Well, folks, today was a sad day. My beloved '89 Honda Accord is no more...
As I was leaving to go to work this morning, a Ford F-150 pulled out of a driveway and sat in the middle of my road. Thinking it would eventually pull forward and leave the street, I waited behind it patiently. Then the driver's side window rolled down, and a hand appeared to say "Go around me, I'll be here a few minutes."
So I started to go around him. As I moved to go around his side, his car suddenly backed up. I saw it in slow motion, and I knew my car was going to be hit. The words "Oh my Go-" left my mouth and the huge truck impacted my itty bitty car on the "-d." There was a long crunch--the same crunch fresh snow makes under a heavy boot--and the window seemed to peel into the passenger seat (like an orange) as the glass didn't quite shatter.
I sat in shock for a few moments as I watched him stay in his car... just sitting there. With the engine running. I thought Oh my God. He's going to just leave! But then, he pulled the truck over and got out of his car. Boy, did he look angry. I could see this would go well.
I got out of my car. With paper and a pen.
Angry, yelling man: You should have been around me already! I wasn't expecting you to still be on my side!
Sawaboof: Oh... that's what mirrors are for. I need your insurance information.
Oh-shit-yelling-didn't-work man: Fine. Here's this card for my insurance agent. Just call him. I have insurance, I just don't have my card.
Sawaboof: Ummm ok... ::writes down every last piece of info on the not-quite-an-insurance card, also the info from his driver's license::
Calmed down man: Now I'm going on vacation for a month. I'm leaving now so you'll have to do everything on your own.
Sawaboof: I think I can handle it. Thanks.
He then made some half-assed apology and drove away. I went back to my poor car and pulled it back into my garage. Then I thought Oh no! I'm going to be late to my staffings!. So I called my coworker and then I called my supervisor and both gave the impression that I could just stay home that day and I thought I would but then...
I called the number for the guy's insurance agent. Answered a bunch of questions and then came to the question "what kind of car was he driving?" I hadn't paid too much attention to his car, and I really only saw the back of it. "Ummm... It was a white SUV," I replied uncertainly. "Are you sure? Was it a Ford F-150?" After a quick Google image search I replied "No... it wasn't a pick up." The agent told me the driver didn't have an SUV on any of his policies and I felt a little sick, and he took my contact information and said he'd try to get in touch with the driver.
So then I figured since there was nothing else I could do, I might as well hop on the bus and go to my staffings. Better than sitting at home all day. As I'm walking down the street, who do I see pulling out of a driveway in a huge camper? The other driver! He rolls down his window and lets me know, again, that he's going to Florida for a month and I have to take care of everything on my own. Ok. I get it. Really. He left. I looked over at his house. The truck that hit me is still there. Now that I see it from the side, and I'm not in shock anymore, it is, indeed, not an SUV. A closer look told me it was, indeed, a Ford F-150. With a box cap. Definitely not an SUV. Oops.
So, as I waited for the bus, I called back the insurance agent and told him it really was the F-150. He then gave me the name of the insurance company for that car, the policy number, and the phone number to call.
Then I went to work and my wonderful DD people gave me a lot of advice for my car. Man I love those guys!
Throughout the day, anyone with ears got to hear the tale of my car. And, as the hours in other time zones grew later, I was able to tell even more people! And, through reliving the event over and over through story telling, I was able to find out through my wonderful aunt that leaving the state before everything from an accident is taken care of and settled is illegal and I should include the guy's escape to Florida in my police report. Which I am filing tomorrow before calling the guy's real insurance company to file a claim.
Tomorrow's gonna be a ton of fun.
And now I have an excuse to finally get a new car! I want a Honda Fit but I'm thinking maybe I should get a hybrid since I'm getting a new car no matter what... We'll see. I have plenty of time to research and go to the dealership because, until I find a car to buy, my co-worker's son is letting me borrow his car for $4 a day. :-)
And, since I went through my "I'm going to buy a house!" phase, I have a bit of money saved up for a down payment! :-) Bad things work themselves out for me sometimes.
Happy Mardi Gras!
Oh, and of course, I took pictures...
My poor car...
