Well that's just GREAT

Post Reply New Topic

...not. [/sarcasm]

So yeah, today was great, got to see my GF for the first time in a while when she actually WASN'T sick, then got a call from a local employer on the way out the door of the psych's office. I'm hired! Got in the car, cranked up the radio, was driving to the pharmacy to drop off the prescriptions... and then reality hit me like a ton of bricks. Or more accurately, like a Dodge Ram 1500 that Dodge Ram'ed the driver side door of my mother's car as I was making a left turn onto Grand Avenue.

The good news is: I'm fine. I was wearing my seatbelt, and the truck was slowing because of a nearby construction area when it hit. It spun my back end around 90 degrees and bounced me around a bit, but I've gotten worse whiplash from bailing on my snowboard.

The bad news is: I'm fine, but the car is f****d. Ironically enough, the same circumstance that saved my life is what sealed the fate on "Betsy," the late 1998 Isuzu Rodeo that my mother had taken care of for the past 12 years, and that I had been driving off and on since only a year ago. When I was hit, the epicenter of the impact landed a solid blow on the framework between the front and rear doors. It kept the driver's seat from attempting to occupy the same physical space as the center console, but it also damaged the car's frame. Amazingly enough, it is still driveable, and I'm sure it would be repairable if one was willing to shell out enough money. However, assuming the suspension went undamaged, the cost of banging the frame back together, buying a front and rear replacement door and having them installed, and re-balancing the rear tire that got knocked out of alignment well exceeds the monetary value of the car.

The worst part is that I was at fault for the accident. Given the guys in the Dodge Ram were nice once the initial shock of the accident had subsided. When the guy first came up to the window, he seemed very confrontational, but after I asked if he and his passenger were ok his anger subsided somewhat, and he was able to help me in getting our vehicles off to the side and contacting the police. Still, doesn't change the fact that I failed to yield to right-of-way, and it won't erase the $110 citation (although it was $10 less because I was wearing a seatbelt, and I can get it removed from my license record by taking a defensive driving course online), or the $500 deductible from the insurance claim, or the massive spike in our family's monthly premium for our insurance policy (which is the one thing the DD course WON'T get rid of). I'm considering turning in my license voluntarily after taking the course and paying off my ticket, just because by doing so I would no longer be a licensed driver, which means mom and dad can take me off their policy and reduce their rates. Apparently State Farm REQUIRES that all licensed drivers in a single household be insured, regardless of car ownership or whether or not they drive at all. I think it's ret*d but there you go.

Anyways, my parents were pissed but not as much as I was expecting them to be, they said that they were expecting me to get into an accident eventually and it was only a matter of time. They were also mollified somewhat by my decision to take a majority of the financial repercussions upon myself - I told them I would handle the ticket and reimburse them for the deductible payment, as well as chip in for a new car for Mom. I'm also considering having a mechanic come and give me a repair quote on the Rodeo, it seems like it could be fixed even though it would be worthless afterwards, any repairs would well exceed the car's value in costs. They were wanting to salvage the engine and transmission, seeing as they are in exceptionally excellent condition for the car's mileage and lifetime. I honestly don't think they could get the full worth of those parts if they salvage them though, and even if they do it won't make much of a difference if they get a new car. That's why I'd like them to have it looked at, if it can be fixed I might be able to convince them to let me have it and use it for the rest of it's operational life if I can pay the repair costs.

Well... it's a good thing I got confirmation of my job just before this happened, otherwise things may have been a lot worse. My only real regret is that my plans for visiting my girlfriend in Casper for the summer are all but toast. Still, there is a Greyhound route there, and if I can pay off the fine and the deductible I might be able to save up and go visit her anyway. Besides, once she returns for the semester she'll have her own car as well, and she can drive me if we want to go do something together.

Dude, your day sucked. I'm sorry to hear that it did. You seem to have everything together about what to do, so I have no advice to give, not that I have any experience in actually paying tickets or paying for a car myself that I damaged, but I do have plenty of experience in driving without a license, and if you decide to turn in your license and go that route, holler at me

Seriously though, I'm sorry you had a bad day, and I'm sorry that it's all still gonna be there in the morning when you get up and you'll be dealing with it for some time, but you sound like you have your head on straight and aren't more upset than you should be about it. I'm glad to hear that you are optimistic about getting it taken care of and working at your new job. Being optimistic can make all the difference in the world in whether or not you actually do follow through, trust me on that one.

I hope you continue to remain calm about it, and see things in a good light, because even though it's a huge hassle and inconvenience right now, overall in the grand scheme of things, it's not important. It'll get fixed. Or replaced. You weren't hurt and nobody else was and that's whats important. And you also didn't lose it over the whole thing. That's important too.

Even though you had a little setback like this, it sounds like things are looking good for you. Sorry about the wreck but congrats on the job and the maturity. You sound like you handled it better than my son would have at your age. Kudos to you for being mature and to your parents for raising you to be that way.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

I am sorry for the rotten day you had, but HEY! You and the other people involved in the accident are OKAY!! ! That's reason to celebrate. Sure, you have to take a financial hit on this, but you are OKAY!! ! And you have a brand new job! So you will be able to pay off the bills you have incurred.

I recommend getting the car fixed and using it yourself for a while. New cars and good used ones are more expensive than getting this old one fixed, even if it costs more to fix than the book value of the car. Also new and good (newer) used cars have higher insurance premium costs. Granted, the premium is going up now for your family because of the accident, but once you pay off your bills and the car repair, I suggest you get your own car insurance, so you will be off your parent's policy. That should lower their premium some then.

