Trashed car, trashed budget

[iis612]

I got into a bit of a fender bender last night. My car is destroyed. Fortunately nobody was hurt. It is going to put a severe hurt on my MR budget for a while though. Which I guess is ok because I have a BUNCH of kits to assemble.
Anyways, everybody drive safe.

Matt

[nachoman]

Not good . Get better soon! Auto wrecks are always a pain, even if it is 100% not your fault, simply because you have to deal with insurance companies. And after dealing with insurance compainies, you have to deal with a body shop or an auto dealer. None of the above are fun people to talk to.

[MountainMan]

I'm glad you're all right. Your car can be fixed, but pounding out the dents in you is tougher!

[Tom]

Hopefully, this will not put a big dent in your sanity (pun NOT intended).

Dealing with insurance and car dealers is about as fun as a root canal. Hang in there and let us know how it goes.

[Bigsteel]

man that sucks,just dont let your insurance company talk you into going to the el cheapo repair shop (coughcarstarcough). they CANNOT tell you where to take your car to get fixed,no matter what they try and threaten you with.there just there to save some cash while you get stuck with a car thats been covered in body filler and sherwan williams paint.dont ask how i know this . but remember to just keep postin pics,cause we all love'em --josh

[Steamtrains]

Ohh...sh** ....Hope you're OK....Aluminum or steel can be fixed (or bought), flesh & bones cost a lot more....Stuff like that can really mess up a person's day (and weeks..)... :x

[Ralph]

I got into a bit of a fender bender last night. My car is destroyed. Fortunately nobody was hurt. It is going to put a severe hurt on my MR budget for a while though. Which I guess is ok because I have a BUNCH of kits to assemble.
Anyways, everybody drive safe.

Matt

Way to find the positive side Matt! I'm glad no one was injured. Show us updates on the kits and good luck with car replacement!
Ralph

[iis612]

I spoke to the insurance company last week, and they said they were not going to honor the gap coverage because of the length of time I had the vehicle. They said that the negative equity remaining in the note was too much of a cost burden for them. Well, one quick call from my attorney and they are singing a different song now. The insurance is cutting a check to pay off the car, but I will have to come up with a new car on my own.
In the current economic situation in the US, and the credit freeze, I am going to have a hard time getting into another car. The car shopping could be worse than the accident.

Matt

[MasonJar]

You'd be surprised how motivated a dealer might be if you show up ready to pay (don't tell them you have the cash... yet) and they are sitting on excess inventory since no one else is buying.

Good luck!

Andrew

[iis612]

You'd be surprised how motivated a dealer might be if you show up ready to pay (don't tell them you have the cash... yet) and they are sitting on excess inventory since no one else is buying.

Good luck!

Andrew

In theory that would be a good idea, but I don't have the cash. I will have to finance it.

Matt

[Tom]

A friend of mine just bought a new truck two weeks ago and you'd be amazed at how eager they were to sell him anything on the lot, and he has pretty raunchy credit. There's hope, I don't think that is going to be as hard as you might think right now. At least I hope not, I have my fingers crossed for you.

[Herc Driver]

Do'h...sorry to hear about the accident, but glad everyone is ok.

I agree with the other posts...you might be shocked just how motivated dealers are to sell something off the lot. I bet they still know the "old things to say" that give them the advantage, but in today's marketplace, they need a sale from the lot and just might cut a great deal to move a unit. Do your homework, get an accurate dealer invoice price from a good source and offer a small percentage over that amount so the dealer can get a little profit. I bet you'll be signing papers in no time. If they balk at your price, get up and walk away...and I'll bet they chase you down to "ask the sales manager again". In today's marketplace, you have much more power. They may sweeten the deal if you use their credit program too. But cash is king, and if you walk in with a loan amount already secured from your bank or credit union, you can hold that check in front of them and see how quickly they bite.

[MasonJar]

Two points to consider...

A friend was recently looking at a car, and the dealer gave her the old " you better buy now, I've got someone waiting..." so she told him no, sell it to the other person. A week later, the dealer is still calling her...! So 1) call any bluff.

And 2) I read recently that most of the big manufacturers (American and Japanese) tend to have about a 60 day supply of built cars ready at the dealer or regional distribution points. Right now, they have about a 140 day supply...! Which is why I suppose GM has shut down production completely. Anyway, bad for them - good for you.

Good luck!

Andrew

[Russ Bellinis]

My daughter just bought a low mileage, 1 year old Saturn Outlook. She found out from the dealer that the credit is available, it is just that lenders are being more careful about how much they will finance on a car. It used to be that people could go into the dealer with a car that was worth thousands less than what they owed and the dealer would finance the new car with enough cash left over to pay off the old car as well. Now they won't finance more than the car is worth. The dealers are motivated, and the big three are pressuring their dealers to buy more inventory even when they can't move what they have! In effect the manufacturers got bail out money from the government, but now they are pressuring dealers to order more cars to bail them out even further.

[sgtcarl1]

Just a thought: I was able to purchase a nice pre-owned Volvo from a dealer in VT on e-bay. I bought it for two grand less than the book price. only problem you have to pick up the car, or hire a hauler.