I left off with the last post on Friday after talking to my insurance agent. I had a decision tree in place, and as I feared, I ended up with a migraine on the next day any decisions could be made.
Before I get there, I should mention that when I'm unable to make decisions and something comes up outside of the decision tree (or at the end of the decision tree) I'll lean on my family for assistance in making said decisions. But being close to family, I kind of know what they're going to suggest. Mom is going to lean on her sacrifice for my happiness. Hence her putting her own car in for my benefit. R, my older brother, has been on 'save all the money' for so long that that's the only path he sees. If there's a path that spends less money, regardless of any other decisions, that's the one he'll take. That leaves my younger brother B. He takes a more nuanced thought process and often comes up with decisions that I wouldn't have. I value his opinion and am thankful that he realizes it's just that to me... an opinion. I'm not asking him to MAKE my decision, I'm asking him to HELP ME make my decision. Anyway, we talked on Saturday as it was the first day of college football and he let it be known that spending money on a car would be stupid.
Wait... what?
Okay. I have to accept that that's his opinion. Since I'm not at that point, I can just put it in my back pocket and wait.
For the whole weekend I keep thinking about what to do in various situations. I'm able to hold myself back, but I make a 'next steps' list to help me out:
- See if my insurance agent has any updates
- I don't think he'll have anything, but he said he'd call me back and I don't want to retread any path he's taken
- Speak with the body shop and ask them to write up a memo stating that their estimate involves the removal of the milk and associated odors
- I just need something to show the insurance company that THEIR select service center says that this isn't mold or mildew or fungus.
- Unless my insurance agent or the body shop has something new to work with, I'll contact State Farm and make one more plea that their fungus exception doesn't apply.
- Show them the write up from the body shop
- Note that it's THEIR select shop stating that the estimate doesn't involve the mold.
- Their exception states "LOSS TO ANY COVERED VEHICLE DUE TO FUNGI" so this should mean the exception doesn't apply
- The loss is spilled milk and the associated odor, NOT the mold that was caused by the spill.
- If they pay, look at proper replacements
- If they don't:
- Pay up with the body shop
- See if they'll hold on to Tiffany while I figure out specifically what I'm going to do with her
- Just to save towing her to my house and then towing her someplace else
- See if they have a recommendation on who to sell Tiffany's carcass to to get the biggest payout
- Consider getting a second opinion/repair-estimate
- The local Ford dealership has a collision center (basically a body shop) that is also a State Farm Select Service Center.
- Contact a lawyer and see what they say
- Sell Tiffany
- Local junk yards
- Nearby junkyards
- Anybody that the body shop recommends
- Online junk car buyers (more on this one later)
- Decide on what to do about transportation (use Mom's, but a beater, buy something kinda nice...)
I was mainly making this list up on Sunday. I couldn't start at the top of the list as I'd have to wait until business hours (Monday) to talk to my agent, the body shop, or State Farm. So instead, I focused on the selling of Tiffany. What got me rolling on that is considering Carvana. The whole idea of buying and selling a car completely online. I mean, the same thing has to apply to buying junk cars, right?
It turns out that that's right! I only went down one path, CarBrain, but they specifically buy junked or salvaged cars. Their questionnaire is simple and unlike most online car evaluation tools, this one has a lot of areas where you can expand upon the damage or describe what isn't working. Because it's expected that something has already totaled the vehicle out. Body damage, mechanical damage, electronics, or, as is my case, interior damage.
I put all the information in and got an initial appraisal of between $5,000 and $8,000. They asked some more pointed questions and I uploaded some photos, and it got closer to $6,000 but a real person had to get involved. Which is fine. I sent the last email to them explaining that I was still working with my insurance company and that if this sale were to happen, it would be days out. But still.... $6,000! That really changes the calculus on what cars I can buy!
Monday morning finally rolls around and my migraine is humming. I try not to think too critically as I know that's where I'm going to fall down. I look over my lists and decision trees and see that my next step is to check in with my insurance agent. Understand, I'm mainly doing this as a courtesy. I don't believe he can or will do anything. He's a nice guy and all, but this isn't his job. And if push comes to shove, wouldn't he side with State Farm over me?
