What's been going on: Cars
We got the call today: The Honda will be ready to leave the body shop tomorrow - after three weeks and two days. Since it took a full month for the Yaris to get its hail damage fixed, this is an improvement.
The shop found “supplemental damage;” the insurance company wanted to total the vehicle, but we said Hell No, it’s still drivable and the last thing we need right now is another car payment. So we got a cash settlement from the insurance company, and are fixing the worst of the damage. Oklahoma law won’t require us to get a “salvage title” for the car (hail damage is treated differently than other sorts of damage), and we might even be able to maintain some sort of collision and comprehensive insurance. So, on the whole, Yay.
The real heartbreaker is Bronwyn’s Mazda. You may have read about it on Facebook. Back in May we found her a well-maintained 2002 Protégé for just under $5K at a local dealership. It checked out mechanically, and she was able to finance it herself (without a cosigner), and she even bought the extended warranty.
August 8, driving back from a weekend in Tulsa, she lost a belt and the engine started to overheat. Her phone was dead, she didn’t want to just pull over, and she thought she could make it to the exit. She made it as far as the toll booth. At that point, major engine damage was pretty obvious. It took her two weeks and three tows to get her to a shop that would even look at it - the shop at the dealership where she’d bought it (and the extended warranty), in fact. We thought, Whew.
Not so much. The engine damage was so extensive that the spark plugs had melted into the metal. Repairing everything would cost over $6K, and the extended warranty people said they would not cover it, because the damage was due to “abuse:” That is, she kept driving it after the needle started going up. They suggested she try her auto insurance company. Her auto insurance people said they would not cover it, because it was “mechanical” damage, rather than an accident, natural disaster, or vandalism. They suggested she contact an attorney.
So I did some calling and got some lawyer-friends-of-friends’ phone numbers for her. I don’t know if she’s had a chance to contact any of them. Right now she’s driving a loaner car (mid-90s Toyota Camray, from a babysitting client), so at least she’s mobile, but it’s temporary, and she still has payments on a three-year loan for a big metal paperweight… which, if the insurance totals it, the bank will want the full amount for.
I don’t know if a lawyer can help her force the extended warranty company or the insurance company to do the right thing, but I hope they can at least work out some kind of settlement where she doesn’t have to take that whole hit. She’s really trying to take some positive steps with her life, and she does not need this.
Next post: House!!! Stay tuned.
The shop found “supplemental damage;” the insurance company wanted to total the vehicle, but we said Hell No, it’s still drivable and the last thing we need right now is another car payment. So we got a cash settlement from the insurance company, and are fixing the worst of the damage. Oklahoma law won’t require us to get a “salvage title” for the car (hail damage is treated differently than other sorts of damage), and we might even be able to maintain some sort of collision and comprehensive insurance. So, on the whole, Yay.
The real heartbreaker is Bronwyn’s Mazda. You may have read about it on Facebook. Back in May we found her a well-maintained 2002 Protégé for just under $5K at a local dealership. It checked out mechanically, and she was able to finance it herself (without a cosigner), and she even bought the extended warranty.
August 8, driving back from a weekend in Tulsa, she lost a belt and the engine started to overheat. Her phone was dead, she didn’t want to just pull over, and she thought she could make it to the exit. She made it as far as the toll booth. At that point, major engine damage was pretty obvious. It took her two weeks and three tows to get her to a shop that would even look at it - the shop at the dealership where she’d bought it (and the extended warranty), in fact. We thought, Whew.
Not so much. The engine damage was so extensive that the spark plugs had melted into the metal. Repairing everything would cost over $6K, and the extended warranty people said they would not cover it, because the damage was due to “abuse:” That is, she kept driving it after the needle started going up. They suggested she try her auto insurance company. Her auto insurance people said they would not cover it, because it was “mechanical” damage, rather than an accident, natural disaster, or vandalism. They suggested she contact an attorney.
So I did some calling and got some lawyer-friends-of-friends’ phone numbers for her. I don’t know if she’s had a chance to contact any of them. Right now she’s driving a loaner car (mid-90s Toyota Camray, from a babysitting client), so at least she’s mobile, but it’s temporary, and she still has payments on a three-year loan for a big metal paperweight… which, if the insurance totals it, the bank will want the full amount for.
I don’t know if a lawyer can help her force the extended warranty company or the insurance company to do the right thing, but I hope they can at least work out some kind of settlement where she doesn’t have to take that whole hit. She’s really trying to take some positive steps with her life, and she does not need this.
Next post: House!!! Stay tuned.