My car was towed back the body shop as of 10pm tonight.
In my now never-ending saga courtesy of the accident and lingering repairs, my car died as it was climbing one of the roads near my house, west of 9th. It made it half way up… revved up until I took my foot off the gas and then rolled backwards as if it were in neutral.
Based on a few google searches, and going by the color of fluid pooled on my driveway and tracing my 1000′ travels tonight — My 2002 Subaru Outback’s transmission is now goo.
This after nearly $16,000 in repairs, all beginning in October when I was cut off on Baseline, sending me and my car into the air and over a 5′ ledge.
Pre-blog Car Drama
I suspect that it was to the insurance company’s benefit that collision estimates are done incrementally, as they “peel the onion back”. Because once work begins on a $5000 job, if the job cascades into a four month, $16000 job it is still cheaper for them than paying for a “write-off”. Also, it would be worth taking the chance that the car owner would want to pocket the first check offer and “drive off” with their car, unfixed.
I was offered a chance to take the first $5000 check based on the first insurance work assessment. If I would have accepted the offer, I would have got the $5000 and a severely damaged car as it was, without having any work done on it. Apparently that would be the last and only cash I would have seen. Even I figured there was more than $5000 damage to my car. Silly insurance company.
Beginning in November, the body shop has gone back to the insurance company to get permission to work on three rounds of incremental $5000+ work orders. I was able to drive my car out of the bodyshop for the first time since the accident in February.
Working the Numbers
My ex-perfect car, now with just over 28,000 miles on it, has been in the shop for unscheduled “maintenance” twice in the last two weeks. The last time was after Subaru discovered “a damaged Y-Pipe pushed in from what looked to be a collision. And, they’d be happy to fix it for $550.” So, the body shop and the insurance company agreed to replace it.
I’ve gotta say though, that the car looks cosmetically perfect. Almost as good as it did before the accident. But it’s never run the same since and now I don’t have a car again.
I guess I’ll find out what the real story is between meetings tomorrow. I suspect there’s another thing that they neglected to find in their many superficial inspections in/near the engine or transmission that just decided to blow up when I started my car tonight.
At this point, even though the insurance company valued my car at $21,000, taking the $16,000 and my dead car is beginning to look like it might have been a better outcome had they not been, say, $11,000+ (!!!) off on their initial repair estimate.
Sigh.