I forgot to mention that on Monday, the last day of 2012, when I was picking Bill up to go to the race, I backed out of his driveway and into the back of a Honda Accord that was parked on the street. I have no excuse. It was snowing, but I didn’t see the car at all.
Anyway, I jumped out of my van, went up to the door, left my name and number with the girlfriend of the car’s owner and drove off to the race. The guy called and I asked him if he would just go get an estimate and if it wasn’t too much, I’d just pay him. He said that would be fine.
I’ve had four accidents in my life. 2 times now, I’ve hit a parked car. The first time I was a teenager, and was delivering newspapers. I was folding and throwing papers simultaneous and clipped a parked car. And now this one. I’ve had two other accidents, not my fault. Both times were driving team vans. One time in Dallas, I was on US 75 and got rear ended when there was a big slowing of traffic. The other time, I was driving the Schwinn van up in Canada and the same thing. A slowing of traffic and the guy behind me smashed into me.
Anyway, the picture below is of the “destruction” of the vehicle. The guy called and it is nearly a 2 grand estimate. That is nuts. It’s absolutely the best place on the car I could have hit. One small rear quarter panel. I couldn’t believe it. And this was just pulling out the dent and fixing it, no parts.
If you earn the minimum wage here in Kansas, that is 35 days of work, 8 hours a day, at $7.25 an hour. I have no idea what this body shop is charging, but even if it takes the guy 20 hours, that is nearly $100 an hour. It doesn’t seem right. Anyway, I’m just going to turn it into my insurance. I’ve never made a claim, so I’ll cross my fingers on my rates skyrocketing.
I’m not sure why everything seems so expensive nowadays. A plumber, car mechanic, dentist, even razor blades, everything seems out of proportion to what a normal person earns. They all want to vacation in the Mediterranean I guess. People can’t be without their cars, and their cars have to look nice, so I guess that explains it somewhat. It’s stupid.
Click to enlarge.
Here are a couple photos of the Cross Nationals course from yesterday.
Why do these things cost $4 a blade?
Wow they are using a front end loader to clear the course? The weather man is calling for some more moisture Friday in to sat of next week.. Should be a good one.
That dent should not take 2 grand to fix. I don’t even blame the “victim” as much as the body shop. When they find out someone is offering to pay out of pocket, they gouge. I had a similar dent in my car that first got a $2300 estimate, but in the end was fixed for $600. They were going to put on a new back door “so it lined up right,” and other such nonsense. The economy affects body shops, too; don’t expect them not to be doing some gouging. I’d see if you can work with the owner of the car to do something you both feel good about. If the guy isn’t a complete jag, he may be willing to have some compassion.
Hell, I’d have you sign the dent and consider it an upgrade.
…offer the car owner a little more than your deductable in stead of turning it in….as fast as cars depreciate, i’d have a hard time putting a couple grand into a quarter panel repair. you were smart to take a photo of the damage…
blades
http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/
A front end loader?
The car looks like a fairly new Honda. The owner has EVERY right to be “made whole” on this situation. Certainly reasonable to request a second estimate as a “second opinion” – but by some of the prior comments it seems that some individuals think it is acceptable to force their value system on someone else. It isn’t. The guy will now have a repaired Honda with potential diminished value. PLUS – he now has a hassle in his life getting the car repaired and being without the vehicle for several days. 2 sides to any story or viewpoint.
The reason everything is getting so expensive is sitting in the White House. The economy is in the tank thanks to him, so less business equals higher prices. Simple as that.
Moral of the story, don’t back into someones car….
Repair shops have been charging $100 per hr here in Cali for years. Turn it in to your insurance. I’ll bet they pay less for the repair.
I agree with Euro, the nut behind the wheel is the cause, to both topics…
You can purchase with $5.99 today the same items as you could with $1 in 1970. (According to the calculator below). Printing money continues to drop the value of the dollar, which is only one reason…
http://www.dollartimes.com/calculators/inflation.htm
Completely enjoy yor writing!
Use your insurance, that is why you pay for it.. It will save you and him time and stress in the long run.
Jon
JB beat me to it. I use dollar shave club, too. Tired of Gillette and Schlick bending me over for razor prices.
I’ve got one of these old-fashioned types, single double-edge blade, which works better and longer than a five-bladed razor: http://idsgn.org/posts/now-and-then-do-we-really-need-five-blades/ It’s nearly 90 years old, btw. These blades cost 23 cents each: http://www.amazon.com/Wilkinson-Classic-Double-Safety-Blades/dp/B000GCSFWW/ref=sr_1_16?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1357285927&sr=1-16&keywords=double+edge+razor+blades
I just quit shaving. Problem solved.
It’s the EPA you need to blame, not the body shop. Fifteen years ago I could buy a gallon of paint and a gallon of clear coat, a bottle of hardener and a gallon of reducer for 80 bucks. That paint had .0034% lead in it so we had to banish it. You never know when some kids might chew on your fenders. Last week I bought a gallon of basecoat, paint and clear along with hardener and reducer 700 bucks.