On Wednesday, May 13th, 2008 my 1993 Honda Accord was the victim of assault. Driving my normal route to work, I was sucked in by what seemed to be a normal sinkhole that is caused by the stripping of streets prior to paving. Little did I know, it would be one of the last rides in that car. As you can see, the city stripped the streets at multiple levels (this pic was after the incident - post mortum). Unexpectedly, i dipped lower than anticipated and the Honda suffered an ultimate blow.
The airbags deployed and the car was rendered helpless. Sidenote - If you have never spelled the odor released after an airbag, consider yourself lucky. That smells wreaks like a bad fart in a closed telephone booth and it sticks with you for hours, maybe even days. That smell alone I believe led to a mild concussion. After getting out to see if I was struck by the Loch Ness monster that lives in the sewer, I noticed that the passenger was also traumatized by the event. Upon arrival of the police (45 mins later), and the ambulance and fire department, the passenger was given breathing treatments for an apparent asthma attack and I was put in a neck brace for precautionary measures. After getting in touch with the city, the street department admitted fault in the resurfacing of the street.
What does that mean to me? The car I have had for 8 years and 150,000 miles, not to mention 5 sets of rims, 3 sets of speaker systems, numerous roadtrips, exponential amounts of memories (good and bad), will be subject to the insurance policies of the city. Cost of damages? Try $4,971.46. That's right, a whole hellava lot. If the city gives me that, that will be cool. But the likelihood of the city trying to make a right, slim.
True Market Value for 1993 Honda Accord 4 Dr SE Sedan (edmunds.com)
Dealer Trade-In $1,759
Private Party $2,626
Dealer Retail $4,072
Would I say my car is worth the dealer value? Hecks yea. How many people can make it on two tanks of gas a month nowadays? No car note, simply liability insurance (did I mention I got a ticket and my license taken because I didn't have my newest insurance card? cue Flavor Flav), and familiarity are thrown out of the window. I have to shop for a car, something that I wasn't prepared to do until I was ready. Now my hand and finances will be at the liberty of the city. Stay tuned.
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