Today sucked

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Well The kid's insurance company sent an adjuster to my house to quote on the damage of my Jeep. He took about a half hour to do it since it was snowing and he had to look all around my jeep. When he finished he said it was deemed totaled. I guess I could look at this as a good thing or a bad thing.

The ups:

1) I get paid something.

2) I can get a new Vehic

The Downs:

1) I'll get paid but not as much as what it would take to fix the damage. a 1995 cheep Cherokee 4 door 4WD sport with 100,000 miles on it probably goes for about $950-$1,300 . the damage was probably around $1,500-2,000 since thats about how much the left side of the front of my jeep was quoted for to get fixed when some kid 3 years ago hit it.

2) I'm not sure if my state has the 10 year rule (I read about the rule on the Internet). For those that don't know what it is; If your car is 10 years old or older, the insurance company will pay the current market value and let you keep the title of the Jeep.

However if this rule is not supported in my state then they will take the jeep and title after they pay me....there goes my holiday if that happens .

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions of what I should do? I was told by the guy that did the quote to send the insurance company a list of any major work that you had done on the Jeep to get more money. So I'm probably going to send them the $890 bill I got for replacing my whole rear breaking system. Hopefully that will push the value up to $2,000 something.

I'm sad now, I don't want to loose my Jeep because some kid made a mistake and didn't look at the oncoming traffic.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

well sucks for me. The 10 year rule does not apply in NH unless its a really expensive sports car or a classic .

I also found out that if I choose to keep the Jeep I'll get a little more then a quarter of what my jeep is worth from the insurance company probably $300 or so. The rest is kept by the insurance company since I would be "buying back" my Jeep. I also found out that if I do keep the jeep I have to go to town hall and get a new "refurbished title" for it since it was deemed totaled; this costs money. Also I would have to re-register my jeep and pay for my license plates and insurance as if I was buying a new Car all over again. So my insurance company suggested that I just accept whatever the kids insurance company is offering me and go buy a new Jeep.

THIS BLOWS ASS! Sometime this week my jeep is going to be taken from me and I will get shit for it. I'm assuming $950, $1200 at the most. I'm hopping they will accept the receipt that I have for major work that I had done to it. Maybe that will increase what its worth.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

yo yo good news good news! After all this time the insurance company has finally come through. I managed to get around $1,800 for my jeep and another $400 from the junk yard that took it away! Way more then what I was expecting. Now all thats left is to find a new Jeep. I did happen to find a nice one with only 62k miles for $6,000 so I might go take it for a test drive tomorrow. Anyway, things are looking up. The only downside is after I buy a new Jeep i'll be broke for months .

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Damn. That sucks.

I'll tell you what tho, I know I'll never buy another used 4x4 again. Previous owners destroy their fucking rides. I had to enforce the lemon law 3 different times within the first month of purchasing my used blazer. guh. Good luck with a new jeep. Make sure you test all the four wheel functionality at the place. And make them replace all your transfer case and differential fluids seeing as they are supposed to be replaced every 30,000 miles. If its a 60,000 mile jeep, all of its fluids should already have been swapped. And don't forget to get the ball joints and alignment checked. (I learned the hard way, yay for lemon law tho.)

BTW, the buyback cost of my totaled saturn was only $70. But if I didn't buy it back, I would have probably gotten an extra $200 for the tires.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Thanks for the tips. I normally take my dad with me when dealing with used car people since he's a stickler for detail and points out things that I overlook or don't really feel are that important. He points them out in front of the guy that's trying to sell the vehics causing them to scurry and try and come up with a way to keep my interested lol.

