Should've known better
Last month we hit a deer and insurance totaled out our car. It's 14 yrs old so we knew we wouldn't get a great payout but it was right at the threshold where we had to decide if it was worth keeping and repairing or letting them take it and us finding another older used car to drive for a few more years to a point we'd hopefully be better situated to take on a loan payment for something newer.
I had lost my job in the spring and have been living off my severance so taking on a new car loan isn't in the cards at the moment.
Thankfully we had an even older car and with me not working, had been managing okay enough as a one car family while we shopped around and decided our next move.
Eventually though, the deadline with insurance came and we had to decide- turn car over or take the lower pay out. We shopped around autobody places too to see where we could get the best estimate if we opted to keep it. With used car prices as they are, and upcoming camping trips planned - it seemed apparent that if we wanted to still have a roof rack for the kayaks and a hitch for the camping gear carrier- our best option was to just keep our vehicle and repair it.
My childhood best friend's father in law has a shop. We've gone through him many years ago in the past and while he wasn't the cheapest we decided he might be able to take his time sourcing used parts and allow us stick within our not great budget.
The car had other older body damage from past incidents we didn't care if they remained unrepaired and covered in duct tape. We made it explicitly clear we didn't want or need that side of the car touched. We said didn't even care if the new parts were a different color.
The car sat the shop far longer than a normal repair job. We had said take your time if that means you can track down cheaper parts. Over the past few weeks when calling to check in on progress, we also inquired "still on budget?" Met with "yep I think so"
Last week we were told today would likely be pick up day. Perfect, my husband had the day off. This shop is an hour away, but again, we went there thinking we'll get a family friend discount.
Today arrives, and a disappointing phone call - car wont be ready until tomorrow, oh and we're $700 over budget 😮💨 and a 5% fee if we put it on the credit card instead of paying cash/check- but we'll "be really happy with how good she looks" which I'm positive means things we didn't need or want to pay to get fixed did anyway.
If this were just some shop I had no essentially familial ties to, I'd raise holy hell and leave some really pissed off reviews online about being SO far over budget but alas, I don't feel like I should because of the relationship and this being a family owned business.
Chalk this up to a hard lesson learned, I guess.
Argh.
I had lost my job in the spring and have been living off my severance so taking on a new car loan isn't in the cards at the moment.
Thankfully we had an even older car and with me not working, had been managing okay enough as a one car family while we shopped around and decided our next move.
Eventually though, the deadline with insurance came and we had to decide- turn car over or take the lower pay out. We shopped around autobody places too to see where we could get the best estimate if we opted to keep it. With used car prices as they are, and upcoming camping trips planned - it seemed apparent that if we wanted to still have a roof rack for the kayaks and a hitch for the camping gear carrier- our best option was to just keep our vehicle and repair it.
My childhood best friend's father in law has a shop. We've gone through him many years ago in the past and while he wasn't the cheapest we decided he might be able to take his time sourcing used parts and allow us stick within our not great budget.
The car had other older body damage from past incidents we didn't care if they remained unrepaired and covered in duct tape. We made it explicitly clear we didn't want or need that side of the car touched. We said didn't even care if the new parts were a different color.
The car sat the shop far longer than a normal repair job. We had said take your time if that means you can track down cheaper parts. Over the past few weeks when calling to check in on progress, we also inquired "still on budget?" Met with "yep I think so"
Last week we were told today would likely be pick up day. Perfect, my husband had the day off. This shop is an hour away, but again, we went there thinking we'll get a family friend discount.
Today arrives, and a disappointing phone call - car wont be ready until tomorrow, oh and we're $700 over budget 😮💨 and a 5% fee if we put it on the credit card instead of paying cash/check- but we'll "be really happy with how good she looks" which I'm positive means things we didn't need or want to pay to get fixed did anyway.
If this were just some shop I had no essentially familial ties to, I'd raise holy hell and leave some really pissed off reviews online about being SO far over budget but alas, I don't feel like I should because of the relationship and this being a family owned business.
Chalk this up to a hard lesson learned, I guess.
Argh.
46-50, F
