proper etiquette?

[85eurocarrera]

Way O.T. here but oppinions needed.

Snowmobiling with a new friend and he says " want to try my sled?" (Note to self: Say NO!) Well I said sure. You probably know where this is going so I wont bore you with the details.

I take off down the trail, him on mine, and proceed to try and chop down a tree with it. I misstook his left hand throttle for the brake! That is I balled it up bad, totalled. Luckily I came out without any broken bones, just chipped teeth, sore kneck and thighs. For this I am very thankful.

He has insurance but says he made a claim last year on a sled he totalled, and says they will drop him. I guess he has auto and home with them as well.

If I could I would by him a new one I really would. I dont have that kind of money. About $7000 I would guess. I told him I would check with my coverage and they say no go, insurance claims follow the vehicle.

So, I can really only offer paying his deductible, maybe a little more, $1000 total? It was an accident. I feel sick to my stomach still.

Anybody been there done that? What did you do or work out?

Thanks for letting me vent.

[dhoward]

Wasn't really an accident though, was it?
It's not like a small child ran in front of you and you had to stuff it into a tree to keep from killing the kid. You must have been going faster than you should have, not being familiar with the sled, or you could have corrected sooner.
I say you need to pony up.
Sorry.

Why is the throttle on the left side?

[911 Rod]

Pay as you play is how we handle lending out all of our toys.
What if he totaled you Porsche?

[fuelie600]

I would pay his deductible only. It's not your fault he totalled a sled last year. That's what insurance is for, to protect you/him from the loss.

Your buddy is a knuckle-head for putting the thottle in a non-standard place. He better not let his insurance company find out.

[RickM]

One could say that you took a chance by borrowing the ride. But he also took a chance by lending it to you. I'd explain to him you simply can't afford to buy one outright.

[wcc]

I would only pay the deducible. Who cares about his other accidents, that isn't your responsibility. This accident is. This is what insurance is for. He shouldn't have put the throttle on the left side. I've never heard of anything like that before. Either way, you guys probably won't be friends after this.....

As someone said earlier, if he totaled your P-car and you didn't have insurance would he be responsible for coming up with $20 grand or so? I don't think so, and he probably wouldn't, cause you should have had insurance on it.

[911 Rod]

Curious,
Why did he put the throttle on the other side?
Typo?
What kind of sled was it?

[kqw]

You've got to make him whole and do the right thing.

Sit down with him, explain your situation, offer him your snowmobile as a loaner with the understanding that until you can afford it, you'll fix/replace his.

I get the feeling that until you make it right with him you'll be bothered.

Talk to the guy and work it out.....

[85eurocarrera]

Thanks for all the comments.

The reason for throttle on LH side is for "side hilling" when you are standing on the left side of the sled. Easier to grap the throttle. It is an after market deal. pretty common on Mountian Sleds. Not that this is one though.

My conscience says just replace his sled and be done. My wife will probably shoot me though.

Anyone reading this, think twice about borrowing something or have a agreement before hand. This sucks!

Ok. He says for me to just pay off his loan. That is about 1200 more than replacing with a comperable, lower mile one on ebay. Sheesh! I am this close to buying the one on ebay, drop it off at his house, take the one I killed and call it good!

[dhoward]

Is it really totalled?
Sled season is winding down by now, or pretty soon?
Maybe you could help him fix it?
I've never meesed with a sled, but it can't be any tougher than a bike or a Porsche...

[VINMAN]

I'd have to say step up and replace it. Being that he's a "new " friend and not an old buddy, he probably might not want to just walk away with the deductable. Mabye he'll want half? It sucks! I know a few friends that went through the same thing.

[kqw]

Whenever I exchange or borrow property from a friend, it is always with the understanding of:

"Bring it back the way you got it"

[85eurocarrera]

Dhoward,
Chassis is what they call "Warped" Bent. Kinda like a car. It is worth something in parts. How much I dont know. I replace with like sled, get his and sell for parts. Does this sound alright? His loan is not my responsibility, Right?

[dhoward]

I personally wouldn't take on his loan....
I think you've got the best idea. Replace it and part out his?
Or fix it.
Now I want a sled to take apart. (play with....)
Off to e-bay...

[HardDrive]

I would not buy him a new sled. I would offer to pay the deductable.

If he has insurance, I think its BS for him to ask you to pay for the whole thing. Thats what insurance is for. Him getting dropped is not the end of the world.

If I let a friend drive my 911, and they wrecked it, I would certainly no be expecting them to buy me a new one. I would expect that if I am handing over the keys, I have the proper insurance in place to cover whatever they do.

[Jeff Higgins]

Sounds like your new found friend is just a bit irresponsible. He is "upside down" on his sled, owing more than it's worth. He totalled one, and that puts him in a position to where he can't afford to total another. He is trying to pawn some of his past irresponsibility off on you.

I would buy the e-bay sled and make him give you the totalled one. He gets to finish paying off the loan. That puts him in no worse position than when you found him. He gets the same or nicer sled in the end. This should not turn into an opportunity for him to profit because you feel bad. The parts value of the totalled sled is yours; you "bought" it from him when you totalled it. Tell him either that or all you pay is the deductible. Again, he should not profit from this, and you are not responsible for his past screw-ups that have led him to ask you to cover for him. And next time, don't get on it.

[Dixie]

Lesson to be learned: ALWAYS say no.

People offer me the option of driving their Ferrari, Cayman, Harley...
I always say NO!

[Jess]

The guys who are saying anything other than "you owe him a sled" are out of thier minds.

When you got on the machine you tacitly aggreed to hand it back to him in the condition that he gave it to you in. Whether or not it is insured is irrelelvant to the story. He has the insurance, you wrecked the sled.

You buy him a comparable sled and you get the wrecked one. That's fair and that's right.

I had a situation that was sort of the same as this a few years ago. I missed a shift in a new friend's 930 on the track. I told him "pick a shop and I'm writing the check." He's now one of my best friends, I think, in part because I stepped up and did the right thing.

Jess

[David]

I have to agree with those saying make whole. Hopefully that can be done by repairing it, if not, and it was me, I'd buy him another one.

I've been in this situation twice. The first time was in my cousin's Fiat X1/9. I didn't notice the temp gauge off the scale even though I knew it was a fresh rebuild. I trashed the engine and I didn't take responsibility and I've regretted it ever since. I was young and learned from this mistake.

The second time, I borrowed a friends RZ350 and I dropped it off the side stand. When I gave it back and showed the owner the damage, he looked at me first to see where my damage was. I said I dropped so no damage to me. It was only a few hundred dollars to repair, but I took care of it.

[azasadny]

You played, you pay... I think you should have to pay for the replacement. Work something out with him. Sorry, that's my .02 worth.