Well... Their insurance company checked out the Escape last week and did indeed total her out, as expected. They offered me $18,700 for the car + $1,215 for taxes + $120 for registration and plate transfer = $20,040 for my Escape. I owe $9,243.xx. Which is honestly way more than I expected from an insurance company. I expected them to really put it to me but maybe because I'm the innocent party they just want to make peace with me and maintain their good name because they have been really nice and open with me this whole time.
I'm all sorts of torn on what I want to get.. When I picked up my POS Yaris rental last Wednesday in O'Fallon, IL I stopped at the Mazda dealer and drove a CX-5 and the VW dealer to just drive a mk7 GTI. I loved them both.. But the more I think about it the more I think I will buy something cheap, own it either immediately or within the year(really small loan). With that.. I've been pondering the ideas of Cruze LTZs and Fiesta Titaniums. Spending in the 12-15k range and even less if I find a hella deal. I know that I still want options/features in the vehicle which is why I'm looking at LTZ/Titaniums and I'm afraid that a Fiesta will be too small and I will get sick of it.
I came across the idea of smaller, fuel efficient, and owing it because I'm looking at houses and I don't make a ton of money and going from my Escape payments to either of these and owing them will save me around $350/month(275 payment). Also paying in that range they've also depreciated a large chunk already so that's a good thing to get that out of the way... But then I also see that there is an ATS 2.0T AWD Performance for $22,300 with miles under 30,000 and I kind of want that too..