Someone Please Explain This To Me

O.K. So remember that accident I had yesterday? I took my car to the collision place this afternoon at lunch. The guy took digital pictures and did the estimate - $494 and some change. Now, the estimate for the 2 inch scratch I got from the accident in June 2004 was over $700.

Why is replacing a bumper less money than fixing a scratch? I just don’t get it.

The irony of course is that the police weren’t going to send a guy out to make an accident report unless we decided that the damage was more than $500. Of course, based on the estimate from the scratch, I thought the damage was surely more than that.

Now, the collision guy did say that once they get the bumper off, there could be damage he can’t see and then it would be more than $500 probably.

He also mentioned that it’s getting hard to find parts for the ‘95 Jeep Cherokee Sport…which my regular mechanic had commented on when he replaced my headlight.

My insurance claims guy is waiting to hear back from the woman’s insurance company to be sure they are accepting full liability. Now, if the damage stays under $500, I have to personally file with her company to get my money back, but if it goes over even by $1, then my insurance company will handle the whole thing.

I guess I should start thinking about buying a new Jeep next year. Looks like it’ll probably be a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. Not only do I not like how girly the Liberties look, but I’ve been warned by car-wise friends that they don’t have the build to withstand damage like the Cherokee does. Still, I looked at the price on Jeep.com and I wasn’t excited about the $27K sticker price for the basic package. I paid about $17K for my Sport 10 years ago and I thought that was high then. I certainly didn’t like the look of the $481/mo financing. That’s most of what I’m currently putting into savings (not including retirement) each month and I just got to where I like not being in debt.

My left arm from my shoulder to my fingertips is bothering me. It hurts and it hurts more if I try to lift anything, even a microwave popcorn bag. My upper back and left leg hurt intermittently. I discussed with my claims guy that if it is still bothering me in the morning, I’m calling my doctor. If that’s the case, I have to call him too and he has to hand over my case to a different person. I don’t know why. Anyway, because my dad convinced me last year to add an option to my auto policy that stated that if I was hurt in my car, the insurance is 100% responsible (he made me do this because of my lack of health insurance while unemployed), my insurance will completely cover the medical and apparently aren’t going to bother her insurance with it…or at least that’s how I understood it.

On a good note, however, my Dyson Animal. It arrived at the office while I was at the collision place. The box itself is smaller than I thought the vacuum would be. I’m very anxious to get it home and try it out. I wonder if it will work on tile…probably not. But the light weight should be good for the stairs. Yay.

tags: car accident, car insurance

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