Yup, my car is now dead. The beloved Saturn Vue (yes, I loved my saturn) was killed when I rear ended someone on the highway after there was an accident in front of us. No injuries other than my ego and the Vue.

I am getting about $6,000 from the insurance. What should my next car be? I like SUVs, trucks, anything larger than a sedan. Must be less than $8,000 because I hate spending money on cars.

Next, my insurance has made this issue a hassle. I currently have USAA, but am looking to switch. I was impressed with the other person's insurance (All State), but I have always been with USAA since I owned my own car.

Update:

My girlfriend went out and took pictures today (as it is by her parents house),

Also, something I did not mention, airbags did not deploy.

I am currently looking at a 2006 Jeep Liberty. One of my friends runs a used car dealership and just got it in. Thoughts?

Pictures as promised:

Pics of the shitty totaled car?

I will post them tomorrow. I crashed it on a trip, so it is about 100 miles away from my house. I need to clear it out tomorrow anyway.

Did you call it Brad?

I'd check out 03-04 Xterra's for that price range if you want 4x4.

OP

Have you learned to not follow too closely, or will it take killing someone to learn that?

When he said "no injuries", I'm sure he was talking about himself. Note he only mentioned his ego and his Vue.

I am a monster who only cares about himself.

I got ticketed after the event for following too closely. I slowed down to ~20-30mph before the impact. The driver in front of me saw a separate accident ahead of her, slammed on her breaks, and I could not stop in time. Still, it was completely my fault.

I am so thankful that there were no injuries! It was a wife and three children in the car.

You hit them at 30 mph and assume there are no injuries?

Hope you're right, but I doubt it.

I don't think you'll do better than USAA. Certainly not with Allstate.

They reported no injuries, the woman was as kind as can be, kids played soccer the next day and won, and the woman gave me a hug after the ordeal. No one went to the hospital. It is pretty safe to say there are no injuries as this happened about 5 days ago.

For insurance, I have ERIE and have had it for almost 42 years. IMHO they are the best and highly rated.

Over the years, I have had to use my vehicle insurance several times. Hit a deer while on a trip that really screwed up the front end of my car, got rear ended , victim of hit and run while car was parked in mall parking lot… surprising amount of damage to rear end of car.

Anyway, Erie was fantastic. Adjusters showed up next day and had rental car delivered next day, No hassles, extremely professional, no hassle on using cheap parts …. I insisted on and they used OEM parts for repair at body shop of my choice.  They could not have been better.  A little more expensive than others but yeah, you get what you pay for.

No, the Vue did not have a name other than my friends calling it garbage.

The Xterra's are nice! The MPG suck. How is the reliability? I do some minor work (belts, oil, breaks, spark plugs, gaskets, ect.) on my car, is the Xterra easy to work on? The Vue has the spark plugs under the intake manifold and they take about two hours to replace

My USAA is very expensive. I hit a deer once which nearly totaled my car as well which was covered by insurance and was fixed very quickly. This time, they are slow, they never pick up their phone, and will not accept that I caused the accident. They are determined to fight it.

Well, this is going to escalate quickly.  In.



Don't know what make you should get, but get a small SUV or truck, so that damaged to other poor sap's car is minimized next time you get in a wreck.



*It was the driver of a Saturn Vue that caused my beloved Firebird to be totaled a few months ago.  Luckily I managed to avoid a direct hit, so the car is repairable, but I am still bitter and the sudden lack of 3rd gen f-bodies with good fenders in local wrecking yards is pissing me off, therefore you shall become the target of my half-hearted mild verbal wrath.

I enjoy how GD is perfect and never makes mistakes such as having a car accident caused by them. I accept the blame and am not trying to point fingers.

The Saturn Vue is a relatively small SUV. I did not total her car which is good.

I am sorry that a fellow Vuer totaled a nice car. So it was totaled, yet you are repairing it? Salvage title?

With $8k budget I'd probably get a Raptor or a nice F350 and get it tuned.












 

Isuzu Rodeo.
Had one as mine and the exwifes 1st family car.
Never had a single mechanical failure.
She sold it to her dad long after the divorce and as far as I know hes still driving it.
It was a 1997.
Id get another if my H2 ever dies.

Just looked up the Edmunds for the 2004 and it has iffy reviews...

"An impressive V6 engine makes its debut for 2004. Too bad it has to be in the under-achieving Rodeo.

Safety
Pros

Stylish exterior, powerful new V6, great powertrain warranty.

Cons

Cheap interior pieces, flaccid suspension, uncomfortable front seats, questionable build quality.

What's New for 2004

Isuzu has made a few changes this year to make the Rodeo more appealing to SUV shoppers. First off, there's a new range-topping 3.5-liter V6 that makes 250 horsepower. Last year's 3.2-liter V6 has a new home in the base model; the four-cylinder engine has been dropped. Other alterations this year include a new Sound Package, a new Color Package and a new tire-pressure monitoring system."

Yeah, I almost didn't say anything except the stuff about 'in', but then I remembered it was also a Vue that tangled with me, so I couldn't resist giving you crap.



I'd love to claim a perfect record myself, but I have also rear-ended someone.  Several years ago, it was in my Neon at about 4 mph into an old 80's F150 when a girl slowed down to merge as I was coming up behind here (slowing down myself), and then she panicked and stopped, which I didn't expect and locked my brakes sliding into her.  Dented my hood and cracked the grill.  No insurance involved.



Recent wreck, other driver turned in front of me on a wet road.  I managed to swerve just enough to graze them.  Fender was mangled, front plastic stuff cracked, alignment off a bit, and verrrry mild inner support damage.  Other driver didn't have insurance and I had liability and another thing (not exactly uninsured motorist, but close enough) that USAA said they'd cover it under.  Repairs were going to cost too much for the value ($1300), buy back was about $200, so I took the $1100, kept the car, and re-titled it.  Pounded the fender out for now.  Still looking for a replacement though.



 

Insurance is mandatory in PA. I am glad because in the past few years, it has payed for itself (deer and recent accident) after having it for 10 years. ~$110 per month for ten years is roughly $13,000. My car damage alone was $3,500 for the deer, and $6,000 for this incident, so about $10,000 total for just me. Her car was worth well over $3,000, so I consider myself winning as far as the insurance market goes...

Meh.
I loved ours.

Mandatory here too.