I've been in a few minor accidents over the years, and two moderate accidents.--In one a lady came out of nowhere when I was pulling out of a parking lot. She wasn't there when I looked and then I started pulling out and BANG! Fortunately, no one was hurt, just shook up, but our car was banged up some. In the other moderate one, the car in front stopped suddenly to avoid hitting Momma, Poppa, and Baby Canadian Goosies. I managed to swing around the braking car, and get parallel to them, but when I straightened out I hit them on their side. The police saw all the geese that were hanging around in the area, so they understood the situation, and didn't give us a hard time. Fortunately, nobody was hurt--not even the goose family. They decided that it wasn't safe to cross the road just then so they went back onto the grass. Unfortunately, the other car had some damage to the left side. I only had a cracked headlight frame.

A year or two ago, my younger brother was driving my parent's Jeep Grand Cherokee when he met a deer--the hard way. Fortunately, he was okay, but the insurance company declared the Jeep totalled, even though it was still drivable. It has been fixed and my brother still drives it to work. My parents had to "buy" it back from the insurance company after they received the pay out from the company, because once a vehicle is declared totalled by the insurance company, and they pay out on it, then they technically "own" the wreck, even if it's not really a wreck. The repurchase price isn't that high when a vehicle has been declared totalled, though.

I am the third owner of a 1991 year old Jeep Cherokee. My sister bought it used, and gave it to me when she decided to trade up to a newer Jeep. It does have some rust issues, but is other wise in good condition. I intend to keep driving it until it is no longer usable. My younger brother is a former auto mechanic, and helps keep my car running good, so I am likely to have this Jeep for a long time This year he is going to work on the rust problem. Every year he picks something to work on, on my Jeep. He also maintains my parent's vehicles when they are up here for the warm months.

I don't mind driving an older vehicle. The insurance is a lot less on older cars. Also, I happen to like Jeep Cherokees. And, it has 4 wheel drive, which usually comes in handy in our northern winters. This past winter was a dud, though--not much snow. Even when the northeast had that big surprise storm over Halloween, and lots of people were without power, the deep snow just missed my area. I got lots of rain and some mixed precip from the storm, but no accumulation of snow.

Do look into getting the car fixed and see if your parents will let you have that as your first vehicle. It's a good idea to start with an old clunker as a first car, as long as it's not dangerous to drive. And again, I am so glad that no one was hurt!

Well, the bad thing about it was that my parents had stripped down our policy to the bare minimum required by law, which is liability for damage and medical for accident-related injury, in order to save a few bucks. The liability is going towards the other truck and since there were no injuries the medical isn't required. We dropped our damage coverage for our vehicle, so I doubt the insurance company would want to give us anything for it.

That said, I'm hoping to convince someone to at least take a look at it and give me the odds on whether or not it's fixable. It seems to me like the frame damage was the worst of it, and since it hit in the center the suspension is probably ok (the rear tire is very wobbly but I think that's due to the tire being out of alignment, not the axle). I'd need to get two new doors for the driver side front and rear seats, but I can probably find a few Rodeos or even a Honda Passport (which is the exact same car) at a salvage yard that I can rip the doors off of, then I can install those onto the car once the frame is fixed and have them painted.

Be glad you didn't do what I did.

When I was 17 years old I wanted to learn to drive. My mother tried teaching me in her car, a 1977 Mercury Cougar, which was HUGE and I just couldn't do it. So, she decided to buy me a car more my own size and let me learn in that. She had planned on teaching me, but my best friend and her new husband (she was 16, he was 17, that was legal here back then) came over to see the car and they decided to teach me. Well, that's a whole 'nother story and a good one at that, but I'll skip it because it has nothing to do with what happened later on.

So, I learned to drive, my mother let me drive her around for a couple of weeks in my new car and then she took me to get my license. Back then insurance was not required by the state and because she paid cash for it there was no finance company requiring collision either. After I got my license I was allowed to drive around our neighborhood. I was not allowed to leave West End. I had a license, but no insurance yet. My mother was going to go see Uncle Max and Aunt Jean that weekend and get it because Uncle Max sold insurance and we always bought from him.

My friend who had just gotten married and her new husband were back in town. They wanted me to come over. They weren't in West End, they were in Tarrant City, about 30 miles away and part of that was interstate. I had never even been on a freeway, much less driven on one, my mother always took back roads. Anyway, I was on my way there, doing good, I was confident! I was happy! I put my Rolling Stones 8 track in to hear "Start Me Up" but I didn't push it in hard enough and it fell out. I leaned down to get it while driving down the freeway. Luckily we were all slowing down and I was going about 30. The 18 wheeler in front of me stopped. I didn't know it because I was trying to get the 8 track out from under the other seat. I sat up and saw it was stopped, slammed on the brakes and WHAMMO! I hit it!

Nobody was hurt.

But you bet I would soon wish I had been!

No insurance. She had paid cash for the car. I had just gotten my license and told the cop that I was looking for my tape, that's why I hit him!

She actually paid to have it fixed. She said if she had insurance on it, they would have totaled it. She must love me, I guess.

I had been driving for a couple of weeks.

Not to mention that on my 21st birthday she let me and my then boyfriend take her new Buick Regal out, with the stipulation that only he drives. That was a bad idea because I was much more sober than him when he hit that lamp post.

Another totalled car. That she paid cash for.

But she had insurance, which did not pay because he had a suspended license and of course wasn't insured.

I walked everywhere for a while after that, or got a ride with somebody.

I have really, really REALLY bad luck with cars.

_________________
I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com