We’re out here 8am-sundown each day, I’d complain about the lack of rest, but the OT makes up for it.

I’m on the ground actually inspecting vehicles. It’s dying down a little, I’ll probably be deployed for Florida by Monday since I’m on my company’s catastrophe team.

I’ve totaled 48 vehicles in the last 7 days, of those only 30 something have had market valuations hit our system. Currently over half a million of salvage I’ve looked at alone in those 35ish claims, multipled by hundreds of adjusters means lots of money leaving my company’s bank account...

Yeah, we loaded up with all kinds of supplies. We’ve got a corporate office outside Houston, so once these cases are out we can stock up on company branded water for the photo ops.

I’m in Dallas getting ready to drive to Houston for insurance claims, and boy am I glad Enterprise stuck me in a compact. My company pays for gas, but I don’t feel like dealing with this kind of crap. I’m getting 3 cases of water up here at $2.99 a case and don’t plan to let my tank get much under half full before a…

I’m sitting in the Atlanta airport on my way to Dallas for insurance claims. My company is having us fly in there since there will be hotels and rental cars, then they’lol dispatch us toward the coast. It may sound bad, but I’m really hoping to get assigned to the deep worst hit areas so everything I look at is a…

I’m a little surprised no one mentioned immigrant labor becoming a factor in this as well. I worked as an insurance adjuster on the North Side, and every body shop I went to slowly became more and more Hispanic and Eastern European. Guys who have no problem being at the shop for 60-80 hours a week because the money…

I don’t see FCA around for another 10 years, regardless of a Jeep sale or not. I do see Alfa, Ram, Jeep, and possibly Dodge remaining for sale in the states, but most likely as a means for a Chinese manufacturer to enter the US. The reason I question Dodge is because all the models they have could easily become Alfas…

It’s not bad at all, especially in Sport with the Econ mapping “off”. Honestly, it’s much more lively than my FR-S was since the Civic is cranking out a lot more torque and at fairly low RPM, at least in every day traffic. I wish we would have waited another few months for the Sport Touring to come out, but I drive it…

My first car was an 89 Prelude Si, and ever since I sold it to buy a new 08 Cobalt LS (I know...) I’ve wanted to either pick up and 01 Prelude or a right hand drive 3rd gen Prelude since I’ve got a thing for the pop up headlights. A 99 Prelude was for sale near me recently, had about 175k miles and they were asking…

Vheissu by Thrice, only because I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to their follow up, The Alchemy Index Vol I-IV. The liner notes on the deluxe edition even talk about the “ear candy” they put in for audiophiles. A very dynamic work, one of the few albums I’ll listen to start to finish without skipping a track.

Vheissu by Thrice, only because I haven’t had the opportunity to listen to their follow up, The Alchemy Index Vol…

Lexus of Richmond is still showing on listed in their new car inventory. It has 136 miles on the odometer, but when I check the VIN I can’t find any history of registration in the state of Virginia. Same car was sitting there 3 years ago when I wrote an estimate for an insurance repair at their body shop.

I remember going to inspect a customers car at Lexus of Richmond a few years ago for an insurance claim. The dealer had a brand new LFA parked inside the showroom next to a then brand new IS300. I asked if it was for sale just to check; sure enough the dealer ordered it assuming it’d sell to a local body shop owner…

Market value is based off what others are paying for the same car with similar mileage/options. If everyone is paying over MSRP, then the market value would reflect that. That said, insurance companies usually find enough comparable cars that were bought for sticker or under to use, and hold it against the customer…

Each state is different but in VA your car is worth “market value” to the insurance company. In his case, it’s now a used car technically, so they’d have to see what they’re selling for second hand, and if enough data isn’t available then they would just apply a depreciation curve to the new car market value. I’ve…

Structural parts are the same as any other Civic, they’re pretty inexpensive and easy to replace by modern vehicle standards. Quart panels and doors look fine, it’s mostly the rear body panel and upper tie bar on the radiator support that absorbed the energy. Unfortunately for he customer, from an insurance…

I’m not sure what PA laws are like, but in VA it’s not a total until damage exceeds 75% of pre-loss value. In most states, pre-loss value also isn’t what was just paid for a new car, rather it’s what the market value for a now used car is. I don’t think the car would be a total unless their is rail damage up front.…

I often wonder that myself. I’m southeastern Virginia, our economy is completely dependent upon the military. Where I live in Newport News, it’s the Navy and it’s nuclear ships. It’s interesting that most of our elected officials are Democrats and it’s very rare to see them vote No on anything related to the military…

So I live maybe 3 miles from the Newport News Shipyard where they’re building these nice, expensive boats. I had a customer the other day who’s an old school welder, he told me a big problem they’re running into is that no one has paper copies of designs or instructions. He said almost all the planning is fully…

You’re right, I had a brain fart because I’m writing an estimate on a GTI outside in 100 heat at a tow yard... Still, $40k for a compact based on a economy FWD platform is a little hard to swallow.