Dannic, The Prince of Cats

Posted by Dannic on April 18th, 2007 in General

Alright.  I have to admit that it didn’t go as bad as I had feared.

The guy who assessed the damage to my truck was quick.  He didn’t bother dickering with me over what needed to be replaced.  He did take some pictures and went right to work writing down things that would have to be replaces rather than repaired.

He did say I broke the record for the most expensive trailer hitch.  Just a little over $1k for a factory installed trailer hitch.  They are going to replace the bed of the truck as well.  Even try to straighten out the frame(not too happy about that).  The one thing I did think he would blow off he blew off.  The CD Player.  I guess when I take it to the shop to get it fixed I’ll have them look at it.  We wrote it on the estimate that he gave me.  So we will see if I can get them to replace that too.

Found another thing that was broken when I went to feul up.  The gas cap was broken as well.  Kinda wierd that it would be broken but it figures since the door for the gas had popped open and there is a crease in the bed that goes through that area.  Could be some damage to the gas intake area of the truck as well.  I’ll have to remember to mention that when I take it in for repair.

The biggest thing I was worried about was that they would write me a check and say that was all I was going to get out of them.  I know from experience that once a repair job starts they always find additional things that are hidden.  Fortunately, they will accept reappraisals and provide additional monies as needed.

The repair was estimated to take 22 days.  That’s a long time but I do know that is about average.  It may not actually take that long with all the stuff they are just replacing but we will just have to see.

Supposed to get a rental car for the time it is in the shop.  Of course it will be a mid sized car.  Not real happy about that.  I bought a truck for a reason.  If I had wanted a car I would have bought a car.  Fortunately the guy said to just give him a call and they would upgrade me to what I needed.  So once I get my appointment to get my car fixed and set up the rental, I will give them a call to get it upgraded to a Truck.

Even with all the repairs and replacement of parts, my truck will never be the same.  The value of it just dropped dramaticly.  They will never reimburse me for that.  Nor will they reimburse me for my lost time.

The first estimate of damages ended up being $9640.40.  Just short of the $10k I said it would be.  But that doesn’t take into account my radio and other hidden items that just haven’t been found.  I know there will be more once they start work.

They wrote me a check for that amount to start.  I am supposed to pay it to whom ever I choose to do the repairs.  So I stuck it in my savings account until they make me pay them.  Hopefully that won’t be till they get the repairs done but we will see.

I’ll keep you updated on everything.  Just in case you  might be interested.