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FaithS · 07-07-2008, 04:54 PM

Our van is a jinx!
Theft -- In June, our unlocked van and car were raided as they were parked next to our garage in the back yard. Bag chairs, and things from an overnight camping trip that my daughter took were stolen. We are missing about $250 worth of stuff. None has been recovered, there are no suspects, and our deductible is too high for insurance to cover anything.

Damage -- Last week, someone in the WalMart parking lot opened their car door against our front passenger van door, leaving a huge dent. Our estimate put cost, even with a used door at $800. We are not sure if our 1993 van is currently worth that much; we wonder if it might be totalled.

The situation is complicated because the driver of the van, who lives out-of-county, was not the owner of the van. The owner lives in yet a different county, and we do not have insurance information to file a claim.

I have called the local police department numerous times in the past 6 days, and gone down there once, as instructed, to attempt to pick up their report. Unfortunately, they have not yet completed a report, so we are unable, at this time, to investigate insurance claim options. (I was told last week that the officer has 3 days to complete his report. He has today and tomorrow off, so we are unable to contact him until Wednesday, the day our six 18 year olds are due to drive home.) We, personally, have only liability insurance on our van. I also called the police dept. in the city where the owner lives; they cannot help us to obtain insurance info or any other info, because the accident occurred here.

Fast forward to present -- Transmission problems-- Our 18 y.o. daughter and 5 other just-graduated seniors are currently in Colorado on a "senior trip", almost 600 miles away from home with our van. The front door currently has a semi-repair job done on it by my husband, so that it can be opened and shut). that's the least of our problems. Our daughter indicates that 3rd gear has been having lots of problems, and they think it's the transmission. She has been on the phone frequently with my DH; they currently have an appointment to take it in to a shop to have the transmission looked at.

We may have to borrow a van to drive out to Colorado to get them. They are likely unable to rent a vehicle, because they are all under age 21. We don't know what to do about our van. It is not worth replacing the transmission. Should we sell it for scrap out there? If we do, will we be eligible for any insurance money from the door incident last week?

AAAck!

~ Faith