She Hit My Car! Part 2

She Hit My Car! Part 2

by Marilyn Mackenzie

 

To read about how the woman hit my car as it was sitting in the parking lot minding its own business, click here:  She Hit My Car!   There are pictures there as well - of my car on February 28 and my car on April 2 after being hit.

Yesterday, I went to two auto body shops.  One quoted $1200.  The other quoted $1400.  I wasn't surprised that the second one was higher.  (It was the one recommended by the insurance company.)  When I entered the office, I thought I was in a doctor's office or a lawyer's office, not a body shop office.  The furniture was beautiful - all wood.  There was elegant wood panelling on the walls and even the file cabinets were made of wood and not metal.  Perhaps the difference in price helps pay for the fancy office furnishings?

This morning, I was asked to take my car back to the second body shop so the inspector could meet me there.  I phoned the adjuster and asked that she have the adjuster come to my house.  She seemed rather put off by that.  Well, I'm sorry!  Why should I be inconvenienced?  The weather is lousy here - damp! - and that makes all my pains scream louder. 

The body shop isn't really that far from my house.  I could have gone there.  But that means that my house would not be too far for the inspector to come to my house either, right?  Still, I guess I'm being punished.  While the inspector was going to be at the body shop at 11 a.m., he/she has not even phoned to see if/when it's convenient to come to my house.  Figures.  (Note:  I didn't find out until about 10:15 a.m. that the inspector wanted my car up the road at 11 a.m.  I guess they figure I don't have a life.)

Again the insurance adjuster mentioned that my car might not be worth fixing.  To whom???!!!

Yes, my car is a 1992 model.  But it's in excellent condition.  My father owned it before me.  He got it brand new off the dealer's lot with maybe 50 miles on it.  When he gave it to me in '97 or '98, it had less than 60,000 miles on it.  More like 40,000 maybe.  I'm not sure.  But, obviously, he nor I have driven the car very much to have such low mileage on a car that is 16 years old.  And yet this vehicle has lived in Louisiana, Texas, Michigan and Ohio.  And it's been to Florida.  I don't drive much around town.  I think my hubby filled up my gas tank almost a month ago and it's still almost half full.

My dad was very careful with all of his cars.  If the owner's manual said to get the oil changed at 3,000 miles, he was in the shop when it got to 2,950.  He had all of his repairs and maintenance done at the dealership, something I have not been able to continue, since the cost is more at dealers.  Still, over the years, I have probably spent between $300 and $600 a year to repair and maintain my car. 

I have not had a car payment since 1983.  That's both a choice I made and something my dad made possible for me.  Twice he gave me cars.  Before this one, he gave me a 1987 Plymouth Horizon hatch-back when he bought this 1992 Chevy Cavalier.  He discovered that the trade in was so low that he might as well give me his car.  Then when he bought his next car, he gave me the Chevy.  I never considered having a new car something necessary for me.  Not if I had a good mechanic who could help maintain my older car.  To me, a car should be reliable, yes.  But it merely a tool to get from point A to point B.

But that choice is coming back to bite me in the rear, all because some woman was driving a vehicle too big for her to drive.  She admitted that to me.  And from the looks of her 2007 Ford F150 truck, she meant that.  There were two other accidents obvious to me, although I don't know the details.  Her black truck also had red paint and yellow pain on it!  (And from the pictures I've posted, you can see that my car is blue.)

If I owned a new(er) car, the insurance company would gladly pay for having it repaired and for a rental car during repairs.  If my car was valued at $20,000 and the repairs were $6,000, the insurance company would pay.

But because someone has decided that "most" cars of this age and model are worth no more than $1325, the insurance company sees no need to pay $12-1400 in repairs - plus the rental car during repairs.

I was not the one who did this damage to my car.  I wasn't even in the car when this happend (thankfully).  And I was parked correctly too, not an any strange angle, not taking up part of the other parking space.  I noted as I was checking out my car that I was a full 12" or more from the yellow line.

But because I have chosen a more frugal lifestyle, because owning an old car makes people think perhaps I'm poor and stupid (that WAS the look I got from the lady who hit my car!), I will be the one penalized in this whole thing.

Somehow it just doesn't seem fair.