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Bad luck with cars.

Mets Guy in Michigan Jul 28 2014 04:02 PM

You might remember that I was struck by a driver without insurance earlier this year. The company sent a collection agency to get its money as well as my deductible, and I'm not optimistic. Well, my son was struck on Monday by a kid -- on his cell phone -- pulling out in front of him, causing considerable damage to the front of the pickup. My insurance company told me contact the kid's company to file a claim, and the name of the insurance company was there on the police report. Turns out the kid was uninsured, ran home after the accident and bought the policy then tried to say that the crash happened after that. AS IF THE TIME ISN'T RIGHT THERE ON THE POLICE REPORT. So now, aside from causing the accident, he'll get nailed for driving without insurance -- and now insurance fraud, according to Progressive. It's a 12-year-old pickup, so I'm sure the repair estimate will be greater than the value of the truck. So now we're facing buying a new car. Has anyone ever leased a car before? This would be for my wife to drive, and I'm certain she'd never come close to the 12,000-mile limit.

themetfairy Jul 28 2014 04:46 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

So sorry Michigan. At least nobody was hurt, thank goodness! But what a PITA :(

metsmarathon Jul 28 2014 06:00 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

themetfairy wrote: What a PITA :( well, it could be worse… it could be a PANINI

d'Kong76 Jul 28 2014 06:54 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

Glad no one was hurt. I've never had a panini, nor leased a car. I have heard that loans for well-qualified buyers, and leases for well qualified lessees are both good.

Ceetar Jul 29 2014 07:32 AM Re: Bad luck with cars.

facing that quandary ourselves (though thankfully not due to accidents and uninsured miscreants) They do usually offer higher mileage leases, but if it's not a problem it's not a problem. The prices for those always seem better. I think you're supposed to watch out for balloon/end payments or something, but I think dealerships are usually on the up and up as far as not hitting you with a big 5k payment secretly. As I see it, you're trading the possibility of driving the car "into the ground" past loan payoff with no car payments for always having a new-ish car. Seems reasonable if you're comfortable with the mileage limits though. I mean, I've probably paid more in a year over the last two in car repairs/oil/etc on my 2002 Saturn than I would've leasing a civic or something. Not to hijack, but anyone got recommendations on a crossover/midsize/smallish SUV that will actually hold things like strollers and isn't a fortune? I love our Mazda 3 but the trunk sucks.

Edgy MD Jul 29 2014 07:58 AM Re: Bad luck with cars.

I'm a Mazda 3 guy. Got up to use the loo a few weeks ago. Saw a bunch of lights out the window, looked out and saw a guy sitting on a curb handcuffed, a cop on each side of him. "Hmmm," I thought. "Good job by the cops, but poor guy." We had had some home break-ins in the area in recent weeks, but it was believed that the perp or perps had been caught. I let my wife know as I went back to bet and she gave a semi-comatose "Hmmm... ." Three minutes later: BAM! BAM! BAM! Cops are knocking on our door. Turns out they had caught the guy rummaging around the interior of our car --- Mazda 3, baby. We gave a statement, thanked them for their vigilance, and went back to bed. Three minutes later: BAM! BAM! BAM! again. The cops had bagful of items seized from the guy's person and wanted to know what among it was ours. All that we could identify as ours was a set of earbuds my wife fingered. Poor guy is getting busted and all he got off us (or not) was $7 earbuds with a street value of maybe 50 cents. My wife made a note to throw those earbuds out in the morning. We get up in the morning and see the real damage. Buncha dents in our finish where the cops threw him against the car, a 12-inch scratch where his belt buckle or maybe the rivet in his jeans was dragged across the door, and, yup, a bloodstain on the sidewalk. Poor, poor sap. A week later, we get a court summons in the mail. Since we weren't served in person, we don't legally have to respond. Since we weren't eyewitnesses, the case would be little served by our presence. I don't want to undermine the case, because cops get real demoralized when they show up to court in a case and the victims do not. You want to support your local officer and reward his vigilance, so he continues to patrol the area. On the other hand, was using so much force, that you did more damage to the vehicle (to say nothing of the perp) than the petty larceny ever could have, really necessary? Freakin' dogs slept through the whole thing. I was worried that they were dead.

themetfairy Jul 29 2014 08:23 AM Re: Bad luck with cars.

Not to hijack, but anyone got recommendations on a crossover/midsize/smallish SUV that will actually hold things like strollers and isn't a fortune? I love our Mazda 3 but the trunk sucks. Check out Subaru. The Forrester might be good for your needs. Or even the Legacy - they have decent trunk space.

RealityChuck Jul 29 2014 01:28 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

I'm in a similar situation. A giant pine fell on my car, totaling it (it also damaged my house). Our 2013 Hyundai is fine, so we're stuck with that and eventually we will be looking into another. It's my wife's car, and she uses it only two or three times a month, usually for doctor's appointments. If we got something, a used car is where we would go. I'd have to look into the pros and cons of leasing. We paid cash for our Hyundai* and took out minimal loans on all are cars over the years. We keep cars 15-20 years, so leasing ends up being more expensive. At this point, we'd just want a decent used car that'd last another 7-8 years, at which point we'd trade both cars in and just use one. *Well, we put it on our credit card and paid it off the next month. Got tons of Marriott points that got us one free hotel night on its own, plus it allowed us to spend a week visiting our daughter in Chicago without paying for the hotel.

Ceetar Jul 29 2014 01:33 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

Where do you buy used cars? Dealership? one of those sleezy automalls? Between the new mortgage and the pending criminally high child care costs we're debating getting like a 2008 CRV or something but still iffy about the idea of taking a loan to buy an older car.

themetfairy Jul 29 2014 02:24 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

I would look into buying a used car from a dealership because I think you'd get a better warranty than you would from one of the cheap but sleazy places.

Nymr83 Aug 01 2014 09:31 AM Re: Bad luck with cars.

Ceetar wrote: Where do you buy used cars? Dealership? one of those sleezy automalls? Bud Selig?

Mets Guy in Michigan Aug 02 2014 11:32 AM Re: Bad luck with cars.

We ended up leasing. Seemed like a decent deal, and we didn't have to worry about loans.

MFS62 Aug 07 2014 12:13 PM Re: Bad luck with cars.

Was driving to a place I've never been to this morning, off Exit 23 of I-95 in Fairfield, CT. At the exit, the road forks. I slowed down to read the signs. Good thing I did, because someone cut in front of me to take the right fork from the left lane. I hit my brakes and found I had no brakes. (later found out I had broken a brake fluid line). I was able to veer to the side to avoid the other car and came to a slow stop. I don't hit the jerk but still sustain "damage" to my car. Go figure. Later