What matters most is that you're okay. I'd bet I speak for many in saying how glad I am that this is the case.

My banjo in the back seat took a flight too. Fortunately it's okay too. As I was holed up all weekend with no way to get anywhere, I ended up picking a lot by myself all weekend. At least that's something.

Yup, glad you’re ok, sorry about the trigeminal neuralgia flair up. I know people who have it and it can be miserable to say the least.
Slammer!!!

Glad you're okay Frank as opposed to what could happen rather that what did.

Bobby

You are lucky, for sure. Happy you lived to pick on. Brad

The soul of man never dies!!

Glad it went in your favor Frank.  

Here's another example of no more sole.  https://unnecessaryinventions.com/incognito-kicks/   I dunno whether or not to file it under  I-saw-it-on-the-internet-so-it-must-be-true  but promoting it with: ".... while maintaining the appearance of appropriate attire...." makes it sound believable.

Yer still walkin n talkin.. pickin too...
That's what counts...

Sorry for your bad fortune...

Thanks everyone. Honestly, I don't view this as bad fortune. I just don't view life like that. It is what it is. One moment leads to another. Anyway, it could have been much worse for sure, so I count my good fortune that I'm still here to tell about it. It was heartening to see how many folks stopped to check on our well-being as we waited for the protrolman to show up.

As a funny and appropriate twist on things, one of the people who stopped to check on us, her dad owns a towing company so she gave me his number to call for a tow, so I didn't even have to look up a tow service, it was literally handed to me while we were waiting. Scruggs and Son Towing. Yep. my car was picked up by a Scruggs. Life's poetry in motion LOL.

My (Kia) Soul is at the tow yard waiting for the appraiser / doctor to make a prognosis. I' pretty sure it's DOA. I mean, the hood is 1/2 the length it was before ...

I was able to finally work out the rental which I picked up yesterday so I'm mobile again. Woo Hoo!!

And I'm beginning to think that Kia Souls never die either. They just suffer from hereditary congestive heart failure (bad oil rings) but otherwise there's a gazillion (Kia) Souls all over the place. At least 'round these parts.

Thanks everyone.

Glad you're OK....banjo too.

Lady started pulling out in front of me yesterday and I had to slam on the brakes. Fortunately, she stopped in time, and so did I.

Glad to hear you are ok and everything is working out. Once airbags are deployed and even with smaller amounts of damage they almost always total them I was t-boned in a Costco parking lot in my 2009 Tahoe in 2017 and my bags deployed. The car, driven by a 19 year old not paying attention, hit the back door on the driver's side. USAA totaled it, although physically the damage did not look bad at all.

frank ,, you live another day to pick and grin.. thats what matters ...cars can be fixed or replaced ,, but there ain't but one frank.

My mom at age 87 a few years ago bought a new Kia Soul when my dad passed. She got it in the Alien Green color. She loved it. I could feel my old man rolling over in his grave!!! LOL
Slammer!!!

Yeah Slammer, mine was that weird green color too. May it Rest in Peace.

USAA Insurance (the other driver's company) is wanting to end the car rental tomorrow, even though we have not yet settled and they know full well that I can't afford to continue the rental on my own. So USAA is perfectly fine with leaving an elderly person (me, ouch) without transportation, in 90-100 degree heat, on the weekend of the 4th. Nice.

I have a phone consult with an attorney today. I would post pics of the car but was advised not to at this time.

Good for you..
Do not let them dictate the terms to you...
You are your best advocate..
N..the..Damaged party may I add..
Good luck..
I hope you make out ..fine $ wise.

Good luck with the car. The most important thing is that you are okay (and the banjo:).

Well, here it is. The atty conference didn't amount to much. He has no leverage to compel USAA to extend the car rental for me, but he did call them on my behalf after I tried.

In a funny / not-so-funny series of voicemails from USAA, the adjuster first told me that North Carolina allows him to extend the rental no problem, so 7 days is granted, then another 7 as many times and for as long as I need it. In the 2nd voicemail, the adjuster realized his error and said ignore all that, since the accident was in South Carolina, three days after the offer date the car is due back -- which is today -- and you're on you own buddy.

