Car Talk 4: The Richard Hertz Rent-A-Car 500

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Johnny_P
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troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:30 pm :thanksobama:

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It’s really not that terrible. No quarter panel damage. So repairs are just the plastic.
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troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 3:44 pm
Detroit wrote: :dat:

If it bothers you enough, start trolling junkyards.
Her car is worse. Again, I have never used insurance and never dealt with anything remotely like this - how do you know a $500 repair from a $5000 repair? Do you have to decide for each car whether to make individual claims or can they both be done together? Can plastic bumpers be PDR'ed and touched up or is it cheaper to replace them? Etc.

Pretend I'm :crang: here...
well... post pic of her car... to start. You have the deductible hill. Each car will have a deductible. So you have $2k to start right there. Then attempt to factor the future increase in policy costs which could last years... So $3k tangible costs before the ins pays anything.

Can you fix them for $3k or less (probably), and is it even worth it to you on a "disposable" car?

They other way is to talk to your agent and run the scenario by them. They could potentially put all damage on one claim making her "at fault" and then she'd pay her deduc to have hers fixed and then theyd pay for your damages. Again, your policy will increase.
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troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:30 pm :thanksobama:

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shiiittt... leave that bitch in the sun on a hot day. get behind that bumper. Push that shit out, polish plastic and wait for someone to rear end her.

The ultra :mahtroy: thing would to be say it happened in a parking lot and comp would fix it. Youd still pay your $1k deduc but chances of policy increase is low. Its also the "newer" car. Id just polish your car and live with it.
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troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:30 pm :thanksobama:

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I would pop out the plastic and use polishing compound ... it’ll make it look 80% better. Also I wouldn’t fix either car, let it be a reminder of her fuck up to her. It would be setting money on fire fixing this.
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max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 10:27 am
troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:30 pm :thanksobama:

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It would be setting money on fire fixing this.
:dat:
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Everything is setting money on fire, but yeah. More :scrooge: is the answer as usual.

The actual metal fender on mine is bent in a bit at the headlight, dunno if I can bend it back yet. That headlight already needed to be adjusted :doe: so I guess it was the "right" side to be hit.
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max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 10:27 am
troyguitar wrote: Tue Sep 10, 2019 6:30 pm :thanksobama:

ImageImage
I would pop out the plastic and use polishing compound ... it’ll make it look 80% better. Also I wouldn’t fix either car, let it be a reminder of her fuck up to her. It would be setting money on fire fixing this.
Yep. A hair dryer might pop the plastic back out. Polish it and see how it looks. Most of that is going to come out, but you'll be left with some scratches and scuffs.... TBD how bad it actually is.

Troy, if you're set on repairing both cars, I'd bring them to a body shop near you and say you want to pay cash for the repair. You're likely to get a cheaper repair that way than involving insurance (which just opens the flood gates for the body shop to say "oh this is hidden damage, yada yada"). I bet you can get both repaired to 95% for around $1200.
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But what should he do ?!
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max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:16 am But what should he do ?!
I honestly wouldn't do a damn thing. I'm still rocking the bicycle damage from last year on my car. I obvi have a different situation than anyone on here though, as I expect more damage in the future so there's no point in fixing it.
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Johnny_P wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:21 am
max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:16 am But what should he do ?!
I honestly wouldn't do a damn thing. I'm still rocking the bicycle damage from last year on my car. I obvi have a different situation than anyone on here though, as I expect more damage in the future so there's no point in fixing it.
This is the first time I've ever had anything beyond a door ding or parking lot scratch, sorry for having no experience with this shit? Next time I'll keep my mouth shut and do everything myself. :disgust:
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troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:27 am
Johnny_P wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:21 am

I honestly wouldn't do a damn thing. I'm still rocking the bicycle damage from last year on my car. I obvi have a different situation than anyone on here though, as I expect more damage in the future so there's no point in fixing it.
This is the first time I've ever had anything beyond a door ding or parking lot scratch, sorry for having no experience with this shit? Next time I'll keep my mouth shut and do everything myself. :disgust:
I've had plenty of body shop experiences. They're all such a headache.

I'd buff the stuff out and see if that gets it good enough to satisfy you. If not,

The initial process is simple, go to a shop and get an estimate. Tell them you want a quote for a cash job, it will make it go faster. If they need to replace anything ask for OEM bumper covers. See what they come back with. If its over $2k might as well do insurance. If you have rental car coverage on insurance you can also open the claim with them to get a rental without paying out of pocket.

