One of those days… the good news is that it wasn’t the van!

(cue the sighs)

I’ve had my Diamante for 5+ years, this brown one a replacement for the dark grey/almost black one that grenaded at 267k after nearly 6 years (colors to match the black & tan dog hair!).  This one only has 232k and though it’s got its minor problems, is going strong and I figured at least another 30, but maybe it could hit 300k!  Until this a.m. when Alan popped Kady in the jump seat and went down the bluff to get some parts for the boat he’s putting together:

… and this yahoo down the block backs out of his driveway without looking, and:

CRUNCH!

… and his response is to start bitching at Alan… Alan started walking back to the house to get his phone and the cops arrived before he even hit the top of the hill, the guy had called, and the cops have dealt with him before.  Kady supervised the scene, too bad there wasn’t a “K-9 Officer” for her to get acquainted with.  Suffice it to say “Parnelli” got a “Failure to Yield” out of it.

… and what did we get out of it?  Well, there’s the door …  it does open sort of, after a bit of a struggle, opens most of the way, with a several inch drop as it pops out of the frame, and it latches with a few serious slams, the bottom outer part is separated from the inside, the front bumper is a bit folded up, the mirror is all scraped up but not broken, but the worst of it is that there is a scary noise in the steering, turning, particularly to the right… sort of a scrapey rattley sound.

How much is this poor thing worth?  Kelley says $1,100-1,600, but fixing it would be SOOOOOO expensive that I don’t know that it’s worth it, a front bumper, fender and door and whatever is going on mechanically on an 18 year old car with 232k.  And I HATE dealing with insurance companies.  The insurance company would probably total it out (and we’re hoping there is an insurance company on the other end of this!).

I love having an old car that works, is paid for, dependable, and fun to drive.  These cars are the greatest for long and fast road trips, 150 MPH speedo and it just might do that comfortably, and great sound, flying along I-90 with the Meters blaring, getting decent mileage all the while, I was so thrilled to find another one of these just at the right time, but now… well, it’s looking grim.  I think it’s on the way to Freecycle.  We can get the police report Monday.

So now something smaller, only one dog now…  a Mazda or Geo — hatchback or wagon?  Sure can’t afford the depreciation to get a Prius off the lot!