Fiona 1 - Coyote 0

This past Friday looked like it might be a nightmare.  Not only was it Friday the 13th, but it was a full moon.  And sadly I've learned that full moons do generally equate to more people in the clinic.

But even after all the ruckus at work the past few days (see the previous post where I'm still laying out all that went wrong), Friday passed without any problem.  Well... there WERE problems, but nothing out of the ordinary.

But fate had me in it's bullseye it seems and was simply waiting a bit longer to pull the trigger.  Saturday night while driving home I hit a coyote.  Yes, we have coyotes in Michigan.

All things considered, it wasn't a bad accident.  There were no other cars around, I didn't go off the road, I wasn't physically injured... just a dog sized animal hitting my car.

Having hit several deer in the past, I'm well aware of how vigilant one has to be when driving through my home area at night.  The county I live in, if I read this correctly years ago, has the highest deer/human ratio of a truly populated county in the United States.   Yes, there are those barren counties where only a couple thousand people live and have herds of deer, but the county I live in has a population close to 100,000 and we have a HUGE deer population.


So when driving home from work at night I keep my eyes moving from one side of the road to the other always keeping a look out for some animal trying to commit suicide.  To my credit I DID see the coyote before I hit it.  He was running along the opposite side of the road in the opposite direction.  I saw him, I noted that if he kept up his current direction of movement that he would never come close to me, and I kept an eye on him while I continued on.

At some point the coyote either thought life wasn't worth living any more, or that playing chicken with a 60mph car would be a good idea as he started running across the road.  I turned the wheel to avoid him and moved my foot from the gas to the brake, but he dodged again directly into my path before I could even graze the brake pedal.

Boom.

I hit the brakes pretty hard and pulled off the road.  As I was getting as far onto the shoulder as I could, I noticed the silhouette of something flitting about on the drivers side and figured part of the ground effects had broken off and was waving about.  It turned out it was the coyote's head.  I didn't run him over... I was dragging him along.  As I slowed down enough to stop, Fiona finally got some traction and ran over the poor thing and left him about 10 feet behind my parked car.

I of course immediately got out and checked on the animal.  I was fairly certain that after that impact and being dragged for that long that he was dead, but I wanted to make sure.  No need for the animal to suffer.  Thankfully he was already passed on when I got to him.

One car passed me and just drove on, while the next two cars pulled off to make sure I was OK and to render aid.  Ironically one of them was a correctional officer from the same prison I work at.  I assured her that I was OK and she drove on home, while the other fella stayed.  He was actually VERY nice.  When I first saw that he was somewhere in his mid 20s, wearing sandals, a Brooklyn Nets hat, and some faded (but still obviously new) tee shirt I just assumed he would be a complete douche.  Thankfully I don't change the way I treat people upon a first assessment as he was the one that noticed the ground effects of Fiona mostly were hanging off.

When I first looked at Fiona, I just saw that one of her grill coverings was gone.  If I had driven away like that I would have either dragged the ground effects under the car (doing more damage), or have it blown off by the wind.  Either way, I would have ended up with far more damage.  The dude even suggested getting some cable ties (which I have in an emergency road repair kit) and tying it on.  When I go the ties, he didn't hesitate... he took them from me, got down on the ground and proceeded to tie the pieces together.  It't not a repair that will last, but it did get me home.

Once he was finished, I went back to the coyote and considered what to do with it.  I really didn't want to sit around and wait for the police (and I'm fairly sure the insurance company won't require a police report), but I felt bad about leaving it on the side of the road to rot.  Again, dude to the rescue.  He asked if I was going to take it saying that the pelt was worth about $80.  I shook my head no, thinking that there was no way I was going to put a dead animal in the back of my car.  So he took it.  I can rest easy knowing that the coyote won't rot on the side of the road and will in fact have some use after it's untimely death.

At that point I thanked him, and drove on home.  Once under the flood lights in the driveway I noticed the rest of the damage.  The fog light cover was gone.  The ground effects all along the front of the car were ripped up, not just the drivers side.  And there is a good sized crack in the plastic of the front fascia.  The crack is maybe only two or three inches across, but its on a part that's maybe only four inches wide.  Sadly, the front fascia is all one part.  From one fender, all across the front, to the other fender.  I'm not sure if they can repair plastic like that.  If they can't, then they'll need to replace the entire front exterior of the car.

