The insurance company just called and they are totalling it out. :(

Here are the pictures

The damage on the passenger side is from December. The airbags and the computer are **$2500+** to replace!!! :zoinks:

I can't say I'm sad to see it go because it was underpowered for my driveway. Lesson learned - always test drive a vehicle AT YOUR HOUSE if you live on a cliff. :awinky: I'm just VERY glad it worked out w/o anyone or anything being damaged.

Sorry to hear of your problems with the truck Peaches
At least everyone is safe and sound and there were no human injuries
Does this mean you get to go shopping for a new vehicle?

Are you gonna get another truck?

Lot's of great new trucks out there!

I'm going to hold off for awhile. Finances are VERY tight, we get a rental for 30 days and the kid doesn't know where he's going to be living by the end of the year! I bought it originally because I wanted something dependable for him to drive the 120 RT to school 4 times a week and when he moved, I'd have a utility truck. But if he goes back to school he'll live near it, or he might be in the AF....

The value of it now just amazed me after driving imports since I was 16. I paid $17K for it exactly a year ago. It has 21-22K miles on it (which incredibly is NOT counted against the value since they consider 2002 to a year and 2003 to be a year - 2 years worth of allowable mileage) and the trade in value is just over $11K. :unsure: The trade in for my 2002 $34K Explorer is $21K. In comparison, I paid $28K for my Pathfinder, drove it for 3 years and the trade in value was $20-21K.

I'd love to trade the Explorer for a Jeep Wranger and buy an F150 but I'm not sure if I want to lose money on American cars anymore. :(

Do I get my money back? :biglaugh:

:nyanya:

Not sure that all the tradein difference is whether it is made in the USA or not. Quite often +demand+ is the biggest denominator. Vans used to be much higher - both in buying and tradein - now it is SUVs & pickups. I have passed on buying anything brand new for quite a while - a low mileage vehicle that is a couple of years old, seems to keep it's value very well. New vehicles drop several thousand dollars the minute you drive them home.

My ego just isn't that big, to have to have NEW! I don't have to impress anyone but myself & the SAVINGS impresses ME more.

Sorry to hear about the truck Peaches.... glad it all worked out for you...

Since I have two at home the same age range as your son, I dont/WON't buy anything 'NEW'.... they'd just beat the piss outta it! LOL

I drive my 94 Mini Van... removed the seats, use it as a pickup/hunting truck... they can beat it till it bleeds for all I care.. its got 130K mileage on it, and long since paid for! ;-)

When I get rid of.....er.. I mean.. when they leave.. I get my A6 ;-))

Let me stress, this was NOT the kid's truck! In fact, if you'll notice, I made sure to put the "Pug Mom" license plate on the front should he ever try to make anyone think it was his. :awinky:

His first car was a 10 year old Nissan Maxima that I bought from my brother. Unfortunately the transmission died Christmas 2001. He went until August 2002 with NOTHING to drive. It was only because I wanted a truck that I bought it. He could have bought a beater for himself, but driving 120 miles RT 4 times a day in a beater worried this Mom so I let him use the truck. It was never his and in fact if he wasn't driving it to work or school, he had to "rent" it from me. B)

I like to buy new because you're so limited on knowing what kind of abuse the prior owner put the vehicle through. Buying new I can do all the proper maintenance, not rag the engine, etc. My intention was to keep that truck forever. :(

Yeah, but it's both my pickup and my SUV that are taking such a hit. :( I've owned 8+ imports that I've bought new - compacts, 4 door sporty cars, 4 door sedans and SUV's and I've never seen a depreciation like this! :zoinks:

BTW - have you tried http://www.kbb.com (Kelly's Blue Book) to research the values? Very interesting..... I recently traded and took prinouts from KBB or Black Book (on cars.com) With that ammunition - I got the deal I wanted.

For buying good reliable vehicles on the cheap and hassle free, it's tough to beat Carmax.

They cherry pick used vehicles only taking those in tip top condition, then sell 'em below blue book haggle free.

They also do a great job of keeping their inventory up to date online, so you can wait for what you want to be on the lot before making the trip and know exactly what it'll cost before you get there. Hell, they'll even transfer cars nationwide if you see something you just gotta have but it's at one of their lots in a different city.

