So I was driving back home from Utah yesterday in the M when Wyoming decided it would be a good time to have a blizzard (go figure.) No big deal, except that apparently Wyoming uses some sort of mixture on the roads that contains tiny chunks of rock or gravel. By the time I got clear of Wyoming, my car had been bombarded with these little bastards and it took a toll on her... My windshield looked like the surface of the moon, thousands of bits of glass chipped away and the entire hood, front bumper and both headlight assemblies were chipped pretty bad.
Needless to say, I was pretty displeased with the situation, so on my way back home I called my insurance agency, USAA, and filed a claim under comprehensive damage. As soon as I got home today I took the M to one of the contracted auto body shops (an incredibly reputable one, surprising,) and had them work up an estimate.
Long story short, I'm paying my $150 deductible, while USAA is footing the rest of the $5,200 bill and I'm going to end up with 2 brand new headlight assemblies and an almost entirely new paint job.
Not only that, but the body shop is going to paint my roof Piano Black like I was planning on getting done, anyway, and they aren't going to charge extra to do it. Aaaaand (yes, there's more,) while the rest of the work gets done, they are also going to paint and install my new Aero side skirts for only $400.
So in the end, what I thought was going to be a disaster turned out in my favor (and I finally get back some of what I've paid insurance companies over the years.)