This morning I logged onto my insurance company's website and filed a claim.  I expect I'll get a call sometime Monday morning.  If I looked at my coverage right, this should only cost me my $100 deductible.  I'll even get a rental car at no additional cost for as long as my car is out of commission.  A friend of mine who works in the auto division of my insurance company figures that it will take about a week or a week and a half to get the car fixed.

As I've often heard of humorous or horror stories about cars getting fixed after an accident, I figured I'd post this here.  I plan to update this with quick posts whenever something happens... the first call, the rental, the body shop, picking Fiona up.   For today I still have work.  And being a Sunday it's not as though there is anything open to get things moving forward (the insurance call center, a rental car company, the body shops...).  So I'll be driving Mom's Girly Girl to work today.

Until Later!
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June 16, 2014

So driving Girly Girl isn't a bad thing.  She has plenty of 'pep' and at some speeds more get up and go than Fiona.  But even though both are compact hatchbacks they are completely different animals.  Where Fiona's suspension is tight and sporty, Girly Girl's is soft and wavy.  Fiona makes you feel like your ass is hovering an inch above the road where Girly Girl makes you feel like you're floating and driving a much larger car.

At the end of the day though, its all the little gadgets and toys that makes the biggest difference.  Auto headlights (what?  I have to turn the lights ON?), steering wheel audio controls (what?  I have to take my hand off the wheel to fiddle with the volume?), ipod connectivity (what?  I have to continue to listen to the radio when there's 'nothing' on?), blue tooth stereo connectivity (what?  I can't listen to my Radio Lab podcasts?), Auto up and down on all the windows (what?  I have to hold on to these switches for several seconds?), and transmitter key (what?  I have to take the key out of my pocket to lock the doors and unlock the doors and start the car!?).  Yeah... I've spoiled myself with my car.  It's been just over 24 hours without Fiona and I already miss her.

I also found out that I in fact do NOT have rental car coverage on my insurance.  I'm trying to remember if they offered it and I turned it down, or if it wasn't even presented as an option.  It costs like $16 every six months.  So... in addition to now paying around $300 for a rental car, I'll be calling my agent up and adding that to my policy.

I still haven't heard from the insurance company yet, but that's not a big surprise as it's I didn't expect to  hear from them until later today.  So we'll see what happens then.  Maybe they can get me a discount on the rental car.

'til later!
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June 17, 2014

So after a longish day of getting the new cable equipment installed, I called up my insurance company.  I had already submitted a claim days ago online, but I still hadn't received a call.  Thankfully it was easy as pie.  He confirmed the information I had given them before, recommended one of their repair shops (which turns out to be a Cadillac/Buick dealership's body shop), and then confirmed that I didn't in fact have rental car insurance.

I knew it would at least be a week for the repair, so I got myself mentally ready to pay upwards of $300 for a week's rental.  I drove in to the dealership, filled out some paperwork, had them photograph Fiona's damage, and then waited for them to work up an estimate.  The beauty of using one of the insurance company's recommended shops is that there is no pause in the process.  The estimate is accepted on spec, and the repair can proceed without hesitation.

They believe the repair will cost around $1600.  That's a new facsia, new air dam, new ground effects, new grill inserts, and a new fog lamp.  Paint... painting will be an issue.  They will do their best to match Fiona's Yellow Blaze tri coat paint job, but it's not as simple as ordering a can online. In fact they prepared me for the inevitable... they probably wont' match it exactly.  They'll do their best and then fade the paint up the fenders so that there won't be a single line of differentiation.  

The biggest bummer is that it will take them about 2 weeks to get the parts in.  They said I could bring the car back then and it should only take a few days to get it repaired.  Ouch.... I mentally began to up the amount I would be spending on a rental car (as well as mentally reminding myself to call my insurance agent and adding rental car coverage).  Even if I kept Fiona at home for that time, I couldn't drive her to and from work.  Two hours of wind buffeting the damaged front end for two weeks.... no, I can't imagine that it would hold up and not further damage the car.  

