My car just got totalled by a minor fender bender that apparently would cost more than the value of the car to repair. The tow truck is loading it up right now to haul it away to the junkyard (ridiculous, it's completely drivable, the lights all work and everything). Getting a cash payout, since the other driver was a dumbass who drove into me while I was stopped.
In a bit of serenidipidous timing, I'm moving into the core urban area of a big city next week, and so... I'm going car-free. Bike bus and walk, every day. Work is a relaxing bus ride or ambitious bike ride away. Daycare is a couple blocks away, so Little Beaver can walk with us to school every day. Cool shit everywhere nearby. My friends already live in the area, cuz it's a dope place to live. Already talked to more neighbors than I did in my old neighborhood, because this is an actual community of people instead of a bunch of islands surrounded by car moats.
Fuck that car. My life is already cooler without it.
I know you're going car free so this isn't relevant to you, but you can sometimes negotiate with the insurance to keep the "totalled" car. Like every car I've ever driven is totalled by their definition of the amount of money to maoe it aesthetically pleasing is more than its market value. But fuck them and fuck cars without dents. I refuse to spend more than 1500 on a car
Be very careful about this. A major driver for cars being easily 'totalled' is modern core chassis design - it's all one big piece, and made to be very minimalised, so as soon as you slightly bend or crumple it, it's basically impossible to put that metal back such that it's safe to drive again.
It may look and function perfectly fine, but if it comes under any stress, or a crash, they can snap or fail in a way that's very lethal.
Car manufacturers obviously love it because planned obsolescence hell yeah
Fuck 'em up til they've got dents.