getting some new paint...

while we were in madison last month, our car got keyed down most of the passenger side


image courtesy of efusco, i think he was the only one who could manipulate his camera well enough to get the shot.

it went in to the body shop today. we dropped it off at 7 this morning, and when i came back at 6 to retrieve my university parking permit, i saw the work they'd done to it so far. and holy crap, i mean, i know it's in the process of being fixed but it was sad. my car looks all messed up with paint all sanded down all the way down the side, door handles gone, windows covered, and some stuff on it curing in the sun. i wanted to take a picture, but not... i didn't have any kind of camera with me anyway.

they're painting it tomorrow, and putting it back together the day after. we should have it back in a couple days.

so far the insurance (allstate) has been great. set up the adjuster appointment for a few days after we got back, she was pretty nice actually. their estimate was about $30 off from the body shop estimate, so all is well. we got to use whatever body shop we wanted. insurance is paying for a rental until we get the car back, i'm in a dodge avenger. so far i'm not a huge fan of it, but it'll get me to work and back a couple times.

 

$1029 from the body shop. if the vandal had gotten the fender, it would have been higher. plus about $100 for the car rental during the repair.

 

no rust on it, hobbit. not sure more than a few little spots made it down to the metal, most was down to the primer according to the guy who did our estimate.

i'm starting to think we just don't get any breaks. that or we're in for a lot of them in the future. or something. i just try not to think about it.

we'll have to take the avenger to DH's procedure tomorrow morning at the hospital more or less 40 miles away, so we'll see how this thing does on gas mileage. no, i don't want to know. yes, Tony, this is quite the reminder.

 

got the car back today, i'm so relieved to dump off that avenger.

i think it looks good, there are a couple of *very* light scratches in the clear coat which i'm guessing made it there while they were wiping the dust away. DH is off visiting family, he can't work and doesn't want to just sit around at home. so when he gets back he'll take a look at it, and if he wants it to go back they'll take it back and repaint it. the guys there really stand behind their work.

i'm thinking it'll look fine once we throw some sealant on it in 2 months.