I was surprised that the dump gave me $400 for it. I could have kept the jeep after the insurance gave me the check of $1,800 and tried to sell it online for more, but I figured I probably wouldn't get allot for it so I just signed the title over to the dump and let them take it.

btw whats the lemon law? Is that something all states go by or just NY? I don't think I've ever heard of it.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

This is a decent enough site to start looking info up on:

http://www.carlemon.com/

As long as you are purchasing a vehicle at a dealership, whether it is used or new.. and as long as that vehicle is not being sold "as is" that vehicle is covered under the lemon law of the state it was purchased in. I believe all dealerships are required to give you a copy of the lemon law in with your car contract and/or loan information. You may have to request it depending on your state. In my case, because my blazer was in a certain mileage bracket, the lemon law covered my vehicle for the first 90 days, depending on the mileage of the used car, the covered time varies. There was a list of mechanical parts that are covered under the lemon law and others that weren't. In fact, at least in NY, extended car warranties will not go into effect until 90 days after your purchase because the car is still covered under the lemon law.

In my case, they sold me a 4x4 with abs with two decent tires in the front and two mismatched worn tires in the back. 4x4 and abs require all tires to be the same. Also my steering made a shit load of clunking sounds within the first week. and when I went to get an alignment done and a quick check at another mechanic he informed me my ball joints were shot and I had an oil leak.

All of that took place within the first 90 days and of course not all at the same time.. so after 4 different trips of going back to the dealership and bitching and then threatening the lemon law they gave me 2 new tires, replaced my transfer case fluid (that was the cause of the clunking sound while steering), changed a gasket and replaced 3 ball joints. I figured it was roughly about $1800 in repairs all paid for by them covered under the lemon law. Of course I had to threaten calling my lawyer at one point, but I never actually had to raise my voice.. just bitched alot. And now that I'm thinking about it, I think there was at least one other thing that f*cked up on it because the damages I listed so far don't add up to the $1800 I totaled to.. yeah, it was a bunch of bs.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

ahh I guess what your talking about is like the 60-90 day/1,000 mile satisfaction guaranty that most used car dealers have. My first jeep had a few things wrong with it but I just ended up going back to the used car dealers and having them fix that stuff for free.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Just an update on my status. I've been looking for a new Jeep for the past few months and have had no luck. Everything that I like is either way to much or has issues . This weekend I found a nice 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo. So I put $100 down on it so the guy wouldn't sell it wile he was getting some of the obvious things fixed on it. For example the driver side door needed to be re hinged and realigned. So today (Thursday) the guy said I could pick it up and take it till Saturday to test drive it and get it checked out by my own mechanic. I started out happy since the Jeep only had minor issues that I could fix on my own, like radio panel didn't light up and dash panel wouldn't stay lite up because of a loose wire or messed up switch. I showed it to my mechanic who basically put it through allot of physical stress to test out what NEEDs to be fixed in order for it to pass inspection. Thats when things kind of started to suck. The front rotors need to be replaced, all brake pads and wheel bearings need to be replaced, air conditioner fan belt needs to be replaced or realigned. Which isn't that much since I can have my mechanic do it for far cheaper then a big named place. But still thats probably around $600 or $700 worth of work. My guy said it sounded like a good deal. The jeep has 108k miles on it and the guy was selling it for only $3500.

Then it gets dark out. I figure id take it over to my friends house to show him and at the same time test out all the lights and make sure they don't die. So I turn on my lights and notice no problem, everything works fine. Fog lights work great, auto lights turn on because its dark. Then I turn on my high beams and the high beams die, also taking my dash and panel lights with it. So I turn my high beams on and off a few times and everything turns back on.....ya that sucks huh? So tomorrow I'm gonna call my mechanic again to see if he could test out the electrical stuff and see whats causing all the flickering. If its just a loose plug or a switch then I may buy the jeep since it runs solid and has no other problems other then crap like this.

What do you guys think? Good idea, bad idea?

[slippers 3,168]

I don't know anything about cars but wish you luck that everything goes well, at least you weren't seriously hurt in that accident.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

As long as its a good engine and he can actually do all those repairs for that price, that sounds like about as good of deal you'll get for a jeep. Does it have 4 wheel drive? If it does, check the car manual to make sure its working correctly. (Like I initially thought my blazer's 4x4 was working correctly, but when I checked the manual it turns out the light has to go solid for 4x4 to be activated correctly, not blinking like it was for me.)

Also, have your mechanic check out all your fluids, if it has 4x4 you'd have 2 differential fluids and your transfer case fluid. if its around 100,000, then those fluids should have been changed at least 3 times now. Valvoline does all three fluid replacements for $100 or a little more as a special.

