Damaged car blues

[wondersofwine]

I did better than I anticipated on the insurance deal. Since the other driver's insurer was paying off the bank lien nine months early, it came to only $757 owing, not $2000. Thus I got about $3600+ back from the insurer and applied $3400 of that to a down payment. Also, I bought a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier program car with about 19,000 miles on it so the cost was under $10,000 (before taxes and delivery fee)--a lot less than a new car. It's still under manufacturer's warranty until 36,000 miles and I bought a modified extended service contract beyond that. If it needs repairs after 36,000 miles, I pay the first $100 and the service contract pays the rest up to five years from purchase or 100,000 miles.
I still won't have the two years free of car payments, but kept the car payments to under $150 per month--which is less than with my 1999 Cavalier.