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Mar 22, 2007


Can't sleep tonight for some reason. Well, a bunch of reasons, actually, but who wants to hear about that? Any other insomniacs out there? Do you ever have times in your life when you think things can't get any worse and then they do?


My car went in the ditch today. I wasn't driving, a young man who lives with us was. So he caught a ride back to the house, and I called the insurance company, who told me to call the cops, and report it. Well, the state trooper was already there, cruising along a back road here in nowhere, just happened along my car. In the ditch. Well, I found out it was being towed, and all that was basically wrong was a flat tire. But, of course there's more.


I had just traded my gas guzzler for a smaller car, and the dealership did not change the tags and title and all that stuff. I kept waiting for them to send me a new title and registration, but it never came so I called them, and they said they were sending me the title. This is after I went to the DMV to see if something was wrong there. The first thing they asked for was the title, and I said, Don't you have it? Anyhoo, after I got the title, well, I put it in my purse. And, since I was going to transfer the tags, I just went ahead and put the old ones on the new car. Well, not new, but you know what I mean. I thought something was weird when they took the tags off of the cruiser and put thirty day tags on the new little car. Being the idiot I am, I figured they knew what they were doing.


So, I am on the phone with the insurance people, and relating what information I had learned from my little friend, and they wanted to know what the trooper said. I told them I had got a ride home to see if a friend could pull it out for me. I called the insurance company because towing is included with my insurance.


While I'm on the phone, trying to explain the situation as it had been told to me, here comes the trooper knocking on the door. The first thing he said was that he had confiscated the tags because they were registered to a different car. I said, "Oh, shit! I forgot all about it." He was not that understanding about forgetting to get your vehicle registered correctly. Then he said I was not supposed to leave the scene of an accident. I said I thought I could come home and get my son to pull me out of the ditch, which of course was stupid, because my son's truck is in the shop. He said he was giving me a warning, but could site me for leaving the scene and not having the registration right. I thanked him profusely, and my son, said, bless his heart, "Hey, isn't the dealership supposed to do that?" So he and the trooper started a conversation about the dealerships and how they all try to rip you off.


Then I remembered I had a 500 dollar deductible on my liability and the other shit you have to have. So, I'm thinking, the insurance is not gonna pay for an unregistered vehicle, and it will probably cost about the same to repair any damage to the vehicle. So, I sent them an email telling them I wanted to withdraw the claim. I know its confusing, but what the hell, I was very fortunate that I didn't go to jail.


But the car was in the ditch on a rural road, a short cut road, that not that many people travel. And when did it became such a major event when you ran your car in a ditch? Used to be something like that happened, and pretty soon someone would come along with some chains and pull your ass out. Of course I never actually saw the car in the ditch, but the young man driving wasn't hurt, but, unfortunately, he was not added on my insurance as an occasional driver. Then I learned he doesn't have a license, which explained his not staying with car as his main concern was to get the hell out of dodge.


So, I am sitting here not having my car in the driveway, and it bugs the shit out of me. I hate not having a car. There aren't any buses here, and maybe one taxi in the whole area. Without transportation you are screwed. But we were actually pretty lucky. I'm just thanking God that there isn't any kind of lien on the car. At least not yet. I might have to put it up for collateral to get a loan to get it out of the impound lot. Ain't life grand?


After a while, me and my son, starting laughing. It was just so crazy, what with everything else that has been going on, there was nothing else to do but laugh. The young man who was driving almost had a heart attack when the trooper knocked on the door. He's pretty much family now, so you have to stick by your family, but, damn I wanted to kick his ass. He felt so bad about it all, I spent most of the day comforting him.


I personally think the trooper should have been out catching bad guys and leave us stupid citizens alone. We're not bad, stupid, yes, bad, no.

6 comments:

The Future Was Yesterday said...

I've learned to tell dealers I won't take possession of the car until they show me proof they have the title listed correctly, and correct plates on the car. Ditto a new car. Too many pocket the fees you pay them to do the DMV work for you, and put a screwing to you, as you found out.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an adventure! This may end up as one of your favorite "remember that time" stories when it's all over.
I feel so naive - I never would have thought a dealership would do that, although I've had insurance companies screw me before. I would never have thought it would be illegal to leave the scene of an accident either, if it didn't involve anyone else. What the heck do they expect you to do? Stupid dealerships and cops.

Spadoman said...

Glad you got the car out of the ditch and no one was hurt. Glad you got to have a laugh.

Hope it all gets put back together quickly and painlessly and you get back on the road. If I was your neighbor, I'd drive you anywhere you needed to go or let you use my pickup tuck, I just put a new muffler on it and it purrs nice and quiet now.

I think that trooper knew or had heard more than one story about a dealership that did you wrong, that's why he let that part go.

Good luck the rest of the way with this one.Hope it all works out just fine.

Peace.

Unknown said...

Yep, I got screwed, Future, and it wasn't in a good way...

Anne, that's what gets me too. There was no other car involved. I didn't have a cell-phone, either.

Spadoman, you are a true friend. See, I would do the same thing for my friends and neighbors. We are a dying breed.

dawn said...

We could be twins because my luck runs about the same but I have learned that laughing is the best medicine.

Catmoves said...

Attagirl, Deb. Don't let the barstid's get you down. Your adventure was just a little side trip.