Neighbor called me in the wee hours this morning. Said someone had just hit a car on Grant Avenue.
Got dressed and went out to take a look. Sure enough my beloved '92 Grand Am had been assaulted and battered by a Plymouth Acclaim. The drunk female driver saw fit to hit it nearly head-on even though it was on the opposite side of the street legally parked. Hood crumpled. Bumper cover a total disaster. One headlight destroyed, the other displaced. Left fender distorted. No coolant leakage evident though. Not sure what else at this time. The impact drove my machine back about 13' into the front of my other neighbor's Neon which suffered minor damage as a result.
I know this drill all too well. Even though my machine has zero rust and is (was) in impeccable mechanical condition the repairs are likely to run more than the car is worth on the books, so the insurance company will total it and pay me the book value. However, there is no way in heck I will be made whole. Finding a replacement that is equivalent to the "real" value of my machine ain't gonna happen in the price range of the settlement money (and that's assuming there will be some settlement money).
Just chalk me up as yet another casualty of drunk driving. It almost makes me want to say some bad words.