Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Car News

Well, I finally did it. I finally found a reliable replacement car for what I can afford (kinda). It's a sweet little 1998 Nissan Sentra - 160k, fully loaded. Kelly Blue Book is 4600 but I bought it for $3000. Yay, me! Pics will follow (the camera is at home and I'm at the office at the moment, collecting mail, sending mail *cough*Ariel&Jen*cough*, etc.)

No love for the insurance company of the guy who hit me. The last conversation I had to them prior to this week was Friday 12/19. I sent them copies of the receipts showing the $7000 in repairs that had been done to that car in the last 2.5 years, hence making it extremely reliable which is what I need to drive the 2500-4000 miles a month that I am prone to do. That information made them decide to up the offer from $500 to $870.



I told them that wasn't going to suffice. It wasn't as if I was their client who did something stupid to my car and am now being asked to lie down in the bed that I made. Their insured was careless and because of his carelessness, I lost the only means of transportation I have to get to and from my 3 jobs to take care of my son AND I'm living on a tight budget so can't really afford a new monthly expenditure. Hence, the reason I drove a car with a crappy paint job and dented door. I wasn't driving the paint, I was driving the reliable engine that I had so carefully maintained. He said he'd talk to a manager and get back with me on Monday.

He said that liability hadn't been officially determined yet but that once it was and they made their next offer, I'd have 3 days to turn in the rental car.

He also said that they were only going to pay storage fees for a limited time on the car and that I needed to move it. I flipped out and called the adjuster who is overseeing the case. She assured me that liability hadn't been officially returned by the underwriter but she was 100% sure that it would be and not to worry, to leave the car where it was and they'd take care of it.

Monday came and went. The whole week came and went. The whole week came and went. Not a word from the insurance company.

In the meantime, I'm trying to find a car in the neighborhood of $3000. It's amazing how much shit is out there in the $3000 range. It's amazing how many car salesmen, after hearing my situation and understanding that I have to get into a reliable car that I will not have to fix weekly, will still hand me keys to a car that within 30 seconds of a test drive, you can tell isn't worth the space it's taking up on their lot. It's one of the few times I have really hated being a woman and been doubly angry at each of the sales people who tried to sell me a worthless piece of shit because they think a blonde with breasts just won't know better. I also hate the small private lots who tried to insist that financing me at 26% would be a great bargain. *pshaw*

I ended up with a great bargain. I found my car on AutoTrader.com at a Nissan dealership in Carrollton. It's in great shape. Clean. Well taken care of. Runs excellent. And a bargain. I'm not happy with my interest rate but beggars can't be choosers.

So....back to the insurance company.

I'm at the dealership yesterday doing paperwork and praying to the finance gods that the universe will see fit to have someone cut me a check to pay for the car and I get a call from the rental car company - the rental car company, not the insurance company, telling me that it was the last day the insurance company was going to pay for the rental car.

WTF?! Did AllState have any intention of sharing this little tidbit of information with me?? When? I was told I had 3 days after liability had been declared and they called with an offer - neither of which had happened. What-the-fuck-ever.

The financing didn't come through til this morning so I ended up having to pay for a day of the rental, on top of the 15 days of insurance that I owed.

I spoke to the adjuster who said that he was supposed to have called me. Well, couldashouldawoulda - he didn't. 10 days had gone by and they never called me. And no one ever called me back that day either. They called me this afternoon and offered me $970.

Mmmmmmm. No. I can't get a reliable car for $900. Hell, I had a hard getting a reliable car for $3000. I may end up taking the offer but I'm going to talk to an attorney first and see what they advise. We still haven't talked about the medical bills and the residual pain in my shoulder and wrist (which pisses me off infinitely as there are dance moves I can't do anymore because I have limited range of motion in my right shoulder without incurring a LOT of pain).

It's frustrating. I'm going to consult an attorney. Maybe he'll tell me that this is the best I can do on the car and to accept it and worry about the rest of the settlement for medical/pain. Maybe he'll tell me I'm not unreasonable to ask for more in order to be made whole. At any rate, that's where things stand as of now. So keep your fingers crossed, gentle readers. I'll keep you posted as my dealing with the $%@#^%&$%^$#^^$%&$%@%#$!@#!@'s continues.

Posted by Valerie at 3:58 PM