FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOU MOTHER NATURE, FUCK YOU

[Yegolev]

Hey, make sure you can get that thing re-titled before you go buying a totaled car.  Georgia law limits repair-retitle to certified entities.

[schild]

Hey, make sure you can get that thing re-titled before you go buying a totaled car.  Georgia law limits repair-retitle to certified entities.

I don't know what that means.

[Jayce]

I had the same thing happen, but they talked me out of buying the car.  The fact that it's been totaled goes on the books and makes the resale value shit.  I want to say that they were going to charge me more than $200.  Oh, I remember, it's called a "salvage title".  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvage_title

This is probably a different situation though, because for me the car had been stolen and stripped and they made the good point that the thieves may have taken or broken something that was not immediately obvious and then I'd be up the creek, owning a big pile of scrap.

[Nerf]

It'd still be a salvage title, but the $200 is news to me, when my mx-6 was totaled out (by state farm, IIRC, other guys insurance) it was going to be well over $1k to keep it. (I believe the check they cut me was around $4k)

Texas is pretty friendly about salvage titles though, so aside from the resale value being shit he'll be fine.

[Hoax]

Most people's experiences with New Jersey are from the Internet or Newark Airport.  I guess that should do it for you.

I'm in this group.  Newark airport, Carlstadt, Teaneck and Englewood.  Was not awesome at any time.

Newark Airport, Jersey City, Bloomfield, Montclair, the Oranges, Hoboken and Patterson were not awesome.  Fuck NJ.  Also listening to the radio in NJ makes me want to fucking nuke that entire state.  LoL at MD making fun of them, although the parts of MD that aren't Baltimore are at least sort of pretty.  I think.  Could have been Virginia.

Hey, make sure you can get that thing re-titled before you go buying a totaled car.  Georgia law limits repair-retitle to certified entities.

I don't know what that means.

Here's what I think it means.

In California, there is a law on the books that makes it raep tiem if you are driving a car that has been declared total'd by the insurance company.  Even if it drives perfectly fine if they say its broken and not worth repairing you can't argue.  The only thing you can do is go to DMV and suck their dick and possibly some insurance co dick and get them to grant you the right to drive the car you've been driving.  That process costs a bunch of time, paperwork and I believe in the neighborhood of $200+ in fees.

[Salamok]

okay just so you don't go off on us for not warning you, here are a few other Austin items:

1 - If there is a severe weather advisory of any sort just stay the F inside (and don't leave anything you care about outside).
2 - Don't try and cross any of the posted low water crossing areas if you see water on the road.
3 - Don't buy anything in the 100 year flood plain unless having your entire 1st floor go under water is okay with you.
4 - Don't go swimming in the lakes, stir up a bunch of silt on the shoreline and accidentally snort some of that muddied water up your nose.
5 - We have scorpions here too!
6 - Stay away from east Austin.
7 - Del Valle doesn't have anything to do with Dell computers stay away!

[Yegolev]

Disclaimer: I don't know how it works in Texas.  For all I know, you use hailstones as currency.

A car is totaled and the title is no longer yours.  You get a check.  You can keep the car (so why are you paying someone $200 for your own car? think about it) but it won't have a valid title, which you will probably discover you need when you need a tag.  To get a title for it, it has to be fixed up and recertified.  A few years ago this was pretty easy in Georgia, however now the person who is doing this must be licensed.  This is, I assume, to cut down on insurance fraud where you total a car and then keep driving it since it has only been dented and lost a windshield (for example).

My 2005 Altima is a salvage.  Says so right on the title.  I have to use something to pry open the gas cap cover.  It shakes at speeds around 60mph.  However it is paid for (sort of!) and has a fancy 3.5L engine.

[schild]

You have a 3.5L engine in a car that shakes at 60?

Yeg, if I could ask, what good is a 3.5L engine in a ticking bomb?

[Righ]

4 - Don't go swimming in the lakes, stir up a bunch of silt on the shoreline and accidentally snort some of that muddied water up your nose.

i herd he liek mudkipz

[Yegolev]

You have a 3.5L engine in a car that shakes at 60?

Yeg, if I could ask, what good is a 3.5L engine in a ticking bomb?

