You bought it, you broke it.

[KnottedYet]

What IS it with me and my car?

I drove it for 6 years with nary a scratch nor ding.

Finally get it completely paid off, title free and clear and in my hot little hand, and promptly smushed it twice in one month! (backed up and scraped the side into a pillar, then backed into a mailbox and crushed some expensive bits)

AAAArrrghHHHH!

I figure I've put about $2,000 damage into that car this month. Haven't taken it to a body shop because I just cannot afford even my deductible right now.

$2,000 could have bought a lot of bike. Dammit.

[Biciclista]

oh i'm sorry!

[zoom-zoom]

My brother has this problem...only for him it generally starts before the car is paid-off. He has a really nice Subaru WRX hatchback that has been in SO many fender-benders (at least 3/4 were his fault...he can't drive for sh!t).

[Owlie]

Oh no! Someone backed into us the week after we got my car.

[Grits]

I'm sorry! Do you happen to be under any unusual stress? I ask because the same kind of thing happened to me after years of no accidents when I was having to juggle small kids and my out of town seriously ill father. Hit the side of the garage one day and then the side of my husband's car while backing out of the garage another day - although of course after getting the first damage repaired. I truly do think it was the stress.

[goldfinch]

I have an 11 year old diesel jetta. I love this car. I want to keep it forever. I keep it in excellent shape mechanically but don't repair a single ding or dent. I have a nice piece of red duct tape covering a hole in a tail light. I have a bumper sticker covering a hole in the bumper. Some time ago I took off the full coverage insurance and only have liability on it. Its age and rather battered condition are freeing. I don't care where I park. If someone whacks me in a parking lot I won't even know.

At only six years it is tough to know what to do. I think mine was about that age when I just started letting things go.

[OakLeaf]

Aw, bummer.

Big dents are about the only appropriate place for bullet-hole stickers, I believe.

[jessmarimba]

I think my car was already 8 years old when I bought it. I tried to keep it looking nice for awhile but she's had her fair share of dings since then. And two accidents (neither of which were my fault). Nothing has been majorly messed up but both of the bumpers have been squished in a little.

I've always driven small older cars, and none of them have "lived through" an accident major enough to require body work. It's always been an all-or-nothing deal - either the damage is worth more than the car, or it still runs so I just don't worry about it. I will probably have a panic attack the first time I have an accident in a vehicle that I couldn't just replace! Or...I'll keep fixing the Civic just because I love her dearly, despite everyone's advice to trade up She has as much sentimental value as any of my bikes.

[Caddy]

My husband mentioned that we could trade in our 10 year old Jeep for a new car; forget that, new bikes first!

Is that $2000 and $1500 deductibles/copays? That's crazy! Worse is that car insurance goes up too after you shell out all that money.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

A chipmunk chewed the main wiring harness in my car's engine this month and it cost me $1200 to fix it and replace the wiring.
$1200 would buy a nice banjo. (my currency system is calculated in banjos).

[grey]

18 year old Jeep here. Dings. Leaks. Stains. Oh well.
Shelled out 7k for dental this year. THAT would have bought one helluva bike.