Accident, Part iii (better news)

This is the After picture of my car now. Thankfully. Yesterday was the first day I drove it to work and it runs just as good as before. Also it all got worked out with the 3 mechanics. On Friday I brought it to the last mechanic who used to work at the Ford garage but started his own. He was able to fix it for me with a new hose for $68. I didn’t need to replace the sensor after all, though time will tell.

When I picked it up Sat. morning, he said that my bill was already paid. It turned out D, the body shop owner, paid it as he didn’t want me to be upset. He also paid the Ford garage, which his brother owns, which should not have charged me a penny, as all they did was put a piece of electrical tape on the hose. Well, I wasn’t feeling great, with a mild headache and fatigue; in short, I was nursing a small hangover from the previous night of drinking with Heather (never should have had that last Bloody Mary…).

But, with my car running right and being in a better mood and trying to look at the situation a little clearer, I knew that my Check Engine light had been on before the accident due to the sensor, and D knew that because I was honest from the beginning about it. The hose may have been worn beforehand. And, as much as I hate being taken advantage of, it would be even worse if I were to take advantage of someone else in any way. So I wrote out a check to D directly for the bill yesterday morning. He was grateful, and happy that I was pleased with the job he did on the car, and admitted he shouldn’t have given me the car back without first fixing the hose and then just billing me for it along with the rest of the bill.

See, I think of cars the way my aunt looks at computers: with so little understanding of it, it’s like they run on magic. To me a sensor, a hose, heck—even the engine, is all the same to me. So when I got my car back and they said it didn’t run right, I panicked. It’s like getting a diagnosis of “something’s wrong” from a doctor and not knowing whether you’re dealing with leukemia or a mere head cold.

So it all ended much better than it could have. I could be without a car, and really, without my life since in a split second I careened off the road by instinct and it easily (and much more likely, actually) could’ve gone the other way and I would have ended up in a head on collision with a semi and certain death. Which would have mattered a little for a while to a few people, but would have changed the course of my boys’ lives not having any parents then.

Oh, I finally heard from the State Farm agent the statement from the semi driver. They are claiming full liability, but I had to know what the driver said about being being in both lanes of the highway like that. “I thought I was in my lane, but when I hit her, I knew I wasn’t. Wasn’t sure if I hit her or not, though, so I kept on going.” Nice! Methinks the guy needs a different profession…