Altima's 250-horsepower 3.5-liter DOHC 24-valve V6 engine with 249 lb-ft of torque offers an increase of five horsepower and three lb-ft of torque over the 2004 model. The 3.5-liter V6 is part of the VQ engine series, which has been recognized as one of the "Ten Best Engines" by Ward's Auto World magazine for nine consecutive years. V6-powered Altimas qualify for Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) status.

Did the hail kill your sense of adventure, Grandma?  Maybe you missed the part where I don't make a car payment.  Also, 0-60 in a small number of seconds and 23mpg when not hotdogging.  Worst case, I lose a wheel at 85mph and slam into a concrete barricade.  I'm pretty sure the airbags still work.

Seriously, though, that's what the recertification is for.

[Strazos]

Holy shit Schild, I am so sorry.
I think I'd cry if that happened to my car.

[rattran]

Spring storm season will be happening here soon. This is making me consider getting a carport. My FJ is too pretty for dimples!

[Righ]

You need an all-over padded car bra for the FJ. That way you could even drive off road in it without getting unsightly blemishes.

[Pennilenko]

Spring storm season will be happening here soon. This is making me consider getting a carport. My FJ is too pretty for dimples!

Your FJ is dooooooooooooooooomed. 

[croaker69]

Something like this may have been inevitable

[rattran]

Something like this may have been inevitable

You're claiming Schild's S-Type was genetically predisposed to being hit by hail?

psycho.

[Selby]

Disclaimer: I don't know how it works in Texas.  For all I know, you use hailstones as currency.

Just FYI, every state has different rules regarding salvage titles.  Some don't even care or report it if paperwork isn't filed (up to the insurance company to do so), in others a salvage title is a death certificate.  In California, you can get a car with a salvage title on the road, you have to jump through a few hoops to get back on the road - go to CHP and get a brake and light test, safety inspection (basically what Texas does every year for inspection and California does NEVER on any car).  A "Nonrepairable Vehicle" designation is a death knell and cannot officially be repaired.  Salvage just means it was declared a loss at one time or another for mostly financial reasons.  And when tranferring the car from state to state, not all states care about another's salvage designation.  This means it is possible to white-wash a car's title with a few select state transfers.  Unscrupulous people do this to flood cars all the time, which is why buying used cars can be such a chore.  Carfax doesn't help you there either since it only reports what has actually been reported officially, and not all major issues\wrecks that a car undergoes is always reported

Definitely doable, it just depends on how badly you want to save your car.

[apocrypha]

This is why I have a shitty car. I don't give a monkeys if anything bad happens to it. But hey, bad luck schild. Just remembered I dreamt I was visiting Texas lastnight. Must be because we watched Lone Star. There wasn't any hail in either the film or my dream so you must have just been really unlucky.

[Sky]

You need an all-over padded car bra for the FJ. That way you could even drive off road in it without getting unsightly blemishes.

I was thinking all-over steel plates. And a cow-catcher.

[Draegan]

Most people's experiences with New Jersey are from the Internet or Newark Airport.  I guess that should do it for you.

I'm in this group.  Newark airport, Carlstadt, Teaneck and Englewood.  Was not awesome at any time.

Newark Airport, Jersey City, Bloomfield, Montclair, the Oranges, Hoboken and Patterson were not awesome.  Fuck NJ.  Also listening to the radio in NJ makes me want to fucking nuke that entire state.  LoL at MD making fun of them, although the parts of MD that aren't Baltimore are at least sort of pretty.  I think.  Could have been Virginia.

JC is pretty nice if you're in the area around the harbor, but like an urban city it has some real shitty parts.  Hoboken is basically a city with some awesome bars/restaurants.

Bloomfield/Oranges etc are all shit holes.  There are a ton of just nice towns and suburbs also.  Morristown, Madison, Long Beach Island just to name a few places I've been to recently.

Not sure what you have against the radio.  In Northern Jersey it's all NYC radio, and in Southern part of the state its all Philadelphia stuff.  All AM/FM is shit though no matter what part of the country you're in.  I'll stick with my Sirius.

There are large, and I mean large portions of this state that is farmland and forest.  You just happened to travel through the densest part of the state for population.

[bhodi]

That really sucks schild. I'd cry if that happened to my car, too.

