Wife and I are on our vacation, Oregon coast, Redwood and Crater Lake National Parks and the Columbia Gorge on the agenda. The past 2 days had a couple booboos that are going to cost me some money. While at Game Farm Wild animal park in Oregon, dropped my new Nikon D5200 camera. Just external damage, the camera still works. I have to pry up the flash to make it work though. A camera store here in Crescent City, California quoted me $400 for repairs.
Then yesterday while touring the redwoods of the California coast, visited a place with a drive through tree. Cost $5 to do this too. Found out my Honda Ridgeline is about an inch too wide. Dinged the right front fender. I’m guessing $500 to $700 to fix.
Does someone come out waving their arms around about how you’d dented their tree?
Not that I think you seriously damaged a tree that can have a tunnel carved through it and live but you’d think they’d check for that sort of thing before having you drive through. Or into, as the case may be.
You’d be better off spending that $400 on Nikon Speedlight. They’re much, much better than the built in pop up flash. That’s one of the best investments you can make for your camera, IMO.
Putting camera gear on an insurance rider is often a good idea. I’m not sure what the deductible is, but it might have covered that.
I’m a bit surprised about the tree, though. I would have guessed that most of the drive-through trees were constructed in less ecologically sensitive times, e.g. the 50’s and 60’s when people were still driving around inFamily Trucksters and other land yachts. Hard to believe we’re exceeding that size now.
Why fix a ding?
Unless it’s really, really big. Fenders aren’t decorative ornaments—they’re “ding absorbers”. That’s the only reason they exist…to take dings, and prevent more serious damage.
Me–I only fix real damage,not dings.
One of the last road trips my parents tried to take was the full length of the ALCAN Highway from Arkansas via Bellingham & Saint George. IIRC, they were just outside Canada when they ended up in a ditch and had to turn back.
They never did make it to Alaska. In a few years, Mom became unable to travel due to Alzheimer’s.
The ding on the fender is a couple good scrape marks. It’s also pushed in about an eighth of an inch where the bumper and fender meet. I’ve driven mostly beaters for years, I spent way too much for this Honda to drive it around with a ding in the fender. I just spent $800 to fix a couple small dents around the rear tires from people banging my truck with their doors.
$300 and change US because I forgot to pack my passport and missed my flight at Buffalo.
$150 Canadian to replace the cell phone that I dropped and got a screen-crack a few days before I came home.
