New cars and I don’t get along that well.
(you know where this is going, right?)
Back when we got our CR-V in 2005, it only took me a few weeks to “bump” into something.
It wasn’t that big of a deal and we got it fixed but I felt horrible about the whole thing.
Enter new mom-van the week after Christmas. All shiny, and perfect. Oh the stress of a brand spankin’ new, untouched vehicle. It weighs on me.
PLUS! It came with all these awesome sensors that MAKE SURE you never hit a doggone thing! (unless you’re me)
A fancy back up camera (or two) with a view of the cement and/or entire backside view. Beeping sounds that go off as you (meaning me) get close to hitting ANYthing!
(including the plastic kids slide that resides on the side of the driveway).
Anyway, as you can probably guess out of all that set up, last Saturday as I was pulling out of the driveway to go to the gym for my run, I hit something.
But not just anything. Our CR-V.
Go ahead, laugh it up.
And instead of me intricately describing HOW I ran into our OTHER car, please reference my illustration below instead, k?
See, Tim’s car (which used to be my car, if you’re keeping up) is not USUALLY there when I’m going most places, like school pick up, etc. SO, I usually just pull out that way and well, hit nothing and then pull out of the driveway going forward, which I like to do.
BUT, since his car was there and I ignored aforementioned beeping sensors, thinking they were just alerting me to the slide I was about to maybe bump into and I am SO NOT USED to having a back-up camera (OBVIOUSLY…) that I don’t look at yet, I hit it. Smack.
First on both of our cars then on my face to my palm. Double Smack. Notice me saying a few choice “bleeps” up there in the picture too…
Then I cried and went inside and woke up my husband at 6:45 on Saturday morning (I suck) to tell him I’d messed up both of our vehicles. Sh*t. k Thankfully the CR-V “damage” was extremely minimal, the dent in my bumper was no longer than 7 inches wide and it was just a tad moved out of place.
He was very understanding, as usual, and we just agreed we’d fix it when we had time.
FFWD to me at school pick up the other day and one of my friends parks behind me and sees the oopsy. Another friend is in her truck with her and tells me about a local place that fixed her SUV for a great price.
So, after my run yesterday I called them.
And they said to come on by.
And then my day, week, month maybe even year was made because a very nice gentleman simply unscrewed the bumper, got out his fancy, high-powered car bumper blow-dryer thingy, and lickidy-split popped the dent out and put my bumper back in place. JUST. LIKE. THAT!
I coulda kissed him. Seriously. Like full-on, on the mouth.
But I refrained, because well, you know…
Anyway, it’s fixed. And when I asked them what I owed them they handed me several business cards and said, “Just 5 referrals, M’am”.
And then my head exploded from good cheer. Seriously.
And if I’d had any cash (dear Lord, what happens to all my cash?) I would have insisted they take some but we settled with a nice handshake and me taking a stack of cards, which I will dutifully pass out, mind you.
So, if you’re in the Lafayette area and you need some awesome guys to fix your “oopsy” go see the guys at Cajun Customs.
They’re my new BBFs, for life.
p.s. lesson learned. Dad.
p.p.s. Y’all know I’m only blogging about this because it has a happy and cheap ending and I sorta redeemed myself, right? ;-P
That is seriously awesome. Not the bumps on the cars, but the customer service from the repair guys – LOVE THAT.
I also have a tendency to bump and hit things a little too often with my car. A few weeks before December I got a new car and though I loved my new car and I was kind of missing my old bumped up mini-van where any new bumps and bruises were easily disguised. About a week after Christmas I did “bump” the front end of new car on a parking barrier – luckily only a little scratch to the license plate. But I did feel better getting that first bump out of the way.
You clearly do not live in Boca … ack, maybe I will do a road trip and get that damage repaired from my youngest closing the garage door while my suv trunk was open … ka-ching!
be less in gas
That was funny. You should have shown me snoring inside the house.
That’s great you were able to get it fixed just like that.