And the newly-decorated passenger seat
And that is the story of the end of my poor car. Today was a sad day. I'm ok with continuing to pay for engine repairs and maintenance for my car, but I draw the line at body work. It's too bad. That car and I have been through a lot together. Some bad (like the head gasket blowing off) but mostly good times. Many, many road trips were made in that car, including the last road trip to Chicago to see Deer Tick! I will always hold fond memories of my car.
RIP car. I will miss you but...
At least you went out with a bang! (bud-dum-chhh!)
The lesson here, folks, is drive defensively, even if it doesn't always work! Also, don't let belligerent people push you around! Also, just in case you all don't know, file a police report before making an insurance claim, especially if the accident is not your fault!!
After looking at the pictures, I wonder if getting it fixed would be the better idea. You should at least get an estimate and see what it might come out to.
Of course, you do have your heart set on getting a new car... :)
And I must say, the whole "At least you went out with a bang! (bud-dum-chhh!)" was really funny.
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Oh the pictures do not do it justice. Like where the door shoved in to the roof of the car... I'm glad the window was tinted with plastic stuff or glass would have gone flying everywhere. And it was already leaking power steering fluid onto the engine which my mechanic was kind enough to tell me I could pay "many hundreds of dollars" to fix, or I could buy some power steering fluid every month or so and keep the levels up. I'm glad, now, that I chose the latter.
I've already put so much money into keeping this car alive and bringing it back to life and keeping it alive some more... I think this really was just the last straw for me. I think it really is time to just donate it to a high school auto shop and use it as a tax write off. I'll bet I could sell the tires though. I just bought them in December. That engine's pretty new too... hmmmm... Maybe I'll just offer my car up on Craigslist one part at a time. ;-)
I was looking forward to some "antique vehicle" license plates in 5 years though. :-/
"What a crazy random happenstance!"
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
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Ooh, I see. You're right, that it pretty serious damage. I was actually gonna have my Dad look at the pictures when I got home on Friday and give you an idea of what it would cost. He's a mechanic. But from your added description...ahhh, well it might be a good idea to start looking for a new car.
Heh. Heh. Selling each piece on Craiglist one at a time? That's just crazy enough to work.
*~*~*~*~
I need some more input from y'all here in this forum topic: A ProgressiveU Radio Show/Podcast
I think this is an idea that can improve the ProgressiveU community.
it's really good you found the car, so you have some tangible recourse to get reimbursed.
Even if you hadn't though, driving without insurance is also illegal, and you did get his DL #. Your insurance would have had to pay out on it, possibly making your premiums higher.
Anyway, I totally identify. I felt that panicky/ sick feeling when my car was stolen. It came back to me though :) Honda, and Acura, make some pretty good cars that last a long time.
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Within reason, I can afford whatever car I want. But I have no vanity about cars and, with the exception of antiques, they are horrible investments. For me, cars are all about minimizing the cost per mile and reliability. My family strategy for cars is to have one good car for trips that is super reliable (my wife drives an '08 Honda Accord), one beater that I really don't care if it konks out tomorrow for the short commute between my house, my office, the golf course and occassionally the Mint Bar, and one truck that seldom gets driven for going to the mountains, towing snowmachines, carrying my pop-up camper and doing things that require a truck.
You probably need one car that does it all.
I have a fond attachment for my old Accord. I have just short of 150,000 miles on it which took me almost 10 years. It was our "good" car when my wife turned it over to me at about 70K miles. My daughter calls it the Hondasaurus. She drives it when she is home from school and I drive my truck. It might make it to 200k although I notice the transmission is getting a little strange.
My wife has a girlfriend that has an 89 Honda Accord with about 55K miles on it. I have a standing offer to buy it when she upgrades. I could probably put at least 100K miles on that car for a couple pennies per mile.
I'd think really hard about the hybrid decision. It has been a while since I looked but they used to carry a substantial price premium and a huge maintence bill for replacement batteries at the mid-point in their life. Even with gasoline at $4 per gallon the fuel savings did not pay for or justify the extra cost. Mainly you were paying a lot extra "to feel good". Things may have changed. Do the math. Maybe warm fuzzy feelings may make the extra cost justified for you which is fine because everybody is entitled to their own priorities but you should know how much they are costing you.
