brunt of the impact and his side airbag went off, leaving him a nice belly rash. My helmet hit something very hard and I had quite a headache so my wife took me to the ER that evening just to make sure. They couldn't find any medical reason for my wife being smarter than me, only the obvious contextual ones e.g. this story. I took Monday off to rest my body, which mostly just shoulder/neck muscle pain. 

On Tuesday I informed Lockton of my claim. The claim was handled start to finish by the same adjuster from Hanover Insurance who I guess underwrites the policy. They were extremely responsive and easy to work with. By Wednesday they had already sent an estimator to the track and deemed it a total loss, and let me know that the settlement amount would be, minus deductible (10%) and loan pay-off. They towed it away by Friday. The following Monday they mailed a check to pay off my loan. The lienholder then mailed me the title, which was the longest wait of the whole process. I then had to mail the title to insurance, then they mailed me a check. I never asked about buying it back, so I don't know anything about that. Everything went very smoothly and painlessly. I literally cannot think of a way for it to have gone better. Lockton (Hanover) did an amazing job of making the best of a crappy situation, so I highly recommend you spend money with them.

If you ever decide to track something you can't afford to throw away, take my advice: BUY THE INSURANCE! If you can't afford to ball your car up and walk away, or you can't afford a track fee + insurance premium, then you can't afford to track that car. Period. This wasn't my first track day. This wasn't some hard-to-drive insane custom racecar, it was a stock Miata. Anything can happen. I still don't even know what happened. Even if you only plan to take it easy, someone else can hit you, or your tire can blow out, or anything...and you will be on the hook. I am so glad I was not on the hook.

And finally, pictures. Not so bad, right?

The engine still ran, but some reason it wouldn't move in gear... Look how the knuckle sheared off at the ball joints, which are still attached to the A-arms. RIP those Advanti Storms. The rear wheel also looks very mis-aligned. 

I was able to get the hard top to almost close, but it wouldn't latch. Side window was now a billion pieces inside the door.

I feel like an enormous idiot for totaling the nicest car I've ever owned, but thanks to insurance at least I'm not a broke idiot.

RIP Miata :(

Ugh.  Hurts to look at.

She took the hit well, at least.

Still pondering where you want to go with the car hobby?

Track insurance doesn't seem cheap... until you need to use it.

Glad you both came out OK.  

Glad you're all ok! If somebody had shown me those pics, I would've guessed a much slower speed at the time of impact. Kudos to modern safety structures!

If you are still thinking about an enthusiast car that isn't a Miata, go drive a 2nd gen BRZ/GR86. 

But what happened to you and the other possibilities (tire blowing out, being hit by someone else, etc) is precisely why I don't want to take my '23 BRZ to a track day. I think it would be an absolute blast on track. But I've got probably $12k into it over the purchase price and at the moment I couldn't really afford a new engine if it lunched itself. 

So happy you and Rustomatic walked away pretty much unscathed. And kudos for the prudent financial decision!

And in the end, it was all okay. 

Mostly. But I'm glad the car took care of you and the insurance company took care of the car.

Good to hear the insurance didn't mess with you.

Now I can say this:  Those seats sucked.  I was thinking about how much they sucked before we crashed.  And yes, that E36 M3 broke ribs.  Don't mess with a combination of crap seat and side air bag.

Also, Travis's point about being willing to total your car when doing (high-consequence) track stuff is absolutely money.  This is why track car, not costly daily driver . . .

$200 for track day insurance isn't bad at all, I was expecting it would've been closer to a 4-digit investment. It definitely paid off that time.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

The 10% deductible would sting a little. 

Keith Tanner said:

In reply to GameboyRMH :

The 10% deductible would sting a little. 

Not as much as a 100% deductible.

I didn't realize track insurance was so cheap.  Do the rates differ based on things like having a competition license?

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

In my experience, the cost of the insurance is directly related to the stated value.  There may be modifiers for prior claims, but they never asked about competition licenses when I was purchasing a few years back.