A couple more things I'd have checked is the amps your alternator is producing, most ppl only check your voltage output, but if your amps are low then you probably have a bad battery and alternator (which could be part of that electrical problem), and that'd cost over $100 to replace both of those too. And don't forget to get the ball joints checked by an alignment guy. 4 of those at $150 a piece could make this deal not look as good. \

[gokuDX7 2,871]

As long as its a good engine and he can actually do all those repairs for that price, that sounds like about as good of deal you'll get for a jeep. Does it have 4 wheel drive? If it does, check the car manual to make sure its working correctly. (Like I initially thought my blazer's 4x4 was working correctly, but when I checked the manual it turns out the light has to go solid for 4x4 to be activated correctly, not blinking like it was for me.)

Also, have your mechanic check out all your fluids, if it has 4x4 you'd have 2 differential fluids and your transfer case fluid. if its around 100,000, then those fluids should have been changed at least 3 times now. Valvoline does all three fluid replacements for $100 or a little more as a special.

A couple more things I'd have checked is the amps your alternator is producing, most ppl only check your voltage output, but if your amps are low then you probably have a bad battery and alternator (which could be part of that electrical problem), and that'd cost over $100 to replace both of those too. And don't forget to get the ball joints checked by an alignment guy. 4 of those at $150 a piece could make this deal not look as good. \

Well the lower ball joins need to be replaced but not just yet, said my mechanic. He said I could get away with driving it for another year before replacing them. So far the biggest things are the Rotors, pads, wheel bearings, the air conditioner belt, and this damn electrical problem. I'm gonna give my mechanic a call later today and tell him about the high beam problem/dash problem. Hopefully its not something expensive to fix. If I go over $1,500 to fix this stuff then I don't think this is gonna be worth getting :/.

and ya it has 4x4 and the lights for it are kind of messed up. I showed my mechanic and he said thats pretty normally for older jeeps. As long as you can feel it engage and disengage you should be set. My 4x4 light would keep staying on part time when it was clearly not engaged at all. After shutting it off for an hour and coming back and stating it up the part time light would be gone .

Edited March 28, 2008 by gokuDX7

[gokuDX7 2,871]

well I got a quote on all the work that needs to be done. Some of which that doesn't need to be done to pass inspection.

: Pads and rotors:

front brakes $144.50

rear brakes $133.50

all together with discount: $250

: Other stuff:

AC belt: $3

wheel bearings $390

tie rod ends $226

ball joints: $228

all altogether with discount: $550

auto head light switch: $106

all together with discount: $850 give or take $50

What do you guys think? Worth it or not? My mechanic said to try and get the guy who's selling it to do as much work to it as he can before selling it to you. So I'm gonna hand him a list of things that need to be done (ie. front brakes, AC belt, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, ball joints.

[HKofsesshoumaru 673]

I had to deal with the SAME thing when I purchased my 2nd car from the same dealer I got my first car from. I drove it off the lot late that night, and parked it. By 9am in the morning, I drove it to my parents house and the engine overheated and blew up. The car place tried to give me the run around and said that they we not going to do anything. When I threatened the lemon law, and a lawyer they replaced the engine with a used engine from some guy named Tino. It cost them like $700 cuz the manager showed me the bill and complained it came out of HIS pocket. Right....

The car continued to give me issues, for the following year after I took it in several times complaining that the replaced engine was having more and more problems (the heater core exploded and spilled into the front seat, the gas lines were put on the engine with duct tape and fell off...) Lucky for me I was hit by a semi truck which tore the side of it open. I traded it in for way less than what is was worth and got my Neon. Didn't start having issues with my neon till recent, it has a lot of miles though.