We have 4 of 'em here in Atlanta, and they do huge business.

The two times I've bought used cars I bought them from an individual. You can get them for thousands less, you can buy a warranty, and I have a guy in Atlanta that runs a mobile inspection company that checks them from top to bottom.

When I was looking at used trucks before I bought the Ranger, I also had him check a couple at Carmax - they were NOT cherry picked. :awinky: They also sold my Pathfinder which had $6K damage done to it when the tree fell:

http://www.onlinebeach.com/tree/car5.jpg

Color me paranoid, but I just don't like buying used cars. :(

Sheeesh Peaches where is the luck? That tree did some big time damage, it didnt total that one out?

For everyone's enjoyment here's the pics of my 2002 Roush After I Auto Started it from inside our main office and it drove down the side of the building (mechanic at my speed shop left it in gear with the emergency break off when he dropped it off) and hit the water retention wall. Caused almost $4,000 worth of damage. Dumb shit..

http://www.extremepaychecks.com/extremecar/ouch/

LOL! The odd thing was that it didn't LOOK that bad. But I had JUST had it aligned and the steering pulled to the side. apparently it smashed the struts somehow.

I do have a way with cars and it's hereditary. You should have seen the Maxima before the transmission finally died - 3 fender benders - not enough to fix, but enough to make it look like crap. And my Mom hit a deer a few weeks ago, my Dad got hit in his first corvette after he'd had it for a month and had 900 miles on it (he made the insurance company buy him a new one), my brother's totaled a car, I've put my face into a windshield, and I'm not even bringing up all the other minor things....:headwall:

YIKES! Did you have to watch it?? :zoinks:

No but I was able to hear it drive by, so when I went outside and it wasnt parked anymore, it was pretty much a given where it went.

Even worse than that happening or anything with cars is all of the waiting for this guy, or waiting for that one to fix it, sign paperwork, estimates, parts, hate all of that.

I think you and your family needs to invest in a photo album of cars and not drive anymore, it's not working out to well lately. :(

Hehehe - no kidding. :( The main problem is that we love to drive and put a LOT of miles on all our cars so the chances get higher. I will have to say that probably 75% of the time, it's not our fault - maybe if we stopped painting those targets on the cars as soon as we buy them.... B)

Oh absolutely, you get the best deal buying from an individual. Likewise you get the most out of selling a used car by selling it yourself.

But you have to deal with haggling in both of those scenarios and deal with a lot of idiots. My tolerance is pretty low in my old age. I'll pay the extra to save the time and hassle.

Totally different experiences. I've bought one there myself and know lots of people who have used them. I dont recall any problems at all with the cars or the experience. I'd buy from 'em again. I'm starting to think you have bad CARma... :P

They'll buy any car. They dont put 'em all on their lots. They keep the best ones to sell themselves and wholesale the rest.


Oh, I'm with you there. I've only done it a couple of times in my life. So long as the 0% financing deals last, I wouldn't bother with a used car.

Hehehe - no kidding. :( The main problem is that we love to drive and put a LOT of miles on all our cars so the chances get higher. I will have to say that probably 75% of the time, it's not our fault - maybe if we stopped painting those targets on the cars as soon as we buy them.... B)[/b][/quote]
Ahhhh so thats the issue, you keep buying Red cars and putting a little white Target on it. Shop there instead dont be the Target. :cdance:

John, please tell me you made the speed shop pay for the damage.

Peaches, don't worry so much about the boy and a beater. If it breaks, he can fix it - all guys should be able to fix beaters and it's your maternal duty to give him that essential experience in life, which can only be gained by OJT but is expected by all future wives. :biglaugh:

If he's gonna go in the AF, definitely wait. Military guys get good discounts at local dealerships (local to a base or academy) and he could get one himself after he's in the Force with that guaranteed paycheck coming for 4 years. Then you'd be free to get whatever you want and not have to worry about having him on the insurance for it.

Carrie, nope.... When I thought about it I figured how can I make the Speed shop pay for it, it's probably a habbit of theirs to leave Stick shift cars in gear, I just wish he would have pulled the E-Brake.