Wrecked (Post #553) 1/28/2016

wreck

An irresponsible and distracted driver decided to take their eye off the road and reach down for a bottle of spaghetti sauce that rolled off her seat. The result? She rammed the Big White Bus while it was parked on the street outside my Uncle’s retirement home. The financial damage? Of course they want to “total” my Range Rover.

The only consolation is she totaled her car as well. Her husband was pissed. Perhaps this will be a lesson to her to be more attentive when she is driving. After the cops came and took a report, the husband got in the Hyundai and drove it home. No coolant, airbags hanging, hood blocking 50% of the road in front of him.

It used to be a 2014 Hyundai something or other. She hit the BWB hard enough to deploy her airbags. My guess, 30+ miles per hour in a 25 mph zone. She said, “I didn’t expect a vehicle to be there.” Famous last words. Good thing it wasn’t someone out trying to get some exercise walking where my Range Rover was parked.

In the light of day the Range Rover doesn’t look too bad. The repair estimate was above 4900$(US). The Allstate insurance company doesn’t believe these classic Range Rovers are worth the money they are claiming off the internet. That’s just my luck.

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The damage is the left rear fender, left light assembly, the bumper, and the lower tailgate. The driver’s side rear door will not open any longer. She got me hard enough to move the inner panel. I am taking her insides out this weekend to assess the damage and get her ready for repair.

I was able to get the exhaust repaired in time to go with the Oklahoma Land Rover Owner’s group “Osage Adventure”. More about that in another post. My good friend Jag Guy says we can sort this out. That didn’t stop me from looking at possibly getting another Land Rover Discovery.  The money is not there at this time. I’m still looking, maybe things will work out for me. The insurance is still not settled. I could sell some bits off the Range Rover and make up the difference. A Disco is still on the table…but I’ll have to see.

So what did we learn?

This is a major inconvenience. I have to take up several weekends of my friend’s time to help me and my own time. It cost me two days of vacation to get the BWB where I could continue to drive her. I can’t afford another car payment. The financial crisis finally came home to roost last year and we are tapped out.

Insurance companies are in this for them not you. I know that is an obvious statement. Insurance companies will always try to get out of paying you what the fair market value is for your older vehicle. You can claim your pristine classic Land Rover is worth 10,000$(US), but if the insurance company thinks it’s worth 2 thousand…guess what.

These Land Rovers are TOUGH. That is all the damage a car that passes for a modern crossover SUV did going 30+ mph. Plastic bumpers and Styrofoam were no match for the Range Rover.

I’ll post more about the wreck and the repair after the insurance is settled.

Oddly enough I found this quarter on the road after the wreck.

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Arches National Park. I’m taking as a sign I need to plan a trip to Moab.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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