Sledge: Sue these people and get a whole new car!! LOL

Goku: I miss having a jeep! Sounds good. Under a grand of work which is good. The major parts (engine and transmission) sound good, and it seems like you just need brakes. The electrical issue can be costly and leave you high and dry. Especially if it starts killing batteries at $50-100 a pop. It can also be a sign of a far greater and costly issue. I just went through this with my car and it cost me hundreds of dollars to play the 'trial and error' game with the electical system. Not to mention if you are driving one night in the dark, and the head lights go out 50 miles from your house. That can cost you a ticket if you have to keep driving, or leave you stuck in the dark.

I agree, get the current owner to do most of the work on the list if he wants to sell it to you. Good Luck!

Edited March 28, 2008 by HKofsesshoumaru

[gokuDX7 2,871]

I had to deal with the SAME thing when I purchased my 2nd car from the same dealer I got my first car from. I drove it off the lot late that night, and parked it. By 9am in the morning, I drove it to my parents house and the engine overheated and blew up. The car place tried to give me the run around and said that they we not going to do anything. When I threatened the lemon law, and a lawyer they replaced the engine with a used engine from some guy named Tino. It cost them like $700 cuz the manager showed me the bill and complained it came out of HIS pocket. Right....

The car continued to give me issues, for the following year after I took it in several times complaining that the replaced engine was having more and more problems (the heater core exploded and spilled into the front seat, the gas lines were put on the engine with duct tape and fell off...) Lucky for me I was hit by a semi truck which tore the side of it open. I traded it in for way less than what is was worth and got my Neon. Didn't start having issues with my neon till recent, it has a lot of miles though.

Sledge: Sue these people and get a whole new car!! LOL

Goku: I miss having a jeep! Sounds good. Under a grand of work which is good. The major parts (engine and transmission) sound good, and it seems like you just need brakes. The electrical issue can be costly and leave you high and dry. Especially if it starts killing batteries at $50-100 a pop. It can also be a sign of a far greater and costly issue. I just went through this with my car and it cost me hundreds of dollars to play the 'trial and error' game with the electical system. Not to mention if you are driving one night in the dark, and the head lights go out 50 miles from your house. That can cost you a ticket if you have to keep driving, or leave you stuck in the dark.

I agree, get the current owner to do most of the work on the list if he wants to sell it to you. Good Luck!

Ya, lucky for me none of the engine stuff seems to be bad. It runs like a champ. My mechanic is pretty confident from what I've told him, that the light issues are due to the major switch that controls the dash lights, panel lights, and front lights. The good news is when the high beams and dash die the low beams will still work so it it happens out of the blue I will still be able to see the road. Windows and locks also seem to work fine which also confirms that the light problem is probably due to that switch which is good.

My mechanic also mentioned that a Dealer can't sell a vehic that cant pass inspection. So technically he needs to fix at least the brake pads, front rotors, air con belt, and wheel bearings. The other stuff can last for another year before being replaces. So I'm gonna try and pressure him into paying for the cost to fix the major things.

Right now I don't know how I'm gonna survive. If I get the jeep and pay for the fixes, I may not have enough to cover insurance for the first half of the year. So that means I'm gonna have to find a full time job which is kind of hard right now since no one is looking for web designers in or around my town .

[HKofsesshoumaru 673]

Car insurance can be almost as hard as shopping for a car.

Have you tried Safe Auto? They do ONLY the state min. You will have to check and see if they are in your state.

• Arizona
  
• Georgia
  
• Illinois
  
• Indiana
  
• Kentucky
  
• Louisiana
  
• Mississippi
  
• Missouri
  
• Ohio
  
• Oklahoma
  
• Pennsylvania
  
• South Carolina
  
• Tennessee
  
• Texas
  

Another cheap car insurance company, The General. I used them for awhile.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Na, I have insurance with state farm. I just froze my account since I no longer have a jeep. Once I buy a new jeep and unfreeze my account the rate will probably go up a hundred or two becuse the jeep is newer, which sucks since I don't think I'll have enough to cover the first half. I suppose I could switch from paying twice a year to 6 times a year. Normally I pay around $520 in July and $670 in Dec.