I give him time to call me back since we'd last spoke on Friday afternoon near the end of business. He had the weekend to think it over and I didn't want to call him first thing Monday morning before he had any opportunity to make any calls. When noon came around and I still hadn't heard from him, I called his office. Naturally he wasn't there (he's working from home) but they said they'd text him and have him call me back. So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Around 4:30 that afternoon I was starting to get upset. Sure, it's only been 4 hours since I called and sure, it's only been one business day since we last spoke, but even if he had nothing new to say wouldn't a courtesy call be in order?
Well, fuck him. I double checked online with State Farm and couldn't see any changes there. Ironically, they still show the claim as open with the most recent document being the denial letter. But when I log in, it still asks if I'd like to set up a rental.
My next call is to the body shop. I speak with the manager that I spoke with on Friday and explain what's going on. Both he and I have made the point with State Farm that his estimate doesn't involve the mold directly and yet they're denying the claim based on mold. So, all I want is a memo or another estimate to state clearly that it's to clean up the spilled milk and it's associated odor.
I won't detail out each of his back bending efforts to defy logic, but he refused to put anything in writing, saying his estimate should be fine. Understand his estimate does not state what it's fixing. It just lists the parts that he's replacing. There isn't even a mention of spilled milk OR mold. With the photos that either he or I sent in to State Farm or an agent of State Farm actually looking at Tiffany showed what they think is mold and they saw a way to deny coverage. But he wouldn't listen to that logic and said what I had is fine.
Only later did it occur to me that he'd be working against me too. I mean after all, he IS a State Farm Select Service Center. If he wants to keep getting that State Farm business, he should play by their rules, right? If he fucks me over, he risks losing my business which I've never come to him as a customer before outside of State Farm. If he 'fucks over' State Farm though, he risks losing their business which keeps a steady stream of cars coming in for repair. And even more directly, since he's writing up the estimate in order to total the vehicle out, he won't even make much if any money off of my 'repair'.
With my 'Next Steps' list in ruins already with neither my insurance agent or body shop willing or able to help me, there is no need to call State Farm back. I've already made this plea and been denied and I have no new information or facts to work with. I need new facts or information.
My next step is to get that second opinion. I thought it would only be necessary for a possible lawsuit, but now it's needed just to make a final plea to State Farm. But I can't just assume that the Ford dealer collision center is going to be any different than that Cadillac body shop. Even talking to them over the phone isn't good enough. I want to do this face to face. Which really sucks as I'm in the middle of a migraine and am likely to come off sounding like an idiot.
But I risked it, got into mom's Escape, and drove over to the collision center. By the way, there are three roundabouts between the highway and the street that the collision center is on and with the migraine... yeah, I fucked them up. Eventually though, I got to the collision center and explained my plight. I let them know what happened (spilled milk, week in the sun, horrible smell, possible mold). I let them know about my claim to State Farm and the estimate from the other dealership. I let them know about the denial and the specific exemption they were using. Only then did I ask them if they could provide me with what I needed.... an estimate that stated specifically it was to clean up the spilled milk and associated odor. It could state that there is mold, but if it did state that there was mold it would need to state that the estimate was not trying to clean up the mold.
The first thing I got from them was bewilderment over State Farm even denying it. Even before I pounded on the fact that they were denying it for mold and not even looking at the cause of the mold, they got to the same point. They should cover the milk spill if nothing else. The second thing I got from them was bewilderment that the other body shop wouldn't give me anything in writing to say that same thing. And finally, they agreed that they'd look at Tiffany and give me an estimate to specifically clean up the milk and associated odor.
Since I already have an insurance claim in, we decided it best that I pay out of pocket to get my car towed to them. If they called their tow company and them do it, they'd assume it's for an insurance claim and charge that amount (similar to the $550 I owed on my first tow). If I called the same company to have my car towed from one dealership to the other, I'd probably get charged between $50 and $75.
I shook the managers hand, told him I appreciated his help, and that I'd get the car over to him as soon as possible. Obviously to get Tiffany towed, I'd have to settle up with the first body shop. I drove over and told them I'd like to pay any outstanding bills and then I'd have a tow truck pick up Tiffany and take her over to the Ford dealership.