The thing that sucks about NJ isn't the area. Most parts of the state are actually quite pretty. It's the people. It's that 'fuck you' attitude that everyone thinks NY people have. Unlike New Yorkers, however, the brusque attitude is more than skin deep. People in NJ know they're going nowhere in life and they are simultaneously pissed and depressed about it. Everyone who is anyone already lives in New York; New Jersey is simply filled with the leavings.

NJ folk take these conflicted feelings out on everyone around them. People in jersey don't like anyone - not you, not their friends, not even themselves.

[WayAbvPar]

I would cry if I had to live in Texas. Getting my car banged up by mother nature would be just another kick in the crotch.

[Salamok]

well $500 deductible on my truck and $1700 deductible on a new roof for the house. Hail: $2200, Me: New Roof.  Not quite sure how i feel about that.

[Ookii]

Most people's experiences with New Jersey are from the Internet or Newark Airport.  I guess that should do it for you.

I have family in Jersey, it's not so great.

I love how they don't trust people to make left hand turns, gotta love those jug handles.  And then there's Elizabeth.

[Lantyssa]

I was thinking all-over steel plates. And a cow-catcher.

At least it wouldn't look like a Tonka truck anymore.

[Sky]

I have a cousin named Tonka.

[Draegan]

Most people's experiences with New Jersey are from the Internet or Newark Airport.  I guess that should do it for you.

I have family in Jersey, it's not so great.

I love how they don't trust people to make left hand turns, gotta love those jug handles.  And then there's Elizabeth.

I never said Jersey was so great, I'm just saying it's not terrible!

For left turns, there is so much god damn traffic in this place and not all the highways and roads can handle it, hence lights and jug handles.

Makes it easier.

[Nerf]

well $500 deductible on my truck and $1700 deductible on a new roof for the house. Hail: $2200, Me: New Roof.  Not quite sure how i feel about that.

Shop around roofing companies, while technicaly insurance fraud, there are a whole bunch of roofing companies that will eat part of that deductable to earn your business.

[Trippy]

That really sucks schild. I'd cry if that happened to my car, too.

The thing that sucks about NJ isn't the area. Most parts of the state are actually quite pretty. It's the people. It's that 'fuck you' attitude that everyone thinks NY people have. Unlike New Yorkers, however, the brusque attitude is more than skin deep. People in NJ know they're going nowhere in life and they are simultaneously pissed and depressed about it. Everyone who is anyone already lives in New York; New Jersey is simply filled with the leavings.

NJ folk take these conflicted feelings out on everyone around them. People in jersey don't like anyone - not you, not their friends, not even themselves.

I really like the area around Woodcliff Lake (US corporate home to companies like Sony and BMW USA) and driving up from Newark on whichever freeway that doesn't go through Newark is very scenic and the airport itself is okay. Newark itself, however, is .

I got lost going back to the airport once thanks to the fucking divided freeways and the GPS in the car (last time I ever used one of those things) so I had to get off and back on a few times to get back track and I was like "fuck this is going to be like Bonfire of the Vanities isn't it?".

[Sjofn]

Jersey doesn't seem that terrible now eh?

Difference is that it rarely hails but NJ sucks every hour of every day.

I miss NJ. :(

We're going to visit it next week! Yay!


EDIT: Also, wtf is with the crying about jughandles. They're GOOD THINGS.

[Yegolev]

What are jughandles?

[Lantyssa]

They're what you use to lift the bottle of 'shine to your lips.

[Ookii]

What are jughandles?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jughandle

[rattran]

I miss the traffic circles and the 'historic traffic patterns apply' laws for them. There were 2 in Flemington that had opposite right-of-way, a mile from each other. Much fun. And really good fresh tomatoes. And blue fish.

But yes, the south-east part of NJ is potato farms, pine barrens, and beaches. The north-west is forested mountains and hills. The rest (Suburbs of Philly and NYC) is shit. Newark and the whole area around it is a cancerous carbuncle, desperately in need of excising. That said, some of the girls from Rutgers Newark were

[Zephyr]

There were some nice places in Jersey, but I couldn't bear living there again.  I do laugh at the thought of the people who can't navigate the tiny traffic circles in Boulder trying to make it through a Jersey circle.  That was my first WTF moment after moving to Jersey, as I had to take the driving exam again and one of the questions was about the right of way in a circle.