Frustrations: Accidents SUCK. That’s all I can say.
Actually, I might just need to vent for a moment and say more.
Because there was a 3rd car involved in the accident, the lady who hit Jesse is lying her tail off. She says that the guy behind her rear ended her hard enough to push her into oncoming traffic. The police report clearly states, however, that there were no skid marks (she says she had her breaks on and didn’t want to get pushed into the street!), and there was barely even a visible scratch on her bumper. Long and short, the police report states, “Unit 2’s testimony is not consistent with any evidence found at the scene”. Also, Jesse clearly remembers her saying that she thought she could “beat him” (how is that having your breaks on? seriously).
So, you’d think it’d be a done deal, right? Woman gets tapped on her bumper by another vehicle, makes a bad decision and accelerates across 3 lanes of traffic into an oncoming car. Everyone pities the poor woman who can’t tell the truth because she’s scared.
Except for her insurance is playing the fool and running with her testimony. They are refusing to accept responsibility for the accident and want to blame it on the guy who bumped her.
How does this affect us? Well, it means that we have to put a LOT of money up front to get our car evaluated and (fingers crossed) fixed in time for us to go to CA. Basically, we had to pay our $500 deductible, with the hopes that we will get it back once our company (Geico) goes after either/both companies for the money.
But you add that $500 onto the fact that we had to pay for our rental car out of pocket (for now– that should get reimbursed once SOMEONE accepts responsibility). That ended up being $160 for the week, plus $300 deposit.
And then add on the fact that we had to spend $200 on a new carseat for G today to replace the one that was in the accident. Again– that won’t get reimbursed until the “dispute” (can you EVEN call it that? seriously!) is resolved. Just for clarification: the carseat wasn’t visibly damaged, but every website I’ve read said that it should be replaced if the carseat was in anything but a minor accident. I called “Safe Kids” of Tarrant County (located at our fire department), and the specialist there advised me to buy a new one.
So, we got the one I’ve been eyeing for a while: a Britax Roundabout. It’s the cheapest of all the Britax’s, but G seemed super comfy sitting on it in the store. It meets all of our criteria: rear facing until 40 pounds (compliant with all the new laws!) and forward facing until 55.
As far as our “just in case” car search goes…we test drove the Rav4 on Saturday. I can say with 100% certainty that I’ve NEVER felt safer whilst driving a car. No blind spots, great handling. We had a V6 one, and that extra power was really nice. I loved the placement of everything around the driver’s seat. The trunk has more space than any other crossover in its class, and the back seat is quite roomy for passengers and carseats.
But….during my research I found that they are coming out with a brand spankin new 2012 body style, which will “date” anything newer. So, even if we do get a 2011, it’d be better to wait until they “unveil” the new model. Everyone will be scampering for the 2012, and we can sneak in and lowball offer them on a 2011!
Our other option is the Chevrolet Equinox. We’ve never been huge Chevy fans, but this car was #2 for its class on Consumer Reports. Why? Because it gets GREAT gas mileage. Seriously. Almost as good as our Corolla– 32 mpg. For a crossover vehicle, that’s amazing! And they look awesome. And they have a lot of upgrades in their interior. I found a dealer in Lewisville that is offering a special on them– $19k for a brand new 2011. Plus, GM offers a 100k mile powertrain warranty. That’s hard to beat!
If our car is totalled, we will probably wait a few months. From the research I’ve done, late spring/summer is the WORST time to buy a car, because people have just received their tax refunds and car dealers know they have money for down payments, so they aren’t as easy to talk down. Come October or November? We should be able to negotiate at least 4 thousand off of the MSRP price. I have a whole plan worked out– get quotes from different dealers, play them against one another until someone gives us a ridiculously low price 🙂
But what will we do until then?
Well, last I heard….because Jesse’s brother is now transferring from Biola to another University in Texas, he won’t be using my inlaws’ Buick Rendezvous anymore. My father in law offered to let us borrow the car, if the need should arrive. At this point, I don’t think we have time to pack, wrap everything up, AND buy a car within 2 weeks! So we might be utilizing their generosity, for sure!
Packing: About halfway done! I’ve taken 6 total trips to Goodwill so far, my trunk FULL of stuff each time. Yay for fresh starts! I literally gave away 15 pairs of shoes today! And that didn’t include any from my door shoe-rack…issues….I have them…
Also, Jesse’s been a great help to me, cleaning out his clothes and our closet, organizing our papers. Tomorrow we tackle the garage…! I actually found myself thinking tonight about how nice it is to pack with him right there. We chat away, so it really becomes kinda bonding!
Our couch is now sold and gone (for $180! who would thunk it?), so we have a nice huge living room space for G to play in. Other little bits and pieces of furniture are getting sold right and left. Tonight, I sold 3 books on half.com. It feels sooo great to purge accumulated clutter!
Goodbyes: I’d have to say that our social calendar has been booked crazy this past week. Last Sunday, we went out to lunch with Clark Carlton. On Monday night, we had the Metropolitan over for dinner. On Thursday, we went out to dinner with the Folsoms after the accident (Jenny was already with me, and Jason picked Jesse up at the scene). On Friday, we went to a wonderful BBQ with the Metropolitan and a few fun families from St. Seraphim’s, hosted by the Redards. On Saturday, we went to Fuzzy’s Tacos with the Gaspards, then hung out at their place until 1am! This Sunday, we visited a sister parish in Denton because it was their 10 year anniversary and the Metropolitan was serving there.
For this coming week, Jesse is leading a Men’s Retreat out at Lake Tawakoni, and a wonderful lady at church wants to host us a goodbye party. Whew!!! When are we supposed to pack???
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Beth says
When we sent back the Combi we ended up getting the Britax Roundabout for Avery and we love it! It’s SO comfy for her.
Courtney says
love love love love love the rav4 or the equinox. both those cars were on our ‘list’ before we bought the new one.