The woman I spoke to seemed to have no idea what was going on. And that's fair, I don't expect my world changing problem to be on everybody's mind. But she looked at the bill and saw that there was $17,000 in repairs that weren't done, a $100 deductible, and a $550 tow. It took her forever to get the manager in to lay out what I owed. He of course went into why this wasn't necessary as he'd already talked to State Farm. Mm Hm. Sure. Whatever. When the woman asked if I owed the $100 deductible and he seemed to think about it, I reminded them that if they were going to charge me $100 for anything they'd need to list what the charge was for, as since my insurance company wasn't paying anything, it wasn't a deductible. The manager finally waved it off and said I didn't owe them anything other than the $550 tow. He even seemed to puff up and offer me the courtesy of not charging me for over a week's storage fees.
Maybe it was the migraine pushing my buttons, but I swear it was hard to not just punch him. Fuck you, of course you're not going to charge me storage fees.
By the time I got the tow paid for, they were close to closing their lot, locking Tiffany in behind their gate. As I couldn't be sure a tow truck would get there in time, I just called and set up a tow for the morning. I then called up the Ford dealership and told them that my car would be there in the morning.
That's where I am now. I'm going to wait another hour or so before calling over to the Ford dealership to make sure Tiffany got over there fine and that they are going to look at her soon. Once I have the estimate in hand, assuming it states somehow that this is milk related and not mold related, I'll then go back to my list and pick it up where I left off. Calling State Farm and making another plea.
I'm now more hopeful that they'll make the right move and give me at least a partial claim on Tiffany. I'm imagining the Ford dealership's estimate will be similar to the Cadillac's dealership estimate. Around $17,000. If State Farm says they'll pay only that amount and nothing else as it will be mold related, I'd be fine with that. Of course, I'd prefer them to go with the gist of totaling out Tiffany.
Regardless, if they do either of those I should be able to afford a full replacement. A $30,000 2021 Ford Edge AWD Titanium with all the bells and whistles.
If State Farm doesn't step up and continues to deny the claim, then I'm on to selling Tiffany, contacting a lawyer, and looking for other transportation options. While I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I'd get that $30,000 replacement if I get a partial or full payout from State Farm, I still don't know what I'd do if I'm left holding the bag.
I'll tell you that I was reminded how much I love something as simple, and yet expensive, as adaptive cruise control. I have a three mile highway journey between my house and the Ford dealership and then the same three mile journey back between the Ford dealership and the Cadillac dealership. The highway's speed limit is 70, so I'd like to go around 75, but it goes from three lanes to two lanes and back to three lanes. There are four exits in those three miles. There is a lot of incoming and outgoing traffic. Speeds vary from 60 miles per hour and 85 miles per hour. Having cruise control is useless on that stretch at that time of day. Having adaptive cruise control is useable. So even though I can get an acceptable $14,000 Edge that has just about everything minus adaptive cruise control, I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger on that.
If I CAN'T get what I want am I more likely to buy something far less than what I want and save the money or am I more likely to just use Mom's car? I don't know. At any price point I can find things that excite me, but I have to hold out the possibility that that's because I just like car shopping. I know making that decision, what sacrifices to make, is fruitless without knowing how much money I have to spend and I can't make that until I know if State Farm is paying anything and if not, how much I can get for Tiffany.
Hopefully I'll have answers today. To be honest, if I get an estimate in hand today, if I call State Farm and get them to agree to paying me today and only having to wait for the money.... I might have a new car by the end of the week as there is a Ford Edge just about as I want here in town. All the bells, all the whistles, low miles, priced lower than what I'd expect. I could buy it at sticker plus tax and be happy. Hell, I could get it with a 3 year bumper to bumper Ford warranty and still not exaust my savings (under the right circumstances).
I'll let you know when something changes!
Oh, and one last thing that I hope changes today. I absolutely despise how much of my mind this whole thing is taking. I found the spilled milk on August 16th. That's eleven days ago. I have barely touched Gamer Gurl since then as I'm constantly thinking about what I'll do, what State Farm will do, what the body shop will do, what I can sell Tiffany for.... on and on and on and on. I just want this to end. I'll hopefully get back to Gamer Gurl and at least get a single chapter out today.
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