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The Kids Are All Ride.
Nov. 12th, 2015 09:04 pmTomorrow's going to be a busy day.
We're coming up on the second anniversary of the death of Emily's first car. It was quick, and in the end less painful than we might have expected. Nobody was hurt, the accident was entirely Somebody Else's Fault, and the insurance-calculated value of their car went into the down payment for my current one, at a higher level than I would've guessed.
The night it happened, I drove out there and left my then-car behind for them to use, which they've done ever since. It then was eight years old, with over 150,000 miles on it and nothing majorly wrong with it beyond cosmetics, but the ensuing two years have not been kind. The mileage is now closer to 200k; tires have peeled, brakes got down to metal, the electrical system went wibbly-wobbly (and all of the foregoing have been fixed on our dime); and most recently, its climate control system went completely dead- defrosting the windshield with air-conditioned cold air and not much else. It's been Time for months; and we (both they-we and all-of-us-here-we) have been encouraging Cameron's parents to take some batting practice and step up to the plate this time.
And they did. In theory. We even got confirmation of the Chosen One earlier this week:
Cam's mom made the choice, and the arrangements. We're calling it Ebony II since its dealer listing says it has an "Ebony" interior; hopefully that doesn't require the dog to go home with them. Otherwise, it meets their needs in terms of passenger and cargo space; the price and mileage compare to what I've been driving for the past two years; and the MPG isn't great, but isn't bad, either. It works. Our job, now, is getting the whole situation to work by this time tomorrow night:
Yeah- that's kinda where we are right now.
----
The kids have been planning a Friday-Saturday visit this weekend for some time now. When I stayed over with them the other night, Emily confirmed that the selected vehicle was still a Go; that Cameron's 'rents would be funding the down payment; that he, she or they would be signing for the balance of the balance due to the dealer; and that we'd be working the insurance for the new truck into the picture, adding it, and him, to our existing policy if possible.
The short answer, as of 4 this afternoon: Not Possible.
Truth be told, Emily should've had our old car, and Cameron, on her/their own separate insurance as soon as she scored her degree last year. Fortunately, nothing's happened in that time to make an issue out of it. The new purchase will now make the new reality official: Em will need to be the registered and titled owner of Ebony II in order to get an existing customer discount from our insurance company- but even with that, and even moving her current car from our current policy onto one of hers, comparable coverage for their two vehicles would exceed our current payment for three vehicles by more than $2,400 a year.
Not happening.
So the plan now is: they arrive late tomorrow morning. He and his mom do the deal for the 2010 truck. Before or during, they bop over to our agent's office and apply for/confirm the figure for having only the new vehicle insured in their names (if it's the best estimate we've seen so far, we can handle it). First National Bank of Dad (Member FDIC) puts down the down payment on said insurance, and eventually scraps their current car and takes it off our insurance. The kids eventually reimburse FNBOD for the difference in premiums, less whatever the old car sells for at the scrapyard. And on we go.
I signed for my first car loan when I was a few months past 25; the cheapo K-Car I could afford stalled a block after driving it away from the dealership. This will be sooner, and better, for the two of these 23-year olds. That makes me infinitely happy.
We're coming up on the second anniversary of the death of Emily's first car. It was quick, and in the end less painful than we might have expected. Nobody was hurt, the accident was entirely Somebody Else's Fault, and the insurance-calculated value of their car went into the down payment for my current one, at a higher level than I would've guessed.
The night it happened, I drove out there and left my then-car behind for them to use, which they've done ever since. It then was eight years old, with over 150,000 miles on it and nothing majorly wrong with it beyond cosmetics, but the ensuing two years have not been kind. The mileage is now closer to 200k; tires have peeled, brakes got down to metal, the electrical system went wibbly-wobbly (and all of the foregoing have been fixed on our dime); and most recently, its climate control system went completely dead- defrosting the windshield with air-conditioned cold air and not much else. It's been Time for months; and we (both they-we and all-of-us-here-we) have been encouraging Cameron's parents to take some batting practice and step up to the plate this time.
And they did. In theory. We even got confirmation of the Chosen One earlier this week:
Cam's mom made the choice, and the arrangements. We're calling it Ebony II since its dealer listing says it has an "Ebony" interior; hopefully that doesn't require the dog to go home with them. Otherwise, it meets their needs in terms of passenger and cargo space; the price and mileage compare to what I've been driving for the past two years; and the MPG isn't great, but isn't bad, either. It works. Our job, now, is getting the whole situation to work by this time tomorrow night:
Yeah- that's kinda where we are right now.
----
The kids have been planning a Friday-Saturday visit this weekend for some time now. When I stayed over with them the other night, Emily confirmed that the selected vehicle was still a Go; that Cameron's 'rents would be funding the down payment; that he, she or they would be signing for the balance of the balance due to the dealer; and that we'd be working the insurance for the new truck into the picture, adding it, and him, to our existing policy if possible.
The short answer, as of 4 this afternoon: Not Possible.
Truth be told, Emily should've had our old car, and Cameron, on her/their own separate insurance as soon as she scored her degree last year. Fortunately, nothing's happened in that time to make an issue out of it. The new purchase will now make the new reality official: Em will need to be the registered and titled owner of Ebony II in order to get an existing customer discount from our insurance company- but even with that, and even moving her current car from our current policy onto one of hers, comparable coverage for their two vehicles would exceed our current payment for three vehicles by more than $2,400 a year.
Not happening.
So the plan now is: they arrive late tomorrow morning. He and his mom do the deal for the 2010 truck. Before or during, they bop over to our agent's office and apply for/confirm the figure for having only the new vehicle insured in their names (if it's the best estimate we've seen so far, we can handle it). First National Bank of Dad (Member FDIC) puts down the down payment on said insurance, and eventually scraps their current car and takes it off our insurance. The kids eventually reimburse FNBOD for the difference in premiums, less whatever the old car sells for at the scrapyard. And on we go.
I signed for my first car loan when I was a few months past 25; the cheapo K-Car I could afford stalled a block after driving it away from the dealership. This will be sooner, and better, for the two of these 23-year olds. That makes me infinitely happy.