Vent post. I bought a really nice convertible recently: a Saturn Sky Red Line. 260 horsepower manual roadster, $5600. I already spent $700 and eight hours or so improving the interior and had plans to do a lot of other work. Spent like $800 on brand new winter tires (a commitment to own the thing for 4-5 years at least). Planned to race it in the spring. This was really my biggest source of joy the last few months.
Two weeks ago someone in a 2017 F-150 sideswiped me on the highway and drove away. I chased him for a while but he lost me. I got his plate but no footage of who was actually inside. Pigs said they wouldn't criminally charge him (hit-and-run, reckless driving) because I don't have evidence that the car wasn't stolen. My car runs and drives just fine, but he damaged a bunch of panels. Body shops quoted $5.5 and $6k because parts are really rare. This is so much that insurance is probably going to try to total it. They'll offer me the difference between the cash value of the car (approx what I paid for it) and the salvage value ($3k? who knows), which will not be enough to fix the damage. Effectively they're going to force me to sell the car after I really got attached to it.
Just feeling really upset and powerless. I already had a lot of shit to do and now I need to haggle with his insurance, my insurance, show up at his house (4+ hour drive) and bluff that I'll get his license taken away, and haul him into small claims if nothing works. It's unlikely any of that will give me enough to fix the damage. To reduce cost I can wait around for a parts car, which may take years. There's not a single Sky in any Illinois junkyard, and there's not a wreck in the same color with the panels I need literally anywhere in the continental US. I can do some of the installation (not painting) myself but at the very least I'm out a couple thousand dollars and many hours. Even if I had comprehensive insurance I'd be in the same situation, struggling for the insurance company not to total my car.
I can show up and pour brake fluid on his shitty truck, but that won't fix my car. Fuck this guy and people like him, fuck insurance, fuck pigs.
Jesus that sucks. Those skys are neat little cars.
My first car had a somewhat unique custom paint job and it got hit multiple times. The last time was about 10 years ago when the model bottomed out in price, and the cost for a new bumper cover, valence, and paint was like 2k and like 400 dollars away from being totaled.
I know we get all "cars bad" on here but there really isn't another contraption for folks like us that scratches that itch. Cars, while terrible for the world, also combine a canvas for expression, an endlessly complex system to pour hours into repairing, and a method for traveling and seeing/interacting with your world. I know how important they are to me and others like me. I yearn for better public transport just so less people have to drive. I don't want to drive all the time, but I enjoy a good drive more than anything.