[Dadhawk]

Looks like it's the end of an era in the Hawk household.

MomHawk was rear-ended in her near pristine 2005 Mustang last week. She was sitting to make a left turn into our subdivision when someone didn't see either her brake lights or turn signals until it was too late.

At first the damage looked superficial, just a bumper cover and maybe a torsion bar right behind the cover. There wasn't even any paint damage. The first body shop estimate was less than $500.

Then, of course, they pulled the bumper cover off. The rear frame rail was buckled and pushed forward. Ford no longer makes/stocks the frame rail, and insurance will not approve a used one (and even if they did the cost of acquiring it, etc exceeded the worth of the car).

The good news is she already has a 2024 Mustang on order, and the payout is more than twice what the trade-in value would be. She'll have to drive the Suburban until her car is built in July.

The bad news is she had planned to sell it for trade-in value to a friend who was in dire straits to get a reliable vehicle after having her car totaled and somehow did not get insurance coverage because the driver of HER car was uninsured (her adult son) and she did not have uninsured driver coverage. She now has a $17K plus loan on a junked car that was undriveable. (Personally I think she needed a lawyer, but it's too late for that).

This is the only visible damage other than a bent license plate. The car is still perfectly straight on both sides in the rear. Some junkyard is going to reap some serious money off this car.