So while I don't get rental car coverage, I do at least get my insurance companies discount.  The manager of the bodyshop took me over to the nearest rental car agency (a whole in the wall franchise of Hertz), and dropped me off.  I told the guy that I was primarily interested in fuel economy and he offered up a Toyota Yaris.  I agreed with the caveat of sitting in it for a moment.  The absolute last thing I needed was a car that I didn't fit in and would give my longish legs cramps every single day.  And the Yaris certainly qualified.  With the seat all the way back and my leg finding the most space, it was still in a cramped position.  Maybe it would be OK if I was driving around the city, but not for an hour behind the wheel.  

So, I got the next most fuel efficient vehicle they had on their lot.  One that I knew I'd fit in just fine without having to sit in.  A 2013 Ford Focus.  It's a a base model with absolutely no options on it.  Thankfully a no options Focus has more options than a base model Chevy or Toyota.  It sitll has the Sync voice system, it still has the steering wheel controls, it still has the ipod and bluetooth connectivity.  It does not have the big beautiful screen, the uplevel stereo and sub woofer, and it doesn't have the transmitter key.  But other than those and a few other frills, it drives just like Fiona.  Well... mostly like Fiona.  Fiona has just a touch over 37,000 miles on her (yes... I've put over 20,000 miles on my car in 11 months) and her engine still purrs.  This Focus has just over 31,000 miles on her and sound sickly.  I guess it's true.... rental miles are HARD miles.  

The cost?  Well I got the car at $15 a day.  I of course added the $15 a day damage waiver (it's not insurance... I just don't pay a dime for any damage done to the car).  With taxes and fees it came out to $486 for two weeks.  I mgiht be adding a $100 fee on top of that for smoking in the vehicle.  We'll see if they notice.  

I may post in a day or so if any differences pop up in the day to day driving of this rental, but otherwise I'm just waiting for the shop to get the parts in and start working on Fiona.  

Oh... and while posting about my rental on facebook I came across her name.  I was comparing her to my 'tricked out' Fiona and said that this one was 'plain Jane'.  So welcome to my home for the next few weeks... Plain Jane.  

Ta Ta!

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June 18, 2014

Jane, I drove Fiona. I knew Fiona. Fiona is a friend of mine. Jane, you're no Fiona

Lloyd Bentson quote manipulation FTW.  Seriously though, Jane is just in NO way Fiona.  There are of course things that are the same.  I fit into the seat the same way... at least I'm sure with some manipulation it will feel the same.  The way Jane corners is the same way that Fiona corners.  Acceleration and braking is almost the same... but again 31,000 rental miles are harder than my 37,000 miles.  But that's about it for similarities.

Sure, she's shaped the same.   But in black the Focus looks almost ordinary.  It IS more stylish than cars from years ago, but Fiona's 'Yellow Blaze' makes her really stand out and shine.  Jane was washed just before I drove off in her and she already looks so damned dirty.  Fiona may have been just as dirty, but it just doesn't show up the same way as it does on Black.

Both Jane and Fiona have Ford's voice control system called Sync.  But they are night and day different.  In Fiona, if I'm listening to the radio and want to make a call I just hit the Sync button and say 'Call Billy Bob Cell' (meaning use the bluetooth attached phone to call my contact titled 'Billy Bob' on his listed cell phone number).  Jane's sync system makes me go through that step by step.  After hitting the Sync button I have to first say 'Phone'.  After the prompt, I can say 'Call Billy Bob', but not 'Cell'.  I  have to wait for a further prompt and then say 'Cell'.  Beyond the voice prompting being different, Jane just doesn't recognize my voice nearly as well.  I have no idea how it interpreted 'Bluetooth Stereo' as 'Jukebox'.

Speaking of Sync, it also won't recognize the device that I have plugged into the USB port as an iPod.  I have to refer to it as 'USB'.  And even when I do, it seems to confuse the USB port with the 'Line in' port and refuses to play until I go to the Radio and then try again.  Oh... and I can't use the voice prompt to go to the Radio.  It just isn't a recognized command.  AND I can't seem to listen to audio on my phone.  Fiona let me use 'Bluetooth Stereo' where I could listen to my pod casts.... evidently Jane only accepts a Bluetooth connection as a phone and ONLY a phone.

