My dashboard animals

RJM62

RJM62

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
13,157
Location
Upstate New York
Display Name
Display name:
Geek on the Hill
have been reunited.

Rich
 

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One day we were driving north, downhill into Tellico Plains, TN.

I asked Karen, "Did you see that?"

She said. "No. What?"

And I said, "It looked like a naked chicken standing on the shoulder of the road!"

In any case, I went back and it was not a naked chicken:

15359010022_eca44e1235_z.jpg


We named him Tellico Rex and he resides for luck on the dashboard of our Element.
 
I liked the turtles better, but I imagine they would walk off a dashboard.
 
ScottM said:
But what about glareshield animals?

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That's pretty cool. And if the cat goes flying off the panel and gives you a dirty look, you know you're in an uncoordinated turn.

Rich
 
steingar said:
I liked the turtles better, but I imagine they would walk off a dashboard.
Click to expand...

The animals were given to me by various people over the years. The skunk is the oldest one and was given to me by someone (I don't remember who) about 15 years ago after I bought my first new car after a long stretch with company-provided vehicles. I have a fondness for skunks (real ones) that most of my friends and relatives know about, so someone gave me a skunk.

The two dogs were given to me by my two goddaughters when they were little, although I must confess that I don't remember which skunk was given by which child. I do remember that they only "gave" me the animals in a loose sense. I paid for them.

When I bought a second car, the animals divided the duty between the two cars, in various teams. Recently, my "winter car" experienced some water damage to the tranny (long story), and Geico's been dragging me through the Tenth Circle of Hell trying not to pay the claim. We're at a point at which on the advice of counsel, I've withdrawn my permission to be contacted in any way other than by postal mail, just to force Geico to put their obstructionist bull**** in writing.

In the meantime, I bought a 2012 Kia Soul that I think will be suitable for both summer and winter, trading in the older summer car for the new one. It's a simple little car, but so far I like it. It grew on me pretty quickly.

I'll also be turning in the plates from the winter car today or Monday. No point in paying insurance on it while it can't be driven. (I've switched insurance companies, by the way: At this point, I wouldn't take Geico coverage if they gave it to me for free. They're from the pit of hell.)

So... the only running car at this point is the 2012 Kia Soul that I just bought, hence the reuniting of the animals in one car.

I got a great deal on the Soul, by the way. They gave me a generous trade-in, the balance of the 100K mile power train warranty, and a veteran's discount. They also extended the bumper-to-bumper warranty to 100K. With financing through my credit union, the Soul will cost me less per year than I was spending on repairs on the cars it's replacing. My older goddaughter is already bugging me to teach her how to drive stick. (It has a very forgiving 6-speed manual transmission with "hill assist," which might make it a good choice for that particular mission.)

I've already ordered some studded snows for the Soul, which should make it acceptable, if not especially great because of its light weight, as a winter car. They're pretty good about plowing around here, so it's very rare that I have to move through unplowed snow. I'm a pretty good snow driver, as well, so I don't think there will be a problem. If

As for the existing winter car, either Geico will fix it; or I'll sell it to a guy who buys, fixes, and flips damaged cars and then go after Geico for the value, less the deductible and whatever I get from the car flipper. The lawyer tells me that since I'm in no particular hurry, we should start with the state's administrative appeal process. It's free to file a complaint, and they're pretty consumer-oriented at the moment.

Richard
 

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asechrest said:
Rich: for what reason is Geico denying the claim?
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1. They denied I even had comprehensive insurance for a week, despite it being on my bill, my dec page, and the screenshot of my account on their Web site. They even tried to take the opportunity to sell me the coverage I already had.

2. I didn't call the police. (Who calls the police for transmission problems?)

3. I didn't call a tow truck. (The car was still moving, albeit barely.)

4. I can't prove the date of the incident. (I provided numerous receipts proving that the car had been driven a thousand miles in the month prior to the incident, and an EZ-Pass receipt proving that I was 50 miles away the morning before the incident happened.)

5. The damage was my own fault. (Yes, it was. But when they thought I didn't have the comp coverage, they told me that it would have been covered if I'd had it; so they can't weasel out of that one now.)

6. They're insisting on a transmission tear-down, at my expense, that three transmission mechanics, two university professors of automotive technology, and a petroleum chemist, all say is unnecessary. They say a used oil analysis on the ATF would be sufficient.

7. If I do agree to the tear-down, they refuse to provide me with a written statement informing myself and the mechanic of which steps the adjuster needs to be present for.

8. They also refuse to provide me with a letter stating that if I do authorize and pay for the tear-down, and it confirms water damage, and even if their adjuster agrees with that conclusion, that they'll actually pay the claim.

There probably are a few others that I'm forgetting. The lawyer figures that the next one, if I do authorize the tear-down, will have to do with something like the phase of Jupiter's third moon or some similar bull****, hence the demand for the letter in advance stating that this will be the last hoop they expect me to jump through.

Rich
 
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