Just a little review of the damage....
I know I should be on my knees thanking God that we were unhurt….but anyone who’s been
Hmmm...Might be kind of close *drip sarcasm here*
in an accident knows that it generates a bunch of inconvenience at best. It took our carrier eleven business days to settle a total loss on a vehicle. Could someone please explain that to me? I looked at Kelley Blue Book’s website, looked at the damage on our car and even I could tell is was well over $2,500. Just to prove I’m no rocket scientist, let’s review the damage, shall we? This is a front wheel drive vehicle and by the time it made it to the towing yard that left front wheel had been rotated 90 degrees. Here’s what it looked like on the the inside of the wheel well. OK, so much for rocket science. We worked our butts off and found a car last weekend we could afford once the insurance company settled.
This is where the wheel was shorn off
The seller kindly waited for us to be paid and I got someone to drive me the 70 plus miles to go get it yesterday afternoon.
Since I had to go into Colorado Springs today anyway to see the chiropractor and meet with the drunk driver’s claims adjuster (both of which would have been unnecessary in the absence of an accident) I thought I’d stop by the DMV and pay the sales tax and get it registered. I had the title and the bill of sale with me in the car. I was maybe two miles into the Colorado Springs city limits when one of their finest pulled me over for having “no visible evidence of registration.” I told him my plan: going to the doctor, meeting with the adjuster and stopping by DMV. I explained that we had been hit by a drunk driver three weeks ago and that this was the replacement vehicle. I showed him the title, the bill of sale, my license and proof of insurance, all to no avail. He informed me that he was letting me off easy as there were many offenses involved with a lack of license plates and he was only citing me for one of them (sorry, didn’t bother to ask what the others were but I got the impression he could have “thrown the book at me”), and that it was illegal to drive an unregistered vehicle anywhere but home. I clarified that it was illegal to drive it straight from where you bought it to the DMV. So anyone buying a used car from a private party in the state of Colorado can consider this post a public service. Now you know. I was told by the employee at the DMV that technically a person is supposed to come in with the seller and do all the signing together, in person, at the DMV. Right.
Anyway, I have a court date on April 9th and I intend to be there. I’m sure teaching an errant citizen like me a lesson has made it so the residents of Colorado Springs will sleep better tonight.
Here’s the new car. Thomas is thrilled. It’s an upgraded minivan: towing capacity and four-wheel drive. And license plates.
The "new" Tahoe
UPDATE: I went to court on April 9th, armed to the gills to argue my case. I presented myself to the nice lady at the desk who, when she looked up my case, simply said, “Just bring me your registration and I’ll dismiss this for you.” It was rather anti-climactic not to be able to tell the whole awful story to the DA’s office but we’re a hundred dollars richer and it took less than five minutes.
The City Girl Farmer 