Both Fiona and Jane have steering wheel controls, but they are laid out differently.  I guess it's because Fiona has the large touch screen and accepts inputs directly from that.  Jane has the 'small' screen and needs a control pad on the steering wheel just for that.  Volume and track buttons have been moved to another control pad.

Jane has an armrest in between the seats, but it's 1/3 the size of Fiona's.  It barely has room for my iPod, wallet and phone.  In that same area they've also tweaked the layout of the cup holders.  Thankfully there is still two slots, but they are laid out front and back instead of side to side.  I use both as one holds my tasty beverage (Gatorade on the way to work, Mountain Dew on the way home) while the other holds my cigs and lighter.  Side to side this works fine, but for some reason when it's front and back my lighter finds a way to fall down and have my tasty beverage sit atop it (and become so perilously balanced that a slow curve makes it fall over).

The key things is still really bothering me.  I'm sure before my time is up with Jane, I'll remember that it's a standard key (with the fob built into it), but for now I still approach Jane and grab her handle assuming it's going to unlock the door for me.  After I pull the key out and unlock the door I put the key back in my pocket and get in... forgetting that I need the damned key to start the car.  When I finally park I still paw at the dash looking for the 'Start/Stop' button.  Grr.

And then there are the 'rental' specific differences.  The speed has been limited to 80mph.  That's not a huge thing as I've topped 80mph going to and from work a grand total of three times in the year I've been making this particular commute.  They've also limited the radio volume... I can only turn it up to 14 (out of 30).  I guess that's been done to stop music from blowing out the speakers.  But without the sub woofer, most of my music just sounds quiet at 14.  Some of my music isn't loud enough to really listen to while driving down the highway (think of stuff like Classical music).  And then there is the 'stuff'.  I'm not exactly sure what the equipment is, but there is some sort of volume knob and buttons taped to the console near the gear shifter, a thing that looks like a speaker taped to the windshield on the passenger side, and box with lights taped to the windshield on the drivers side.  They all have wires that duck under the dash and all have the same black plastic look, so I assume they are all part of the same equipment... but I have no idea what they do.  Maybe it's a hands free phone system... but the system has a bluetooth connection and wouldn't need such a setup.  The piece on the drivers side window seems to randomly light up.  It lights up a bright green followed by a yellow and then red, after which it blinks red for about 20 seconds.  I didn't notice it while driving in the daylight, but at night it's REALLY annoying.

I guess all in all, I shouldn't complain.  The car still gets (so far only according to it's trip computer) between 37 and 38mpg.  I still fit into it.  It's just a temporary ride.  My lesson going forward is something I believed, but had no proof for.  I now have proof.  Getting a car with all the bells and whistles is SO worth it.  Yes, compared to most Focuses (Foci?) out there, Fiona was VERY expensive.  For the same kind of money I could have gotten into a base model of a better brand.  Lincoln, Buick, Chrysler... maybe even a Caddy.  But if the base model experience is anything like the base model Focus experience, then I would have disliked the car whereas I LOVE Fiona.

That's all for now.


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June 20, 2014

Jane yelled at me yesterday.  Driving to work I was behind an 18 wheeler doing 60mph.  That's the speed I want to travel, but as you probably well know, a truck can't keep up that speed on a curvy hilly state highway.  They just have to slow down to often.  So when we got to a passing lane, I got around it and sped up.  As the passing lane is long and straight the truck was easily maintaining 60mph.  If I didn't want to crowd the truck at the end of hte passing lane I would have to speed up.

I didn't jump on the gas and surge ahead or anything, I just increased my foward momentum until I was going about 70mph.  It seems that Jane doesn't trust me driving that fast as she flashed a warning message on the screen saying something like "Note Speed; 70 MPH!! Drive Safely!"

Really?  My damned rental is going to yell at me for doing 70mph?  You know what... fuck you Jane.  You can limit my speed to 80mph if you want, but don't yell at me for driving at a perfectly safe (however illegally) 70mph.

