My insurance company has provided me with a rental car while my own Honda Civic is in for repairs. I’ve been driving around a 2007 Saturn Ion. It doesn’t have many extra features, such as power windows, but it has been an adequate temporary replacement.
My car should be ready to be picked up today or tomorrow. Due to the accident, I needed to have the driver’s side door panels replaced as well as the fenders. There was damage to the frame, so they are taking care of that as well. As of yesterday, they’ve painted all the new parts and are reassembling the car.
A friend suggested I pick up the car only when it is sunny, as the clouds or darkness can hide problems such as unmatching paint. Please feel free to leave any suggestions about what I should look for when picking up the car.
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Flexo,
A 2007 car without power windows?? I didn’t know such an animal even existed these days. How’d you ever get by?
It’s rough, I tell you. I don’t have my EZ-Pass in this car, so I have to actually interact with someone to pay tolls everyday, and roll down the window to do so. It’s a rough life. :>
Daylight is a definite plus – do NOT pick it up at night.
Things to look out for:
Above all, do not be afraid to take a good flashlight (not a 1-AAA keychain Mag-Lite) with you and go over the car really closely before you drive off. The insurance company paid for the car to be “restored to original condition” or something along those lines, make sure it happens. They won’t have a representative there.
Thanks for the very excellent list. It’s a great help!
hey, am I recalling correctly that you have the civic hybrid? I’m considering buying a hybrid or biodiesel vehicle for my next car but would love to hear your experiences if, indeed, you own a hybrid. then again, my mind may be playing tricks on me.
also: i enjoy your weblog, but think it would be cool if you discussed environmental cost versus financial cost in some of your entries. my present challenge concerns how to be environmentally as well as fiscally repsonsible. that said, i did just decide to pay 1.3 cents per kilowatt hour more for my electricity so i can have clean, green power for my home. it may lessen my personal savings somewhat, but i feel that the evironmental savings are well worth it.
you know me, so you can e-mail me privately if you like.
Very nice to hear from you, Robin! I have the standard Civic LX, not the hybrid. I’ll probably hold on to this car for many years, and by the time it’s time to buy, I’m hoping the technology and efficiency has improved somewhat.