Your premiums could increase but being a long term customer without any incidents, I bet they won't.
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Best I can do for now without trying touchup paint. Took it all apart and used the hair dryer and some polish. :thisisfine:

Probably won't do anything else on this one, next up is trying to bend the MKZ fender back. :gonbegud:

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troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:37 pm Best I can do for now without trying touchup paint. Took it all apart and used the hair dryer and some polish. :thisisfine:

Probably won't do anything else on this one, next up is trying to bend the MKZ fender back. :gonbegud:

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:like:
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troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:37 pm Best I can do for now without trying touchup paint. Took it all apart and used the hair dryer and some polish. :thisisfine:

Probably won't do anything else on this one, next up is trying to bend the MKZ fender back. :gonbegud:

ImageImageImageImage
Yep as expected. Most of that shit looked like just clearcoat damage. I wouldn't pay a dime on fixing this shit. Still looks better than 99% of mazda 3s out there.
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I try to keep my cheap shit in nice shape :doe: because it's all I've got. :wrong:
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troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:56 pm I try to keep my cheap shit in nice shape :doe: because it's all I've got. :wrong:
Last I checked you didn't drive the car, :tits: did. So only so much you can do. I think you did a great job fixing it up.
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Looks great!
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max225 wrote:
troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 12:56 pm I try to keep my cheap shit in nice shape :doe: because it's all I've got. :wrong:
Last I checked you didn't drive the car, :tits: did. So only so much you can do. I think you did a great job fixing it up.
:iono:

I do all of the cleaning/maintenance/repairs on the thing and generally try to leave everything at least no worse than I found it. We're still paying $427/mo on the fucker too, it should look good.
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troyguitar wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:03 pm
max225 wrote:
Last I checked you didn't drive the car, :tits: did. So only so much you can do. I think you did a great job fixing it up.
:iono:

I do all of the cleaning/maintenance/repairs on the thing and generally try to leave everything at least no worse than I found it. We're still paying $427/mo on the fucker too, it should look good.
Well it does look good for a 100k Mazda 3.
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There you go. Looks pretty good.
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https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/ford ... 02276.html
“People are now used to $4- or $5-a-gallon gasoline. They might gulp at $5 gas, but they wouldn’t have the same reaction today as was occurring 10 or 20 years ago,” said Bob Taenaka, senior technical leader of Ford’s electrified vehicles. It would take pump prices rising to double those record levels to change consumer behavior, he said.
Interesting... Looks like Fraud has the same observation that I do.

We're essentially at $4-5 out here, and we got brodozers and hemi all the things everywhere.
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max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:43 pm https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/ford ... 02276.html
“People are now used to $4- or $5-a-gallon gasoline. They might gulp at $5 gas, but they wouldn’t have the same reaction today as was occurring 10 or 20 years ago,” said Bob Taenaka, senior technical leader of Ford’s electrified vehicles. It would take pump prices rising to double those record levels to change consumer behavior, he said.
Interesting... Looks like Fraud has the same observation that I do.

We're essentially at $4-5 out here, and we got brodozers and hemi all the things everywhere.
Gas prices are immune to inflation somehow.

$5 in 2008 is nearly $6 today. I paid $2.69 for gas yesterday...that would be a $2.20 in 2008 dollars...nearly a wash.

But to go from $2.69 to $6 would be a 120% increase, and would likely start changing some behaviors if it was prevalent across the country. PLUS oil price volatility usually coincides with weakening economic activity, which makes it sting even more.

That said, there's no question that prices need to be much higher to impact consumer behavior. All this EV future :bs: is going to burn many companies.
Desertbreh wrote: Tue Oct 10, 2017 6:40 pm My guess would be that Chris took some time off because he has read the dialogue on this page 1,345 times and decided to spend some of his free time doing something besides beating a horse to death.
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Detroit wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:53 pm
max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 1:43 pm https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/ford ... 02276.html


Interesting... Looks like Fraud has the same observation that I do.

We're essentially at $4-5 out here, and we got brodozers and hemi all the things everywhere.
Gas prices are immune to inflation somehow.

$5 in 2008 is nearly $6 today. I paid $2.69 for gas yesterday...that would be a $2.20 in 2008 dollars...nearly a wash.

But to go from $2.69 to $6 would be a 120% increase, and would likely start changing some behaviors if it was prevalent across the country. PLUS oil price volatility usually coincides with weakening economic activity, which makes it sting even more.

That said, there's no question that prices need to be much higher to impact consumer behavior. All this EV future :bs: is going to burn many companies.
Well it takes 5-8 years to develop a platform, makes sense to invest now and harness all the profits from the anxient chassis, like FCA is doing, then waste that money on EV shit that is really going to be the future. Europe banned the ICE and it's still the worlds biggest car market. Change or die bitches.
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https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/d/ ... 36611.html

Damn current gen A4s getting cheaper. That's a shit ton of car for the money.

Also obviously an AZN exchange student who got a 55k car and a 300k education like it's no big deal.
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max225 wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 2:20 pm https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/cto/d/ ... 36611.html

Damn current gen A4s getting cheaper. That's a shit ton of car for the money.

Also obviously an AZN exchange student who got a 55k car and a 300k education like it's no big deal.
I've heard that the B9 with sport package is actually a pretty good car to drive. That's still a little big for me but I wouldn't mind testing one. Probably about the same size as my MKZ.
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