Oh... and I finally figured out how to get the audio off of my phone.  It seems the newer version of Ford's Sync system is a complete word Nazi.  In Fiona I can say "Bluetooth Music" or "Bluetooth Stereo" or "Bluetooth Audio" or "Bluetooth Media" or even "Bluetooth" and it knows that I want to listen to the music (podcasts actually) on my connected bluetooth phone.  But in Jane I specifically have to say "Bluetooth Audio".  No other variation will work.

It's annoying (like saying "U S B" vs "iPod"), but at least it works.  I'll be listening to Radio Lab on my way home from work tonight!

Still no word on Fiona.  I don't expect to hear anything until next week at the earliest.

Until later!



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June 28, 2014

SHE'S BACK!

The body shop called and told me my Fiona baby was ready for pick up!  I had fully expected for it to take another 4 or 5 days.  I quickly took a vacuum to Jane and took her through a cheap car wash to get all the cigarette ashes out.  I know I 'agreed' to not smoke in her.  I know that if I did I was supposed to pay a $100 fee for the 'getting the smoke smell out'.  But knowing that doesn't mean I WANT to pay for it.  I figured if they asked, I'd be honest and say yes.  Thankfully they didn't notice and my rental fee was a mere $352 instead of $486.

Seeing Fiona sitting in the lot all prettied up made me very happy.  I took a quick look and noticed a slight difference in the color of her new front end when compared to the hood, but didn't noticed a difference in the front end vs the fenders.  They had told me that it would be incredibly difficult to match it exactly.  Thankfully with Fiona's Tri Coat paint job, the color is never even over the entire car.  The light hitting at different angles make her look everything from shined gold to burnt orange.

I left my brother out to take a closer look and went in to pay.  The body shop manager was of course patting himself on the back for getting the job done so quickly and doing such a good job.  They handed me the invoice and told me that they ended up having to replace the louvers between the grill and the radiator as it was damaged too.  Looking at the invoice I saw that it was for $1800.  In parts.  I imagine if I had to pay for this myself it would have cost me north of $2500.

Fiona purred for me all the way home.  Just as I was starting to get used to Jane's plainness, Fiona was there to wow me with her impressiveness.  The only thing that took me by surprise was the brakes.  Jane must have had a brake job recently as her brakes were far grippier than Fiona's.  Everything else was pure bliss.

So... what did I learn through this entire experiment?  I learned that having rental car coverage is totes worth it.  I learned that I shouldn't trust Coyotes when they decide to play chicken.  And most importantly I learned that I absolutely love my car.  Yes, she may have her problems and quirks, but she is head and shoulders above any other car I've owned or any other car I could afford to own!



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June 29, 2014

Ok, one last update after driving Fiona to and from work yesterday.  Leave out all the gadgets and bobbles that differentiate Fiona from Jane, and I still have to say that driving Fiona is a bigger pleasure.  For one thing, her suspension is just better.  It's both more sporty (less body lean in a tight fast turn) AND more supple (less hard bangs over the plethora of potholes I traverse in a day). 

I just now took a moment to see if the Titanium trim includes a suspension upgrade.  Yes... yes Fiona has the 'sport' suspension option.  So, that makes sense.  

One difference that isn't explained by trim differences is the transmission.  Fiona seems to shift almost seamlessly from gear to gear.  When I take off from a standstill she's as smooth as butter.  It doesn't matter if I'm mashing the gas or meandering through the intersection.  It doesn't matter if I'm turning or heading straight.  The shifts are smooth and come when you'd expect them to (which took a while to get used to as both Foci have 6 gears as opposed to Lita's 3).  Jane on the other hand seemed almost confused as to what she should be doing at any given moment.  Sometimes she'd lurch forward and hold on to 1st gear as it if were her baby even when I wanted to just move smoothly.  Other times she's drop right into 2nd when I actually wanted to get a move on and wanted to utilize those higher RPMs.    

The only explanation I can think of is that Jane's hard rental life has hurt her tranny.  

The last difference shouldn't come as a surprise at all.  I absolutely LOVE Fiona's color.  When walking out to my car for lunch I only had to glance at the parking lot to locate my 'lil lover.  I wasn't having a particularly bad day, but I wasn't in a great mood either.  Seeing Fiona's bright glowing yellow changed that... it made me smile.  And that right there makes Fiona the right car for me.