A couple of people have asked about the treatment I got after the
wreck mentioned in my previous post. There is a long story behind this
whole incident that sort of qualifies the short answer to the question
which is: yes, I am satisfied with the deal. It was not a great deal
but it could have been a real headache.
At the beginning of the summer, we lived in North Carolina. In June,
we moved to Omaha (grad school) and left the newly finished Spit at
my inlaw's. The plan was to fly back to NC in July and drive the
car to the VTR. From there, we were going to drive to Omaha. The first
part of the plan worked out fine. The last leg ended prematurely in
Macon, GA. The accident happened on a Sunday morning and if you've
ever been to the South, you know that nothing is open on a Sunday.
On the advice of my insurance company, I left the car in Macon and
drove a rental car back to NC to use the return part of our airline ticket.
Mistake. I am still angry at my insurance company. They assured me
that their adjuster would handle the whole thing for me including delivery
to my door in Omaha. I found out later that they would have nothing to
do with it because I was not carrying collision. I understand this but
I specifically asked the person I talked to on Sunday about this and
she said no problem, they would handle it. Unfortunately, I did not
find out until I was at home, 1200 miles or so away from the car. So,
now I'm on my own and trying to deal with this thing long distance.
To make a long story a little shorter, it took almost 3 months to settle.
The major holdup was that the shop the insurance company deals with was
having problems putting together an estimate. I ended up calling around
myself for prices and then passing them along to them. They then
decided to total it and offered about $3,000 less salvage ($275 or so).
They also paid rental car expense and $500 to ship it to NE. I
might have been able to get more. I don't know if any of you saw it
at the VTR (blue Mk3 in participant's choice) but I think I could have
gotten more if I were to sell it and hold out for top dollar. $3,000
seemed to be at least in the ballpark. Since I'm going to do the repairs
myself, I think I will come out okay. I found someone to ship it for
$575 so I will come out okay there too. The only major hurdles left
are finding a bonnet, a bumper, and a front valence. The rest of the
parts should be easy to find.
Lessons learned? Have an appraisal done BEFORE it happens. Carry
collision. Don't leave the car 1200 miles away. NEVER EVER think
that your insurance company is on your side. They are only on their
OWN side. If your side and their side are the same, you are lucky.
Otherwise you are on your own.
May this never happen to you,
Mike Burdick
mburdick@molecular.unmc.edu
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