Our daughter (only child) graduates college by the end of June. Her finals are done early and she has been touring Europe with her college friends, since early May for a month.
In September she’ll start her Masters at her university. She was offered the whole cost of the program plus some living expenses and already works in research projects/jobs with her professors, so she is almost financially independent. She wants to stay in academia, so we’ll probably, hopefully, see her Master’s graduation in about two years and then PhD…
I’m right there with you. BUT. My “caboose” baby still in law school
“Caboose” meaning he’s 12 years younger than his siblings.
Mature but not done paying just yet.
This is what I’ve spent most of my weekend on. Since we are talking about our kids…
People need to learn how to drive… Watch this get totaled by the insurance company… Parts ~$600. Paint $800 (including labor). Tear down / reassembly - maybe 3 hours.
My money is on a $4500 bill for this with how things are now. If they total it, I’m just going to do it all myself (other than paint), and my daughter can roll with a salvaged title. Car only has 50K on it and was in perfect shape before someone driving an $80K Audi decided to fly between lanes and clip my daughter in the right lane.
His car has about $25K in damage, if not more. Torn up aluminum body shell and destroyed $2000 wheel. You can see the tire marks on the bumper. He also sped away but then pulled over a few blocks away. 24 year old.
FML!
Here’s the best part - You can’t get a police report in NYC for a car accident unless there are injuries.
That’s the key. The NYPD no longer will come to an accident scene unless traffic is blocked or there is an injury.
Everyone is fine, they barely felt the brush by impact. My kid was a little shocked when she saw the damage as was I. To avoid waiting for a tow, I went back home and got a drill and some zip ties to hold back the various things that were rubbing the tire so I could drive it home.
She had a friend in the car with her who’s grandfather died yesterday. My kid was driving her friend to get a bunch of stuff for her Mom to get ready for the various things that happen when someone passes away.
Let’s go over the last 8 days:
Sat 5-11 - water heater bursts
Wed 5-15 - MIL goes to the ER for 7 hours for a battery of tests. - She will be OK
Sat 5-18 - Daughter wrecks her car
Yea, it’s the wild wild west around here for the last few years. The only real traffic enforcement here are the speed cameras. I never see anyone pulled over anymore.
Our insurance company has finished their investigation with the evidence provided and faulted the other driver based on the damage (pull / not push damage) - indicating that our story lines up with reality.
Most insurance companies will start off with initially finding fault with the other driver, that’s their job, but the case manager thinks this one will stick and we will get our deductible back.
Weather did not hold, postponed to tonight. Weekend festivities extended a day. Houseguests extended until tomorrow. This “antisocial extrovert” (or “social introvert”) mama is proud but also
So sorry about the weather!! And same - I’m a social introvert. Thankfully nobody will be staying here (I hope) and my daughter wanted a gazillion people invited to her party, but prefers it be kept simple. So we’re just doing a big spread of appetizers and I put 4-6 p.m. on the invites. Anything for our kids!
Got the low ball estimate from the photo estimate on the car but was excited to see the car get valued at $10K. Thought great, there’s no way the repair will get anywhere near that figure.
Then I drive it to the body shop today and I find out about this new salvage value BS insurance companies are now into. The car got tagged with a salvage value (part out) of $6500.
That means if the real estimate comes back at $3501+, the insurance company is taking it and paying us out at $10K, and recovering 65% of it.
That would be a shame. Hard to find a decent history-free used vehicle for $10K. Hope this works out. My MIL bought this car new and gave it to my daughter when she started driving a couple years ago. We know the history and it’s been well taken care of and is really just a teen ager at 50K miles.
Hoping for the best. Perhaps things will be different if the other driver is truly found at fault. Not sure that’s going to happen unless he has a history of stupid accidents.
Body shop thinks there is structural damage behind the headlight. That will be the deal breaker for the insurance company if they are right. I don’t think there is. The light broke because of pressure from the fender being dented. All the body lines are still perfect , there is no damage to the hood and it opens as it should. Body shop also thought the radiator support was damaged too before he opened the hood to find it as it should be.
The front end is being blown apart tomorrow. Will know soon.
I have discovered (via many discussions on a Reddit forum for my car’s brand) that insurance companies total cars so frequently now for even what looks like minor damage. This likely explains why.
Old school 81%+ Totaled
More recently 51%+ Totaled
Now this crap… - However the insurance company can make the most money by recouping on salvage plus jacking up your rates for getting into an accident in the first place.
Today’s cars are too complicated with their safety systems.
Example - tree branch fell across the road by my MIL’s summer place in the mountains last year. She didn’t see it and hit it. Needed a new hood and a headlight. It also had a little dent in the A-Pillar.
Insurance wrote it up at $1700. It turned out costing $7800 to fix. The main problem was the windshield needed to come out to fix the A-pillar and it broke during the process which is common. The car has all sorts of features built into the windshield. After it was all said and done it cost $1500 to have someone come in and recalibrate everything.
This isn’t a Maybach Benz we are talking about here. It’s a 2021 Nissan Kicks
Did the airbags go off? I know that’s usually a surefire way to have a car totaled - like my son’s Nissan Altima a few years ago. Both airbags went off = totaled car.
YES! This is insanity. I had to get my windshield replaced (I have an Audi) and good gravy it was expensive because of all of the technology!
Nope, no airbags. The other ■■■ hole was weaving in and out of lanes and clipped the front corner of my kids car. It’s pull not push damage so no airbags thankfully.
And YES, you are correct. Even in a brand new luxury car - if some or all of the bags go off, it’s almost a guaranteed total.
Rough few weeks around here thanks to other issues, but this is her and she’s the first of 9…youngest two just finished Pre-K
So, I’m like 'NO MORE DRIVING KIDS TO SCHOOL AND PICKING UP EVERY DAY" – They can ALL ride the bus next year! (Pre-K4 must be driven here in our system).
Love this! She’s a beauty - I’m sure inside and out! What a treat it must be to watch them grow up <3 Such a great picture of her - I’m a photographer so my daughter keeps ‘voluntelling’ me to do photo shoots of her and her friends. lol
