wfooshee
O, Woe is me!!
So in December I had Progressive out to look at my two cars, both damaged by Hurricane Michael. The Miata was "safely" ensconced in the garage, and I took the Aurora to my office where I rode out the storm. The garage door blew out, and the garage ceiling fell in, so the Miata, which I thought was protected, got pretty beat up. The Aurora was outdoors, parked with the passenger side facing the storm, and took several pieces of airborne debris, creating a number of pretty big dents, although no glass was broken, and the car was still driveable.
The Aurora was giving me fits, so I was really hoping to be able to just unload it with that claim. It was losing coolant and the A/C compressor had gone out a couple of months before the storm. The paint was crap when I bought it, but the interior was perfect, and everything worked! It was quick, comfortable, stereo was great, and except for occasionally not working, it was reliable. **cough** **cough** OK, it only stranded me once. And I carry water because I keep having to top off the coolant. And it's no longer air-conditioned. And it needs tires. But aside from that, it's GREAT!!!
The Miata was a recent acquisition, having gotten it in July. I had my son's Miata back in 2004 when he was deployed, and I've wanted one ever since the little ******* took his back. They're not powerful, they're not all that smooth in ride, and for a heavy old guy they're a bit of work to get in and out of, but I LOVE IT!!! Nothing else handles like a Miata, and nothing else shifts like one. You decide you want the top down, you unlatch it while you're sitting at the light and throw it back. You can pull it up from the driver's seat, too. Down is about three seconds, up is about six. Add a couple of seconds for the windows, because top-down-windows-up is GHEY!!!
So Progressive gave me just under 3000 for the Aurora, which was quite generous, I thought. Between you and me and the fencepost, it was more than I paid for it three years ago. Significantly more. They gave me almost 8K for the Miata, which again, was more than I paid for it. It was almost not a total; had it not been for some stitching coming lose in the top and a bent rib, I would have gotten 2 new body panels and a full paint job. The top, though, put it over the top, so to speak, in settlement value. They can't go to eBay or Moss Miata for parts, they have to use Mazda prices, and the frame of the top would be about $3500!!
I don't have any post-Michael pics of the Aurora, here's how I found the Miata (re-runs of some pics from my Hurricane Michael thread):
How I found it...
What it looked like after extraction:
What it looks like after a good bath:
Not what you expect when you hear "totaled," is it?
So both cars come out a total loss, and when I ask about buy-back, they offer the Miata for less than 2K. Well, there's nothing wrong with it! It has a couple of small dents and a lot of scuffs and scratches, the top leaks and one bar of the frame is slightly bent. Mechanically, it's the same car, which I can't even begin to approach on the market for that number, so I bought it back. Yeah, that puts a Rebuilt title on it, but who cares. I've never sold a car in my life, I run them until they die.
So I still have my Miata, and not quite 8K in cash. And I do need a bigger car.
Spent a few weeks shopping around, then one day came across something at what seemed an astonishing, to-good-to-be-true price. Well, it WAS too good to be true, but the issues can be dealt with. So in what may turn out to be the stupidest, or the most brilliant car purchase I've ever made, I got a 2003 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG. The 5.5-liter supercharged V8. For $5K. The car has 152,000 miles, which for a 2003 is less than 10K a year.
The car has issues, most of which I knew going in. The previous owner... well, no other way to say it other than: he ghettoed the wheels! The car came with 18x8.5 fronts, and 18x9.5 rears, with appropriate rubber. The car as it sits has 20s on it, and they are at least 2 inches wider than stock. Furthermore, the guy put tires on it that are the original width, so the sidewalls are splayed out as the tire sits on the rim. The bead is at least an inch outside the edge of the tread surface! The result is that the tires rub the body work. ON THE SIDEWALLS!!! Well, I've got almost 3K more of insurance money, so I can go wheel and tire shopping. I've already found and have on hand a set of genuine AMG wheels the right size. They're not from an S55 but from another model, and from an earlier year, but they will fit correctly and perfectly. Thing is, I can't get the existing wheels off. They have a weird locking lug, not factory, and there's no key tool with the car. I was able to get two of them off with the trick of hammering a socket on to them, but the other two won't budge, and they've rounded the shoulders as the socket slipped on them. The perfect socket now, just under 19mm, would be 23/32-inch, but I don't think anyone makes one of those.
I'm going to have to take it to a tire shop with the tools to yank those out, and I hate taking stuff to a shop! Anyway, next step is tire shopping.