Part of me really wants a huge pick up truck... I don't know why. Maybe they're just fun to drive. Vespas I love but I think I might need something a little more practical. I am in love with the Honda Fit. The orange ones. And I would like the 2008 model. And if I somehow decide that I can live without a spoiler on the back (oh the sacrifices I make), it'll save me about $4000 to get the regular Fit instead of the Sport version. I need to read some reviews though, but I've heard some good things. I don't know how much to trust what I've heard though since Fits have been out for... 2 years? I hear great things about Accords as well but those have proved over the years that they live up to that reputation. I'm glad I have a borrowed car for now, since I need a car to make home visits. Because I want some time to shop around.
I also LOVE
rollerskatesSmart Cars... but that's just silly."What a crazy random happenstance!"
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
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from the USAA website. It outlines the benefits in the stimulus plan, and there happens to be one for people who buy new cars. I also included the first time home-buyer information for you, since you were asking about mortgage advice on forums. Sorry, I'm too lazy to post them separately.
*First-time Homebuyers*
To bolster the real estate market, the stimulus package offers a tax credit equal to 10% of the purchase price of a first home. Tax credits are more valuable than deductions because they offer a dollar-for-dollar reduction of your tax bill. This one is capped at $8,000 and applies to homes purchased between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2009.
Your right to claim this credit starts to phase out once your income exceeds $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for married couples. Unlike a similar credit passed last year, this one doesn't have to be repaid—unless you sell the home within three years. (Read more about the home-buying tax credit.)
New Car Purchasers
*If you buy a new car, light truck, sport utility, recreational vehicle or motorcycle after Feb. 17 and before Dec. 31, 2009*, you may be able to deduct the state and local taxes you paid with your purchase. *Used cars don't count.* (Read more about the new car tax deduction.)
You don't even have to itemize your deductions to get this benefit, but there are two important limitations:
* You can only deduct taxes paid on the first $49,500 of the vehicle's price.
* The tax break starts shrinking once your income hits $125,000 for singles and $250,000 for married couples.
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You can only deduct taxes paid on the first $49,500 of the vehicle's price.
Oh man, you just killed my dream! ;-)
This is good to know, thanks! :-)
"What a crazy random happenstance!"
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Read my Blog!
I know. USAA has pre-approved me for a $50,000 car loan. I am like, "What the....?"
That is about what my BA degree is costing me.
NO THANKS.
I find it ridiculous that a car can cost that much. I suppose if I were really rich and could pay cash, that might be fun, but to finance $50,000 for a car?
Maybe I should do it anyway, and get the new car tax break, then sell the car for its face value, and use the cash to buy a house. Actually, that could work.
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So I just realized that link doesn't actually say the car is $545,568.
How many houses can we buy with that!? :-D
"What a crazy random happenstance!"
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Read my Blog!
Actually, that could work.
People always forget the part about taking out loans where they have to actually pay the money back. We've had a big problem with that lately ......
After you sell the car, you still have a $50K debt. And most autos are financed over a 5 year period or less. Those are going to be some steep monthly payments.
With most loans, you can pre-pay. If you're paid, even with a loan from another bank, you can pay off your loan using some 10 day payoff, rather than making monthly payments for x months/years. That's how the loans I have now work; the company even gives me an estimate as to how much interest would accumulate in the days between when I sent my check and the time it gets there and gets processed.
~C
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But what do you accomplish by buying a $50,000 car, and taking out a $50 loan on the car and then selling the car for a few thousand less than what it cost when you drove it off the lot (lets say $48k) and then using that $48 K as a down-payment on a house?
You still owe $50k on the car.
Incidently, most car loans are secured by the car. You could not deliver title to the new buyer of the car without paying off the $50k car loan first.
The most you could net off of this whole situation is writing off the sales tax of the car off your income taxes as a result of those provisions of the stimulus package. With a 8% sales tax and a 35% tax deduction that would work out to be:
50K x .08 x .35 = $1400.
You would lose more than $1400 in depreciation when you drove the car off the lot.
and I am not seriously going to do it.
However, If a person had other debt at a higher interest rate, it could save them a lot of money. Many people pay 12-33% interest on credit card debt. A car loan at a fixed 5-8% is a lot better than that. Also, it would free up their unsecured debt, boosting their credit.
Car loans are not usually considered much in the creation of a FICO, unless a person has delinquent payments.
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Wow, craziness...I'm glad you're ok, though!!! I hope you get a nice new car. :)
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