Well off to try and find a second decent job that will be able to cover any of my future expenses lol.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Thats a helluva good deal with the mechanic, everything hes quoting sounds good. But I have to wonder about the quality of the brake pads and rotors he'll put on your jeep. I bought really good ceramic pads for the front and backs for $60 a set and put them on myself. But $250 for all four rotors and front and back pads. Hes either doing the brake job close to cost for you or he'll probably be putting on the lower end pads and rotors. While those are still fine, you might want to ask him how much more ceramic pads will cost you. Get those and you won't have dirty looking wheels, pretty much no noise when you brake and they'll last you probably 3 to 5 years compared to regular pads.. well at least for me, I live in a hilly region and brake job commercials are abundant here.

The highbeam problem you're having sounds like an issue I had with my blazer. I'm hoping its just a switch issue like you're saying. But I had an issue with my lights blinking out on me when I hit my brakes or switched to highbeams, the lights only went out for a second but it scared the shit outta me on the highway. At the same time, my 4x4 wouldn't always kick on, it'd blink sometimes, other times it would work, other times it would refuse to engage and click back over to 2hi. That particular problem was all due to my alternator/battery combo not providing the amps/power to engage the 4x4 and all the electrical in the car. x_x

BTW, about insurance, what is your deductable? You could always raise it up to $500 to get a cheaper rate. Of course you'll be out $500 if you get in another accident. \ I recommend Progressive tho. I got multiple quotes after my accident that I didn't cause, and progressive was about $1000 cheaper a year over a couple other insurance companies that still considered the accident as a negative on my record even tho I wasn't responsible for it.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

The mechanic is a family friend so he would be doing the work for basically just the cost of the parts. He charges about $20 or so per hour but normally gives us a discount since where friends. I'll ask him about the brake pads. His son owns a jeep so I'm guessing he knows what to get to make it last.

As for the lights, ya I'm a bit scared it might be something else but he seems to think its definitely the switch. I mean if you apply some pressure on the switch, everything lights up and works fine. It's almost like one of the wires in the back of the switch is almost unplugged or something. So I'm thinking hes right, its just the switch. The good thing is, if it's just a wire it may not cost me $106 to fix. He could just open the panel and fix the wire. But who knows really, he wont know for sure till he opens up the panel looks at it which sucks since I have to make my choice by this afternoon.

Ya I haven't noticed any 4x4 problems other then the panel lights not showing the correct modes. When I put it into full time sometimes the light stays on part time even though I can feel all four wheels working. Then when I go from part time to normal mode the light stays on part time :S. Such a pain.

I don't have a deductible on my insurance. At least I don't think so. I've had the same package since I got my license (which is just liability). I'll have to look into progressive. I got a quote from Geico and they said all id have to pay is $500 a year just for liability. I almost shit my pants because it was so low. But then I talked with my insurance company about it and they said ya that's a great deal but if you plan to switch make sure that's going to be the real payment for the next few years. Most of the time insurance company's will quote you for the best price they can give you (ignoring your accident reports) and then after a year they will raise it like a mother fucker to whatever it's supposed to be and rip you a new asshole.

[Pchan 5,162]

Dude, reading all this is giving me a headache ... expenses suck X'D ... just get a girlfriend who rides a Merc, roll down the windows, sit uber low in the front passenger seat, and bob your head to the music playing uber loud, but don't forget to wear a cap.

Are these expenses because you have a 4x4 or this's what someone would regularly have done irrespective of the kind of car? Also, think 2 years ahead in terms of expenses from today on this car versus buying a new/ used car with cheaper parts ... dang, I'm just not making any sense this morning. Gomen ...

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Yeah, alot of insurance companies will lure you in with a good rate and then change it to high once its time to renew. My dad changes insurance companies every year to get better rates. Hes good and haggling with insurance companies tho. Currently, I'm paying about $650 a year for full coverage with a $500 deductable. Which worked out damn good for me in my accident. Because NY has a 'no fault' policy, the police decided they couldn't determine who caused the accident I was in so they didn't issue a ticket, which pissed me off. But anyway, because it was 'no fault' my insurance covered the damages to my car under my collision policy. Which means if I only had liability I would have been out of a car.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

@Godgrave lol keeping up a 4x4 is expensive no matter what year it is. Although the things I need done to it should have been replaced a few years ago. But yes, generally the things I listed are things you should regularly have done when their old and about to go. Most used car dealers replace the pads but this guy doesn't seem to want to sink any money into it. So I guess I'll still buy it and have my mechanic friend fix the things that need to be done now in order for it to pass inspection (which it probably would anyway since the place I go to doesn't even spend more then a few mins looking at the vehicle lol.