Another issue, well aware of at purchase, is even though the car has a clean Carfax, good maintenance (even saw that the valve cover gaskets have been replaced in the last couple of years,) it has obviously been bumped pretty good at the nose. Driver's side headlight assembly is new, and the paint is flaking off the bumper. There's damage behind the bumper at the driver's side, and the motor for the headlamp washer is smashed, meaning the car won't hold washer fluid. That last part I learned when I added a quart or so of fluid and saw it run down onto the pavement...
The passenger side headlight was badly glazed but I have one of those wet-sand kits, and thirty minutes brought the lens to a usable condition.
Final issue will be more expensive, but still within the budget of not using more than the insurance money. The Active Ride Control has issues, which are most likely just accumulators. Basically tanks with a pressurized membrane, in the system to absorb shock of hydraulic pulses. When those go out, the system goes into a locked mode, not adjusting the ride control or ride height dynamically. The system is supposed to stabilize the car by hydraulically keeping it level as you maneuver. It's like the old active suspension systems, except not completely hydraulic. There are springs and shocks, but the top of each strut tower has that hydraulic actuator which can work to lengthen or shorten the strut based on road and driving conditions. The fluid is low, there may be a leak somewhere, but everything I'm reading says the problem is most likely the accumulators, of which there are two main ones, less than 200 bucks each, and easy to replace. The ride control system has a pushbutton to raise the car in the event of being on a rough road, or using tire chains, etc. I have it set on raised to try to minimize tire rub.
So anyway, the car is VERY nice to drive, extremely comfortable, and extremely well-equipped. This thing has more electric motors than some countries! The steering column tilts down to your setting when you put the key in the ignition. The column is power adjustable for height and reach. The outside mirrors are electrically adjustable, goes without saying. The back seats have fore-and-aft power adjustment. The front seats have all the expected power adjustment, plus the seat cushion can move forward or back independent of the seat back, meaning the cushion can be made longer or shorter! Also, even the headrest height is power adjustable. The rear view mirror is not adjusted by power, but its position is set in the memory that saves the positions of the seats and outside mirrors. There are three memories, and seats, steering column, outside mirrors and rear-view mirror go to their memorized positions when a memory button is selected. The transmission has three modes, comfort, sport, and manual. Comfort has softer shifts and earlier shift points, and starts from a stop in second gear. Sport is more aggressive. In either mode, you can manually select a gear by moving the shifter sideways. There is also a Manual mode, with no automatic shifting, you shift with push-buttons on the back of the steering wheel, right side for up, left for down. It can be an AE!!!! Sorta. More motors: The seats have fans in the bottom cushions for active ventilation. ALL FOUR SEATS! They're also heated. ALL FOUR! There's a mesh sunshade in the rear window, deployed or retracted with a dash button. If you half-latch the doors, the car pulls them in fully shut. (OK, that's pneumatic, not electric, but there's an electric motor for the air pump!) The trunk opens and closes electrically, either from the keyfob, a button under the lip, or a button in the driver's door. The rear headrests will lay flat so they don't obstruct the driver's view, or raised when the seats are occupied, all by pushbutton. (Again, pneumatic.)
On balance, I'm very happy with the purchase, and not too afraid of hidden gotchas. There may be some, but we'll deal with them. It's more expensive to insure than the Aurora was, by about 40 percent. It takes premium, and its EPA rating was 14/18. Kind of in the "If you have to ask..." category for fuel economy. It's not safe to drive any distance right now with the tire rub, not being sure the ride control is properly sorted, but that should all be handled in the next month or so.
So pics:
This shows the cord on the sidewall from the body rub on the tire...
Leather is great, wood trim is perfect, although I probably could have taken the floor mat and shaken it out before the picture...
Back seat easily holds real people, not just kids!
KOMPRESSOR!!!!!!!!
The aforementioned weird locking lug, two of which came out OK.
My replacement wheels. No center caps, but I found a set of Chinese chrome caps on eBay for 16 bucks, shipped.
The Aurora was giving me fits, so I was really hoping to be able to just unload it with that claim. It was losing coolant and the A/C compressor had gone out a couple of months before the storm. The paint was crap when I bought it, but the interior was perfect, and everything worked! It was quick, comfortable, stereo was great, and except for occasionally not working, it was reliable. **cough** **cough** OK, it only stranded me once. And I carry water because I keep having to top off the coolant. And it's no longer air-conditioned. And it needs tires. But aside from that, it's GREAT!!!
