Talk about bad karma...

Today was the day that Green Two was supposed to come home with us (see New Hogs from 7/22).

This morning, we dropped off Jay at the dealership to have the solar panel moved over to Minnie, and then stopped at the car dealer to sign the final paperwork for the Jeep.

Driving out of the lot, all was well.  The Jeep rode just fine, and it was a nice day.... the A/C was blowin' out cold air, and the radio was as silent as a theft-resistant radio without a faceplace can be (that's suposed to be delivered in a few days)...

About two miles from the dealership, I was passing thru the River Road intersection on First Ave, and glanced at a fast moving object in my mirror.... I was going about 40 at the time, and the silver BMW behind me was getting larger and larger...  Shit.  I sped up a little and braced.... She had to be going about 50mph, and wasn't showing any signs of slowing down.

SLAM!..... bounce..... recover.....

I pulled over, and so did the BMW driver.... A guy in a silver Chevy pickup who was in the other lane also pulled over....  A few seconds later, the Queen and the Princess arrived, as they'd been following me from the dealership on their way back to the Palace.

The lady driving the BMW looked a little bewildered, but was OK.  Despite the high speed impact with me, she didn't blow her airbags, but the front end of her car was pretty well trashed.  The hood was pushed into the radiator and fan, and pretty well wedged.  I'd guess that she traveled a good 24 inches under my rear bumper before coming to a stop.

Needless to say, I was more than a little pissed.  Here I'd spent two days searching out the Jeep, just to have it rear-ended less than ten minutes after taking delivery..........The back bumper was pushed up to (and perhaps into) the gas tank (plastic...), the tailpipe had been ripped down off the hanging bracket (probably causing more damage up the exhaust line), and the bumper cap on the left side ripped off the quarter panel.  Not quite as visible, the tailgate had been pushed up and in with the impact, and there were creases in both rear side panels.  I didn't have enough time to throw the transmission and transfer case into neutral, so there's also the possibility that there was some drivetrain damage as well from being pushed from behind while moving.....

I called 911, and the operator hung up on me because she was Pima County, and it appeared that we were in Tucson city limits.  Called back, asked for TPD, and got a unit dispatched to us, which arrived about five minutes later.  Good thing we didn't have any injuries...

The police took down all the insurance info, gave her at least one ticket, and then left us to deal with our vehicles.  The BMW was parked in the ditch to await a tow, and the Jeep appeared to be driveable, so I continued on to work, with The Queen and Princess following me.  When I first put it into gear, there was a grinding noise coming from the rear wheels, so I stopped and made sure there wasn't any debris or other damage which was causing something to rub against the tires.  Seeing nothing, I continued on my way....  The grinding went away after a few moments, so it was either the tailpipe flopping around, or perhaps a broken suspension bracket that managed to free or re-seat itself.  I'm hoping it was the tailpipe....

Back in the confines of my office, I called up Allstate, who she'd listed with TPD as her insurance carrier.  Guess what?  Allstate had no record of her policy.  Neither did State Farm -- in conversation with Vicki, she mentioned that she had State Farm as her insurer (she also mentioned something about being in an accident a few weeks earlier, and being on prescription drugs, but the police didn't seem to be too concerned with that....). 

Fortunately, the address on her drivers license matched the address that the car was registered to (a friend of a friend did a public records search for me), but there was no phone number listed on the police report for either me or State Farm to contact for her current insurance information.

Now I'm even more pissed.... not only do I have my mid-life crisis car trashed, but the other driver has no insurance... which means I'm paying the deductable, and I'm footing the bill for the rental car.  To top things off, my back, shoulder, and neck are now starting to stiffen up from the impact injury, and I have to foot the bill for that as well, not to mention lost time from work.... 

To their credit, State Farm said they'd go after her personally if she turned out to not have insurance, but I'm not convinced they'll get anywhere.  Hopefully, she'll be able to provide proof of insurance.  If not, the only other alternative is to sue for damages, and she probably doesn't have any assets.  Then again, she was a 27 year old student driving a 2005 BMW, so....

The day wrapped up with me finally finding a body shop who could do the inspection and claim adjustment.  The State Farm approved adjuster had already left, but another advisor said it appeared to be repairable for less than the book value of the Jeep, which would be a good thing.  If it were to be totalled, I'd not only be robbed of the Jeep I'd spent so much time selecting, but would also be out about $2K for taxes, fees, etc., in addition to the expense of renting and having to take more time off work to find a replacement.

Knowing what it's like to wake up with whiplash, and what it's like to deal with the insurance company and body shop (I'm really not sure which is worse....), it's shaping up to be an ugly Wednesday....

Stay tuned for more "As The Hog Turns".....