We’ve had a driveway collision here also. The husband was driving my SUV and instead of backing AROUND his beloved car, he backed STRAIGHT INTO IT. So hard that we ended up with a completely new front end (bumper, hood, lights, and the door). Not more that a scrape on my SUV though.
Now we all look at least ten times before backing out of the driveway.
Ohmygodness this is so me!
Except I have no loyalties, any car will do, doesn’t have to be new.
(Poor Jason.)
xo
Oh, my husband would have never let me here the end of it!
I have to admit, I had a good giggle at your expense. Only because I can relate. Let’s see, I wrapped my (then) future F.I.L.’s truck around a pole one icy morning, totaled our Grand Am (another icy morning and NOT my fault), hit a few deer, backed into our mailbox – resulting in having to buy a new side view mirror – and have run over our garbage can countless times.
I love the end of this story, though. What a great mechanic. You don’t come across people like that very often.
Cheers!
What a nice guy! Doesn’t it make your whole day when someone is nice to you like that?
And don’t feel too bad, a few years ago I was backing out of our icy driveway in Jeff’s 4Runner while he shoveled snow and I broke is side view mirror off…I cut it a little too close to a tree. He took it pretty well.
And your drawing is awesome, you should probably look into that as a career.
I did that too! Stupid back up beeping thing that cried wolf too many times so I ignored and smacked into a cement pole.
Back up thing no longer works. I sure showed it, didn’t I?
(also of note, I haven’t hit anything in the 3 years since I broke the darn thing!)
No easy fix from your bumper guys for mine but how awesome are they? Yay!
So glad that your hubby took it well.
And, getting it fixed gratis for referrals? Now, that’s good business.
I’ve never had a beeping thing, but I would probably become immune to it, too!
Oh no!!!! I think all those back up cameras and beeps would actually be really distracting to me. No wonder you hit something!
YEAH for wonderful repairmen!!!!! They are worth their weight in gold, I tell you! That is just awesome. And they really know how to do business because now anytime anyone mentions fixing a car you are DEFINITELY going to recommend them.
Awesome!
When we got our new van last year, it took my children exactly 6 days to put a very large very noticable scratch in it.
Grrr.
I didn’t think customer service like that existed anymore.
That sounds like something I would do! I wish I had sensors and a camera for the Beast. I just try to avoid driving backwards as much as possible.
I left my keys in the ignition (car was off) and the van unlocked while I was in Target today. I was happy the car was not locked, but mad at myself for leaving the car so easily accessible. Oops.
Now, THAT is what I call good customer service!
Brian parked on an angle behind me once and I didn’t realize it. He always parks beside me. So I threw my car in reverse and smashed into his.
He was very understanding
What a great ending to the story! What business does that anymore??
You got the lucky end of the stick, my friend, because the SAME EXACT SITUATION presented itself to me about 2-3 years ago…I git Dan’s car. Only the damage to his was pretty bad b/c I hit the side door and handle, etc…he was NOT happy. But same situation. I was backing out of the garage and normally his car isn’t there…but it was that day. Oopsie. So happy it all worked out and I hope you give out those referrals!!
Oohhh…I started reading with my hand up over my face, peeking between my fingers.
I totally knew where that was going.
BUT YOUR OWN OTHER CAR?!?
(And I really, really am sorry for laughing when I got to that part. Really. I am.)
Oh this is so what would happen to me! We both got new cars in the past two weeks and I’m a nervous wreck about messing them up! Mine has the backup camera & beep sensor but I think it makes me even MORE worried. Oh and btw, my dad is an auto body technician and so I’m glad you didn’t kiss that guy on the mouth LOL.
Steph
I would never laugh at you with this story because my husband did the exact same thing! Except both the cars were my parents. They were on vacation at the time and we had to call them and say “yah, Charlie hit your one car with your other car” – that was a fun phone call.
My hubby backed his truck into my car once. i was soo ticked off! I was IN my car and saw that he didn’t even look! Mine wasn’t a cheap ending since he had cracked my tail light and dented my rear quarterpanel. I’m glad yours had a happy ending!