It’s not standard, but is most common. My father in law just got a 2019 Enclave and had to get a trim level higher than he planned when looking at 2018s because captains chairs weren’t available on the lower trim anymore.

Its mostly for those of us who travel with the dog, not just kids. If my wife and I go somewhere, the only option is for the front passenger to hold her, or she gets to lay down in the back seat. Once baby seats are back there she can’t lay down, and neither my wife nor I are planning on holding a 45 lbs dog in front…

I’m about to be in the same boat, my wife refuses to take 2 cars to the in laws 30 minutes away... Although our “second car” is my free company car with free gas, but heaven forbid we take advantage of that anywhere on the weekends or out a kid in it! Dog isn’t allowed, I’ve already had to explain to corporate once…

Agreed. When we bought a policy last year through the insurer I work for I let my wife handle it since it was her car and she was at the dealer about to pick up and needed proof of insurance to drive off the lot. She got the employee discount and I thought the price was too good to be true. I look at the policy and it…

I forget which industry magazine I read it in, but they said around he 2015 model year was the longest projected lifespan. Essentially cars models from 2014/2015/2016 we’re going to have the longest lifespan of mass produced cars, and models built after that would slowly start to have a shorter lifespan due to the…

You’d be shocked at how many of my customers are carrying $1000, or even $2000 deductibles. Also, you’d be shocked how many people don’t have rental coverage. “Full coverage” just means you have liability, comprehensive, and collision coverage, offer at the state minimum. That’s how you get low rates when you switch…

Yesterday I wrote an insurance estimate for an E350, minor damage to the plastic bumper cover on the left rear. Easily repairable, until I saw in the mirror the car had blind spot warning sensors. I had the tech pull the bumper, sure enough the sensor was right where the damage was. MB, and most OEMs state how much…

In our state the payment is issued to the lien holder. Legally, unless you have the title in hand and in your name, insurance doesn’t owe you any money at all.

It was a Maxima. I don’t know what his situation was with the dealer, I just get the insurance valuation and the loan payoff amount from the lien holder. I’d assume he has a very high interest rate or negative equity from a trade in. The car was probably $35k new, so $17k after 3 years isn’t absurd when you account…

I’m not privy to the exact details of what he financed, but he let on that his payments were roughly $650 a month. So. $55k for a Nissan Maxima that probably stickered for $35k in 2015. Car was ragged out and had over 110k miles so it was worth a lot less than a comparable Maxima.

I’ll say it again, because it’s so relevant and ridiculous. I had a customer whose car was totaled by flood water, his loan was for 84 months and he was denied GAP coverage on the loan because the length of the terms. He owes $40,000 on a car that was worth $17,000 3 years after he bought it. He put no money down and…

New A4s have a fairly sizable gap between the fender and hood now that the hood extends to over the wheel openings. It’s well over 1/4 inch to extend the bodyline running down the doors and quarter panel. The problem is when your gaps aren’t symmetrical, that’s your first sign something is off. But a wide gap could be…

At least the taxis know where to go. I finally gave up using Uber when I lived in South Loop, 9/10 of my drivers weren’t familiar with the streets and relied on the GPS that was constantly changing, whereas my cab always knew how to get to the destination when I told him where to go.

I’ll preface this by saying as an insurance adjuster the nastiest interiors I’ve seen are the ones with fatalities. This story below is the worst from a repairable car I’ve ever had.

Correct, it’s rolled into your registration. I have friends who are mad they get the charge even for owning a 2010 Honda Insight. But I do understand, the point is to make up the lost revenue. That said I’m pretty sure my 2017 Civic is beating that Insight in the MPG game and I’m perfectly ok with that.

I had it for the first time last year when I was in Texas for work, my first meal in the state. I was very disappointed by my meal compared to the hype. The burger was fine, but I prefer Shake Shack or Five Guys personally. The real disappointment was the fries. Even though I watched them get cooked when I ordered…

Great examples of this depreciation from my job.

Now that I’m seeing these on the street the Z71 in silver and red look a lot more impressive than the current Ram and F150 to me, especially after the 2018 update for the Ford. The Sierra looked better in pictures, but in person the front end is a bloated mess.

The panels are riveted on in certain spots and the rivers aren’t aluminum. Also the truck isn’t 100% aluminum, so a little mixture of snow and road salt splashed on the undercarriage can still lead to galvanic corrosion. We’ll see it with these new GMs too, the only way to keep out the rust is go all steel with a good…

I want a truck, specifically the new Silverado, but it’s hard to justify when we don’t tow anything and only need the bed occasionally. We rent Suburbans or Yukon XLs when we go to Steelers games, there’s nothing as comfortable as those for long trips. Other than that, my dad has a Sierra that we use for occasional…