Bye bye Lincoln, hello Taurus

On Monday last week, Hoyt was driving to his last shift before coming up for the wedding when the local doctor pulled out in front of him on the highway. Because Hoyt served and only clipped him at 50 mph, neither driver was seriously injured. However, Hoyt's baby was totaled. He ended up in a rental truck, the F150 (sucks for long distance driving – lots of gas and uncomfortable seats…), four hours after his shift ended on Tuesday. Because he had our new camera with him, he was able to take pictures of the scene. There was no question that the other guy took 100% liability.

So, with the Lincoln totaled, after putting 5200 dollars of repairs into it over the last 9 months, the insurance company gave us a total of 4200 dollars (3100 for the car, 500 for the repairs, and some additional for title, tags, etc). We were both stunned by the 500 for 5200 dollars of work, but most was counted as maintenance and not upgrades… so regardless of the fact that Hoyt lost his precious car, it was 100% not his fault, and we needed a car terribly, we did not get nearly enough money to get a reliable car to replace it. So, instead of being out of debt in six months (that was all that was left for the Lincoln), we are now back in the hole.

That being said, on Tuesday after the wedding, we went car shopping all day. How exhausting. We found a great Mercury Sable with adjustable pedals, fully loaded, but at 11k and barely any money from the insurance company (we still don't have the check and won't for a few more weeks – how inconvenient is that??), we went for the 2003 Ford Taurus that was 3k less. *sigh* And I had to take out a loan because Hoyt's credit is bad and he has the Lincoln to pay off still. Does this seem fair to anyone? The car Hoyt wanted to retire in gets totaled by someone else, and I end up back in debt so Hoyt can get to work and back up to Kansas because the insurance company won't give us enough money to purchase a reliable vehicle.

Needless to say, the Taurus (I do NOT like Fords) had some issues. And the dealership was definitely trying to rip me off. But, after sitting in the waiting area for 45 minutes, then telling the service manager you just got sick in the bathroom, they are more than happy to get you out of the door. The car was fixed twenty minutes later. Hopefully it will last a few years when we can purchase a car we both actually want instead of just need. I haven't uploaded the pictures of the Taurus yet, so I'll edit this post with a picture of the actual car instead of this photo I surfed up on the Internet. :-p