Powertrain What?

I'll never see my poor little Toyota Corolla again. How sad is that?

Almost 4 weeks ago I was rear-ended in Dayton while on my way to the Dayton Ghost Hunters meeting. I was sitting at an intersection in back of stopped traffic and I happened to look in the rear view mirror and saw her coming... and she was not slowing down. I stepped hard on the break and gripped the steering wheel and then she hit me while going 35-40 mph. The rear of my car bounced in the air and then dropped back down. I was pissed but very glad that I didn't hit the guy in front of me. I grabbed my phone and got out of the car to look at the damage. My entire rear end was smashed in and my trunk was popped open. Lovely.

The girl that hit me was apologizing all over the place and I just told her that I really didn't want to chat and then proceeded to call the police. The po-po took 2 hours to arrive, which is strange since this happened really close to my former apartment... not exactly the best area for crime so there is usually patrol cars on constant rotation throughout the area. We did all the usual swapping of insurance information, she got a ticket and we all went about our merry way.

A couple of days later the insurance appraiser came to my job and did his thing... I was told a day later that they decided that my car was a total loss and I had a decision to make. Either I keep the car, get a salvage title and they will send me a settlement of $1,800 or I release the car and they will give me a settlement of $3,100. I was really ticked because either way, I was now going to have to buy a new car and have a car payment. It was really nice NOT having a car payment for over a year! I chose to release the car and started looking online at car dealerships.

I knew that if I was going to have a car payment that I wanted to get something that I would be happy driving. I have no clue about cars. I never look at cars while on the road and I have no "dream car." When I bought my Corolla I took my sister with me and she was being all butch talking about the engine had this and that and all I was curious about was if it had cup holders and automatic windows! I don't know about engines or anything that might actually be important when choosing a car. These are things that I usually would ask my Dad but that was not an option so I was on my own. I definitely wanted something that handled well in the snow so that is what I looked for (okay... AND excellent cup holders.)

I decided to focus on CR-V's and Jeeps. I liked the way they looked so I started looking online for pricing. I knew that if I went with a larger car I would have to pay more for gas so I weighed the pros and cons... I really wanted a Jeep. I went last week to the car dealership near my job and decided that I loathe car salesmen. They are so slimy. I specifically told them what I was looking for and they kept showing me cars that I would never own... like a Ford Taurus. Um, no. It's fine for someone else, but not for me! I was getting frustrated and I think they could tell. The last car they showed me was a Jeep Liberty... it was exactly what I wanted. I test drove it and loved it.

I went home that night and talked it over with Justin and also looked up the Jeep on CarFax. Everything looked great... I had a major internal debate with myself about buying a small suv with gas prices they way they are. I knew I would pay a lot more for gas since my Corolla got 30 mpg and the Jeep only gets 23! I decided to get it anyway. I went the next day and started th buying process and used my settlement-to-come as a down payment.

I drove the car home and found out that the speedometer does not work if you go over 40 mph... when I test drove it I only drove it around the block and never went over 35. Also, when I went to get in the car later that night the alarm started going off and I realized they never gave me a keyless entry for the alarm! After a small panic attack I jumped in the car and turned it on to stop the alarm. Not fun. I called them first thing in the morning and the person who sold me the car (the assistant manager) was not there. I was told to come the next day for the keyless remote. When I got there at 4pm the next day I was told that the service garage was closed... apparently they have to MAKE a keyless remote for me.

Ugh.

I was also told that I needed to call the salesman the next morning to arrange a time to bring my car in to get the speedometer fixed. later that night I met Justin at home and we drove back to the dealership to pick up my Corolla. I told Justin to drive the Jeep home because my Corolla was no longer insured. While he was driving it the "check engine" light came on. Good Lord.

The next morning I called the dealership first thing and was told to continue driving it and bring it in on Monday after work, which is what I did. When I got there they told me that they didn't have a loaner car for me and could I bring it back today. At this point I am so over the car situation because I have also been dealing with the insurance company having to get POA paperwork notarized, getting a salvage title, etc.

Today I took the car to the dealership (again!) and they finally gave me a loaner car. It's a Mazda 5 and I feel like a grandma in it! I guess I can't complain... at least they gave me a car to deive while mine is getting fixed! So, now my Jeep is at the dealership hopefully getting serviced. Can the car drama please end?!

When I came home today my poor little Corolla that was parked in the front of the house is gone which makes me a little sad. I knew that the salvage company was coming to pick it up today. Sadzies. That was a damn good car to me! It drove like crap in the snow, but I never really had any major problems with it... and it had 175k miles on it - I was just breaking it in! Let's hope that my Jeep does just as well! All of this headache because of that dumb girl in Dayton that forgot what breaks are for!

Here's a positive thought... At least I look cuter in the Jeep than I did in my Corolla that needed a paint job... right?

Stupid dumb car payment and extra car insurance costs!!! Drats.