Russell goes NYOOM

"What now?": Dealing With Auto Insurance and Auto Body Repair

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Car insurance. Most states in the US requires drivers to have it. Luckily for most, you probably will never have to actually utilize it. But what if you do? Listen, nobody wants to think about getting into a car accident, or even dealing with damage done to their car while they weren't even in it. As of this article's posting, two weeks ago I went through such a situation. The aggravation, the stress, all that good stuff. My car wasn't even moving, let alone myself in my Mazda. But despite being painted in a coat of bright Soul Crystal Red Metallic, another driver in their base model Dodge Challenger still managed to hit it while pulling into a spot at a gas station.

Well, what do you do when that happens? A couple of things to keep in mind.

After that, it's a matter of getting your car to a body shop. You have the choice to bring it to whatever shop you choose, your insurance can recommend a shop but not demand you go to a particular one. Most shops they recommend anyway usually have an affiliation with that shop. In my case, my Mazda was very much still drivable and fine as the damage was mostly cosmetic. Hell, I could have even just shrugged it off and said "Eh, whatever," and not done a thing. But the other driver claimed to be at fault on their own insurance and my own policy would be unaffected and most importantly, I didn't need to pay a dime.

Of course, after talking with insurance and figuring out a repair shop to work with, there is the other part of dealing with all of this that could either be fine or a headache: getting a rental.

Rentals: Abused Cars Aplenty

There is a handful of rental companies out there that cover this market. You got Avis, Hertz, Budget, but the one company that seems to be all over the place is Enterprise. Growing up, I knew what Enterprise was merely because of their commercials in the late 90's. Now the ad itself just showed somebody on the phone, getting a car then getting picked up and off they go. But the commercials always ended the same way: a completely gift wrapped car driving on an uphill road as the camera zooms in with the catchphrase: "Enterprise, we'll pick you up," It was sort of their shtick in their 90's advertising. Certainly cemented itself in my young and dumb brain.

Fast forward to my own situation now, having to drop off my Mazda at a body shop and my insurance contacting Enterprise for me and dealing with a follow up call to confirm info. I really wasn't picky about what sort of car to get, I was stressed and upset over the ordeal already. But finding out how much of a pain it was just to get something on par with the size of Mazda just made me not want to bother. I just told the guy over the phone "Just, don't give me a Nissan,"

The following morning, I have to drop off my Mazda at the body shop I picked out. Low and behold, I saw my rental before I even pulled in. A Nissan. Well that's what I get for mentioning a preference. But luckily the agent was professional, clear about everything and right to the point. But basically I had to pay out of pocket for the insurance on the rental, which is fine I guess. But the car itself? A dark grey 2022 Nissan Sentra SV. Sitting in the driver's seat it had already racked up 43,000 miles in it's short existence. But after looking over the outside of the car and other than typical dents, dings and scratches the average person seems to not care about, getting the keys and getting settled into the car is when I noticed the company's policies about car care really showed itself to be... lax.

Cursed With Car Knowledge

Being very knowledgeable about car maintenance and care can very much be a blessing, or a curse depending on the situation. In this case? A curse. Because leaving the body shop parking lot and having the morning sun really shine on the car's windows and mirrors really, really showed how much they were never cleaned. Sure, the interior was vacuumed but that's all that seemed to be done. Even the exterior mirrors had a good coating of hard water stains on them. But then, getting back onto the highway was when I noticed the utterly loud humming noise. After getting back home, I did some quick poking around and even got a jack under the car to check for play in the front end. Luckily it was all tight, the front tires barely had much tread life left.

Could I have called and complained? Sure, but it was Saturday. One of my days off and I was still absolutely irked from my car even being hit and having to be repaired in the first place. I just didn't care enough. At the very least, I cleaned the windows and mirrors, inside and out. There was enough of a layer of crud caked onto the inside of the back window that at night, the glare from lights made it so hard to see.

What about the car itself? Well, it was very much an car. Remarkably unremarkable, to an almost impressive degree. Sure the infotainment screen was a touchscreen, but it was angled in a way that it faced directly straight back on the dashboard meaning it felt like it was tilted away from me and glare from the sun made it hard to see most of the time. A CVT with fake shift points to make people stop complaining about their transmission was "slipping". But seeing the dashboard with it's cheap, wrinkled hard plastic, have stitching on it, as if it were soft touch leather or something.

The longest 11 days

Not used to the whole insurance process of having your car repaired at a body shop, each day felt longer than it was. When the next work week started, I got ahold of the shop that Tuesday. An adjuster already looked at the car and repairs were approved. I was told I would get a call later that week about the progress. Fast forward to Friday, having not heard from them all afternoon, I called them an hour before they closed. New parts were all in, rear bumper was off and parts were getting painted. Was told the car would be done Monday. That Monday? Not done, but told it would be done the next day. Which, alright I guess.

Tuesday afternoon I get the phone call I've been wanting to hear: The Mazda is all done. It was late in the afternoon when I got the car, it looked great too. But it was in the shade, was in the shade when I got home as well. The next day, in the afternoon was one last wrench in this whole ordeal. I saw fine swirlmark scratches all over the car's paint. Great.

The next morning I get ahold of the body shop and tell them the issue. I was on hold for less than a minute when they got back and told me to bring it by as soon as possible. Sadly, it would be another Saturday for me. But, once the day came around and I left it there for a couple of hours, my Mazda was finally done. Tipped the detailer, too. Always tip people who do services like that, people don't appreciate those sorts of jobs.

All in all most of my October was dealing with this all because some lady in a Challenger didn't have spatial awareness with her boat of a Chrylser product. 0/10 do not recommend. But if it happens, don't be afraid to be firm about things, sometimes you have to. But that's it for now. See ya next time!