Update....

Well, I am sorry to say, that we most likely never know the source of the problem. Last night, my wife was on her way to pick me up from work, and someone rear ended her, smashing the whole rear bumper up into the tires. I was going to just pull the bumper off, but found that everything under the trunk was pushed forward. I also noticed the driver's door creaked when it was opened, so I am thinking there is even more damage to the car then just the bumper. I am guessing, but I will estimate the damages well above the $4000 range, and since the Blue Book average is $3000 I am peaty sure they will total it. So I guess I will never be able to tell you all what the problem was...

Rick

I hope this was not answered in a previous thread, but here it goes. > My wife was driving our 1997 Pontiac Grand Am, and she went into my > daughter's new school. When she came back out, the ABS light was on, and > the brake light was on. It has never came on before (except when you > first start the engine). It will not shift out of park. I checked the > Fuse in the Engine compartment, and it was good (both of them). Is there > any quick things I should check other then the obvious, maybe a reset > button somewhere? I don't see how this system would just come on and > boom, everything is locked to where we can't even get the car into gear. > Is there a bypass where I can at least get the car home, it is only about > a mile from our house (or maybe to a mechanic to have further work done on > it)? > > Thanks in advance. > > -- > Rick > Remove "2" to email back >

That is sad to hear. My very first car, a 1992 Grand Prix was wrote off in a similar accident, being smashed from behind. Myself (driving) and my passenger (sister) were both alright, and I hope your wife was not injured either. :) As for the damage, my GP at the time was 8 or so years old, but the damage was not too bad. The car was drivable, there was nothing touching the tires, but the rear bumper was a write off, and the trunk had (as you said your GA did) 'ripples' so to speak, in the metal, where as the repair estimate required the car to be put on a 'stretching machine. That in itself was going to cost the insurance company over $3000, and along with the rest of the damage, they just decided to give me $5400, as opposed to repairing it. Not bad for a car that was 8 years old, and had over 200,000 KM's on it. I hope you are as lucky. :-)