First off, no one got hurt, his car was fine, mine has a fucked up rear bumper, tail lights, and the trunk won’t close on its own but its tied shut with paracord for now. He was actually really chill about it despite it being my fault since I was signalling one way but decided to turn the other way at the last second, which was dumb. I was pretty badly shaken up by it last night but after a bunch of emotional support phone calls, quite a bit of crying, and a good night’s sleep I think I’m feeling okay.

In terms of the practical matters I think I’ve got the big picture down. I have the other guys number and the accident report thing the cop gave us and I’ve gotta get in contact with my insurance and go to an autobody shop to see what they can do.

I come to the nice people of the bearsite to see if anyone has pointers so I can avoid any newbie mistakes. Particularly I’m wary of being overcharged for services at repair shops but anything about navigating the aftermath of one of these things would be appreciated.

Being less of a car-centric burger has been one of my goals and I think this whole event might be a nice motivator to get to work on that.

  • LaughingLion [any, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    5·
    5 days ago

    First of all, it’s just a car and you are okay. That’s what matters.

    That said call around and get some quotes. There are local facebook groups and you can ask in those and usually people are very vocal about mechanics who are either particularly good or bad. So a simply post in your town or burb’s community page of “Need a good mechanic/body shop for car repairs… any suggestions?” should get you dozens of replies. Then you get quotes form the two top recommended ones. If it’s a mechanic and they do you right this time, keep going back.

    Having a good, honest mechanic who doesn’t fleece you is one of those adult things nobody tells you about but is a must. You have to build a list of “guys”. Then before you know it someone says something like, “I got ants out of control in my apartment” and you respond without thinking, “Oh, you need a bug guy? I got a bug guy. Lemme get you his number.”