It really wasn’t that bad (no dents or anything), she offered to pay for any repair costs, and making her feel bad wouldn’t have accomplished anything (except that it’d have made ME feel bad to have made her feel bad), so I made it out to be no big deal. BUT inside I wanted to cry. I look at this car like it’s my first (though technically it’s not). I drove the old Tercel I had from high school for ages, but it was never technically my car because my parents had purchased it (though from the beginning it was purchased for me) and never gotten around to actually putting it my name. When that “broke down” (actually it wasn’t in bad shape and for a reasonable price I probably could have gotten it fixed, but I was really sick of that car), I did get a Neon (which was technically MY first car), but I only had that for a several months because as the winter months moved it, it was discovered that the little flap that either opens to allow heat into the car or closes to keep it out was broken and in the closed position (meaning no heat). A simple problem, but an expensive one if only because reaching it required removing the entire dash from the car, and about the same time this problem showed itself, my current car showed up on the lot. I was able to sell the Neon for only $200 less than I purchased it for, despite the heating problem which was fully disclosed to the buyer (they were buying it as a starter car for their daughter’s high school graduation, and I heard that she totaled it a week after receiving it). But that gave me all the money I needed to get my Camry.

Now, it’s not new (it’s a ‘98), but I love that car (and actually I much prefer the body style of my Camry to the newer ones). It’s got a sunroof, wood-grain interior, leather seats, a two-tone paint job and even it’s power locks and windows were a big deal to me when I got it as those were not a feature of the old Tercel nor the Neon. It’s sporty enough to be “hip” and yet mature enough not to make me look like a spoiled frat boy.

Anyways, despite all the mourning, I looked at it in the light this morning and it doesn’t look to bad. I was able to get most of the apparent “damage” off last night with a wet wash cloth. Yet there still is one long but shallow scratch that I think I can buff out on my own and a couple of small digs into the paint that I’ll probably have to pay to have fixed. Anybody know how much it usually costs to get smaller scratches repaired?