So I guess it all depends on what state you have loss, how far insurance companies will go. I just fail to understand how leaving me with no cash yet (will be mid-week before I see the settlement) and the out of pocket after the offer are all on me. Where did the concept of making me whole go?

Anyway, so here it is. May she Rest in Peace.

Their settlement offer is $3820 which is all they will go. The main killer was the car has 183,xxx miles on it. So, essentially high retail offer, so I have no real choice but to accept, which I did yesterday. I mean I could try to fight for more, but I'd be on my own without representation, and I'm seeing a point of diminishing (or zero) returns for such an effort. Insurance companies know pretty well how to protect their interests, no doubt. I'm just a pesky thing to be dispensed with quickly and cheaply. I get it.

I have an appointment with my doctor next Thursday to evaluate if the flare of and back issues are caused by the accident. If he thinks so, then the atty has a job to do. If not, then it's all moot.

Now finding a replacement car asap in that range or less is my focus for now.

Anyway, HAPPY 4th OF JULY, gonna be hot, heat index over 100 degrees...

Tongue-in-cheek Frank, re. "...finding a replacement car asap in that range or less .... " from the background in the first pic, it looks like there might be a fair selection right on that lot.    

frank i have had 2 total loss vehicles in my life.. lost my ass on both after dealing with 1 case my insurance 2nd case the other guys insurance... neither time did i get enough to cover the value of the vehicle... at best all you will get is enough for a down payment...
in any big city you will notice insurance companies and banks have the largest buildings... and guess why ????

BTW do you hppen to have rental reimbursement coverage on your insurance policy ?

1935tb-11

Terry, you're the second person in two days who has pointed out the names on the largest building being insurance companies...

No I do not have my own rental policy. Since my SS retirement hit my bank today, I was able to extend the rental on my debit card. I emailed an urgent emergency appeal to USAA to escalate the extension request, but they are closed today. So I've decided to seek reimbursement of my out of pocket cost back.

Because apparently the governing rule here in SC is if a "Fair and Reasonable" settlement offer is extended. Thing is, the insurance company is the sole arbiter of what is Fair and Reasonable, injecting an inherent conflict. The $ gatekeeper and sole decider of course is always going to do the absolute minimum, even when individual discretion is available.

So USAA would have gladly reimbursed me for a rental last weekend had I been able to rent one. That my available credit was insufficient (I have excellent credit, just maxed out on my card at the moment) the reality is my credit woes resulted in $ savings for USAA that they didn't have to reimburse. This is simple fact.

So Fair and Reasonable? We'll soon find out. At best all I can is if they don't budge on such a small reasonable thing, I'll file a complaint through SC Department of Commerce and Insurance, but my past experience is that it's heavily biassed towards the insurance industry and seems anti consumer to me. But that will be the last recourse I have.

So I'm at least still mobile this weekend no thanks to USAA. But they did extend to me their Enterprise discount, so there's that. I am currently car hunting with the help of google AI, which is helping do a lot of homework on a car-by-car evaluation of each possibility from ad details. So far I've narrowed it down to 2-3 well worth looking at, it's just a matter of logistics and money and if the cars are still for sale.

Happy 4th!

quote:

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Originally posted by Owen

Tongue-in-cheek Frank, re. "...finding a replacement car asap in that range or less .... " from the background in the first pic, it looks like there might be a fair selection right on that lot.    

---

I think those cars exceed my $3800 budget.

But if you're in the market for a really great deal on a slightly used Kai Soul...

So now it gets racing stripes!

Glad to see you're still active and (relatively) well. That's the most important thing.

Back in early '25 we were knocked off the 401 by a transport truck. We were saved by the Jersey barrriers, placed along that one stretch, designed so the tires bounce off. A little farther on and we would have gone into the median and maybe rolled over. There was damage where the truck hit us. I chose a collision company that took forever, but my insurer let me go to another, better company that charged more ('cause they didn't do volume for insurance companies like the first one does) and did an excellent job.