I just got hit

[Arethusa]

Pulled away in time, but the other guy still managed to take off my mirror and drive away. Anyone have any suggestions for where I can pick up a right side mirror for a 98 Altima?

 

[skalogre]

Crap! Sorry man, that stinks. Two things: 1. Junkyards. 2. Altima/Nissan forums. Edit: just found one forum, don't know anything about it though: http://www.altimas.net/ Both ways you can get a huge discount over OEM, even more over dealership prices. I have been doing that for my Celica, incredibly cost effective.

 

[VMan]

Is your car a common color?

If I were you I'd just go down to the boneyard and see what they got. I don't know how difficult it will be to install, but usually those guys will do it for a lot cheaper than the dealership.

 

[LabelKing]

Ebay.

 

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by VersaceMan

Is your car a common color?

If I were you I'd just go down to the boneyard and see what they got. I don't know how difficult it will be to install, but usually those guys will do it for a lot cheaper than the dealership.
It's black, but I think I may actually be able to get away with just replacing the mirror. I don't know if there's damage I haven't noticed, but far as I can tell right now, the actual mirror assembly's only badly scuffed and the motors still seem to work. skalogre: thanks for the link. I'll definitely give that a try.

 

[Connemara]

How do you like the Altima? I have a '98 Maxima, and it runs like a dream with 119K miles.

 

[Dakota rube]

car-part.com (a nationwide junk yard search engine). I've bought lots of stuff thusly.

 

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by Connemara

How do you like the Altima? I have a '98 Maxima, and it runs like a dream with 119K miles.
I'm about 122k (my first car; got it at 116k last year); aside from my now-missing mirror and a slightly leaky oil filter gasket, it's running strong. I drive pretty aggressively, so I guess I could say it's not my ideal car (I'd prefer something faster and lighter), but I do like it, and having a car that runs solidly matters more to me than speed. Could do with slightly better than 31-32mpg, though.

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

I drive pretty aggressively

Why is this not surprising?

Glad you're o.k.

 

[johnapril]

Practice driving non-aggressively. You are scaring a lot of people and changing the tone on the road. There are people who drive this way all over my city and it really affects people negatively. They are humans in there. Even the ones who drive poorly or who are driving aggressively are not worth ramping up your behavior.

 

[LabelKing]

If you drive aggressively then you should get a manual transmission car.

 

[Arethusa]

Originally Posted by GreyFlannelMan

Why is this not surprising?

Glad you're o.k.
Heh. TouchÃ

.

Originally Posted by johnapril

Practice driving non-aggressively. You are scaring a lot of people and changing the tone on the road. There are people who drive this way all over my city and it really affects people negatively. They are humans in there. Even the ones who drive poorly or who are driving aggressively are not worth ramping up your behavior.
Those humans in there should remember there are other humans in the ten car collumn behind them when they decide to do 30 on a 40 road that everyone else does 50 down. The "defensive" soccer mom with her cell phone, latte, and Lincoln Navigator doing 25 on every road possible and slowing down sporadically is not "safe." I'd much rather pass a kid who does 40 on tight roads who knows when to slow down, how to stay on his side of the road, and what his car can handle. I drive aggressively. That is not the same thing as recklessly.

Originally Posted by LabelKing

If you drive aggressively then you should get a manual transmission car.
Huh? My car is manual. I've never driven an automatic.

 

[LabelKing]

I thought a Nissan Altima was an automatic.

 

[johnapril]

Originally Posted by Arethusa

Those humans in there should remember there are other humans in the ten car collumn behind them when they decide to do 30 on a 40 road that everyone else does 50 down. The "defensive" soccer mom with her cell phone, latte, and Lincoln Navigator doing 25 on every road possible and slowing down sporadically is not "safe." I'd much rather pass a kid who does 40 on tight roads who knows when to slow down, how to stay on his side of the road, and what his car can handle.

I drive aggressively. That is not the same thing as recklessly.

In this paragraph you have effectively dehumanized others and yourself. If that's not reckless, friend, I'm not sure what else to say. You aren't the law of the road. You aren't there to decide who is right and wrong. You are sharing a public space to get from point a to b, and everyone else is trying to do the same. And it's no good if anyone gets hurt. Slow the **** down.

 

[johnapril]

Miami Tops Auto Club List for Rude Drivers

By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 16, 7:02 PM ET

Stressed Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that the city earned the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude driving.

Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists.

More than 2,000 adult drivers who regularly commute in 20 major metropolitan areas were asked to rate road rage and rude driving in telephone surveys between January and March. The survey conducted by Prince Market Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

Drivers owned up to some rude behavior themselves: Nearly all said they had talked on a cell phone while driving, and 64 percent acknowledged they occassionally drive too fast.

Young drivers and people with long commutes were found to be the most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver. The top reactions included honking the horn, cursing or making an obscene gesture.

No distinct differences were found between male and female drivers.

"Human behavior is so involved with crashes at all levels," said Elly Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "(Aggressive driving) is a pattern of behavior drivers exhibit over and over."

AutoVantage, based in Norwalk, Conn., hopes to use the survey to educate people about how to resist road rage. Among its tips are remaining calm and not making eye contact with an angry driver.