Damn Sledg your insurance sounds nice! How old are you and how long have you been with your insurance company? I'm only 21 so my insurance is still gonna be high no matter where I go, at least till I'm 25. But the good thing is my record is clean.

Edited March 29, 2008 by gokuDX7

[Sledgstone 8,672]

28, I think I used to pay about $1200 a year when I was 21 and I was with state farm at the time. Then I switched to progressive, then geico and then back to progressive. Geico's rates went up for some reason or I'd have probably stuck with them. BTW, esurance gave me a decent quote but progressive still beat them by a couple hundred for the year. And my insurance is actually a little cheaper now because I did that driver's safety course last november and that gives me a deduction of 10%. Write down all of the safety features of your jeep and inform the insurance companies you get quotes from. I've noticed progressive offers more discount for vehicle safety features like ABS, auto day lights, anti-theft security, window vin etching, etc. All I can say is call around and get quotes online. Oh, and alot of them will do credit checks, but the credit bureaus have it setup now that when you get multiple hits on your credit history for info, as long as its all related to the same thing (a bunch for insurance, or a bunch for a possible mortgage loans), it all gets counted as one hit on your credit history compared to multiple which looks bad on your credit. But that'll only work over a couple day period I believe. So if you are going to check for the best insurance plan on doing it all during a weekend and then make your choice.

BTW, progressive wasn't the best for renters insurance for me. Their quote was $100 over the quote I got from liberty mutual, which is almost double the price of the total yearly policy. (renters ins. is cheap.) The liberty mutual agent tried to sell me insurance too, but after seeing the policy I had with progressive she said outright, "I can't beat that, that is a helluva deal." X'D Just goes to show you have to call around.

[gokuDX7 2,871]

well its official I bought the jeep. I wont get the title till Monday though since I paid with a personal check. So I guess once I get that Monday, I'll unfreeze my insurance plan, re-register the vehicle, go get it inspected, and get the oil and fluids changed. I'm pretty sure it will pass inspection if I go to this place down the street from me since they hardly check anything. I'm guessing this is gonna cost me all about $300 something.

I plan to hold off on getting all the other things fixed. I'll just get the things that need to be done now. Like the lights, they definitely need to be fixed. I'm gonna have my mechanic check out the switch and see if he can make it work without buying a new one. Also I may have him do the front rotors and pads and wheel bearings. All altogether thats about $650 assuming I need a new light switch. The back brakes, tie rod ends, and other things will have to wait till I have more cash. Damn wheel bearings! They cost the most out of everything ($360 including labor).

Edited March 29, 2008 by gokuDX7

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Congrats! Sounds like you'll have a good ride. Hopefully the total cost won't kill you in the end. You should take a pic and post it.

btw, valvoline instant oil change does state inspections here in NY. Real cheap, they don't really check crap, and because they aren't a full mechanic shop they have no real incentive to fail your inspection to get work done that they can't do. ^_~

[gokuDX7 2,871]

Congrats! Sounds like you'll have a good ride. Hopefully the total cost won't kill you in the end. You should take a pic and post it.

btw, valvoline instant oil change does state inspections here in NY. Real cheap, they don't really check crap, and because they aren't a full mechanic shop they have no real incentive to fail your inspection to get work done that they can't do. ^_~

I'll take some pics and post them later tomorrow.

Valvoline sounds kind of like the place I go to. There small and only do inspections and minor fixes so they normally just check the lights, horn, tire treads and other random small things. so I think I'll be safe, hopefully. I'm crossing my fingers that this jeep lasts me for a good 3 or 4 years. It looks brand new on the outside but who knows whats looming around the corner . I suppose if anything major goes on it in the future I could always re-sell it.