ArtisticallyChill

So Serena had the day off the day before Xmas Eve and so she decided to finish up her last minute shopping. On her way home, going 10 miles per hour, coming out of a right turn, she hit some black ice. The Echo fishtailed. Serena did her best in evasive maneuvering, and managed to hit only a snowbank. The car was ramped up on the snowbank pretty well so she couldn’t back out. Luckily she wasn’t hurt. As I was making my way to her location, getting a ride from one of the office staff, she called to let me know someone was nice enough to tow her out. She drove the Echo to a nearby parking lot and waited for me.

When I arrived, I was relieved to see that Serena was uninjured. The Echo (aka The Irken Elite) did sustain some bumper damaged but there was more damage underneath. The lining by the right front tire had come off due to the impact. The next morning I took it to a collision repair center in town and got a free estimate. Best case scenario was that I could pay out of pocket if the damage was under $1000. But that scenario quickly faded after the claims coordinator went over the damages with me. The impact apparently nudged the radiator, bending the supports holding it and making the hood hard to open. Total estimate for the repairs is $2700.

I’ve already filed the claim (MY FIRST EVER!) with my auto insurance. The claims rep I talked to was very nice and impressed that this was my first claim. Even the guy at the collision center was impressed with that too. So after a brief call to Serena to get her statement. I opted out of my insurance’s concierge service only because the Toyota Certified Collision Center was highly recommended and I was more concerned about getting a quality repair than a speedy repair. The insurance rep didn’t give me a hassle about not taking the concierge service and will be making his way to the collision center to inspect the damages and negotiate a fair estimate with the claims coordinator sometime this week after I drop off the ECHO tomorrow morning.

Hopefully this won’t put us in too much of financial bind beginning in 2009. I really wanna take Serena to San Diego for the Comic-Con.

~ LoneWolf