CRUNCH

[cjsmith]

I'm fine, I think, except for a broken fingernail. So's the other guy.

I was northbound on Mary, heading to work, and a guy on the other side of the street just... made a U-turn. Too bad for both of us that I was there! I pulled to the right and slowed as much as I could, but we hit anyway. I couldn't open my door afterward; got out the passenger side. Both cars could still drive, so we went to his house a couple blocks away and exchanged all the appropriate info. He was very polite about it. We were both pretty shaky and we commiserated on how this wasn't a terrific start to the day.

My guess is they're probably going to total mine. A 1989 Toyota Corolla isn't worth much by the book. At least I can drive it while I look for another.

I *suspect* it's technically his fault -- double yellow line, plus U-turns don't have right-of-way anyway -- but I'm not sure that truly matters to either of us at this point. We're healthy, we're not dead or in critical condition somewhere or injured in a way that won't heal; we'll have fully functional cars again at some point; neither of us is making this any harder for the other than it needs to be. All of that seems pretty darn positive to me right now.

Comments

[lesliepear.livejournal.com]

Glad you are ok. Poor little toyota :(

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, I figure I could have gotten another five or even ten years out of that little workhorse. It's not at all unknown for a Toyota to hit 300K miles and still be running. (mine = 135K.) Ah well. I shall mourn my little blue companion. Now what the heck am I gonna get in its place...? :)

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

My 1989 is at about 220K.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they're good for a lot, those Corollas.

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you are feeling physically ok. I hope everything with the cars works itself out well. My Corolla is also a 1989 & I count my blessings that it still runs well and is mostly in good shape. (I could not afford to replace it at this time.)

I also second the comment about not letting the insurance company low ball the car's value. Depending on the dollar amount of damage vs. the dollar value of the car, it still might be totaled. ...But there are also times when things just "come close" and the insurance company starts to say that it's totaled before having them recheck their figures. (This happened both with my Corolla in 1997 and with jemstone's Corolla earlier this year.)

Take care & good luck!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yes, those little Toyotas are real troopers. I have gotten a lot of good value out of mine. Seems like you have from yours as well.

ladycelia has given me some good pointers on what might help the insurance company see that this is not quite a Kelly Blue Book -value car. Low miles, working A/C, nice radio, etc etc. We'll see how it goes. I figure if the frame's bent I'm hosed. If not we might be able to make some sort of deal.

Thanks!

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

Thank God you're OK.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I am feeling very fortunate today. Annoyed at the stuff-to-do, yes, but overall, very fortunate.