The Miata was a recent acquisition, having gotten it in July. I had my son's Miata back in 2004 when he was deployed, and I've wanted one ever since the little ******* took his back. They're not powerful, they're not all that smooth in ride, and for a heavy old guy they're a bit of work to get in and out of, but I LOVE IT!!! Nothing else handles like a Miata, and nothing else shifts like one. You decide you want the top down, you unlatch it while you're sitting at the light and throw it back. You can pull it up from the driver's seat, too. Down is about three seconds, up is about six. Add a couple of seconds for the windows, because top-down-windows-up is GHEY!!!
So Progressive gave me just under 3000 for the Aurora, which was quite generous, I thought. Between you and me and the fencepost, it was more than I paid for it three years ago. Significantly more. They gave me almost 8K for the Miata, which again, was more than I paid for it. It was almost not a total; had it not been for some stitching coming lose in the top and a bent rib, I would have gotten 2 new body panels and a full paint job. The top, though, put it over the top, so to speak, in settlement value. They can't go to eBay or Moss Miata for parts, they have to use Mazda prices, and the frame of the top would be about $3500!!
I don't have any post-Michael pics of the Aurora, here's how I found the Miata (re-runs of some pics from my Hurricane Michael thread):
How I found it...
What it looked like after extraction:
What it looks like after a good bath:
Not what you expect when you hear "totaled," is it?
So both cars come out a total loss, and when I ask about buy-back, they offer the Miata for less than 2K. Well, there's nothing wrong with it! It has a couple of small dents and a lot of scuffs and scratches, the top leaks and one bar of the frame is slightly bent. Mechanically, it's the same car, which I can't even begin to approach on the market for that number, so I bought it back. Yeah, that puts a Rebuilt title on it, but who cares. I've never sold a car in my life, I run them until they die.
So I still have my Miata, and not quite 8K in cash. And I do need a bigger car.
Spent a few weeks shopping around, then one day came across something at what seemed an astonishing, to-good-to-be-true price. Well, it WAS too good to be true, but the issues can be dealt with. So in what may turn out to be the stupidest, or the most brilliant car purchase I've ever made, I got a 2003 Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG. The 5.5-liter supercharged V8. For $5K. The car has 152,000 miles, which for a 2003 is less than 10K a year.
The car has issues, most of which I knew going in. The previous owner... well, no other way to say it other than: he ghettoed the wheels! The car came with 18x8.5 fronts, and 18x9.5 rears, with appropriate rubber. The car as it sits has 20s on it, and they are at least 2 inches wider than stock. Furthermore, the guy put tires on it that are the original width, so the sidewalls are splayed out as the tire sits on the rim. The bead is at least an inch outside the edge of the tread surface! The result is that the tires rub the body work. ON THE SIDEWALLS!!! Well, I've got almost 3K more of insurance money, so I can go wheel and tire shopping. I've already found and have on hand a set of genuine AMG wheels the right size. They're not from an S55 but from another model, and from an earlier year, but they will fit correctly and perfectly. Thing is, I can't get the existing wheels off. They have a weird locking lug, not factory, and there's no key tool with the car. I was able to get two of them off with the trick of hammering a socket on to them, but the other two won't budge, and they've rounded the shoulders as the socket slipped on them. The perfect socket now, just under 19mm, would be 23/32-inch, but I don't think anyone makes one of those.
Another issue, well aware of at purchase, is even though the car has a clean Carfax, good maintenance (even saw that the valve cover gaskets have been replaced in the last couple of years,) it has obviously been bumped pretty good at the nose. Driver's side headlight assembly is new, and the paint is flaking off the bumper. There's damage behind the bumper at the driver's side, and the motor for the headlamp washer is smashed, meaning the car won't hold washer fluid. That last part I learned when I added a quart or so of fluid and saw it run down onto the pavement...
Final issue will be more expensive, but still within the budget of not using more than the insurance money. The Active Ride Control has issues, which are most likely just accumulators. Basically tanks with a pressurized membrane, in the system to absorb shock of hydraulic pulses. When those go out, the system goes into a locked mode, not adjusting the ride control or ride height dynamically. The system is supposed to stabilize the car by hydraulically keeping it level as you maneuver. It's like the old active suspension systems, except not completely hydraulic. There are springs and shocks, but the top of each strut tower has that hydraulic actuator which can work to lengthen or shorten the strut based on road and driving conditions. The fluid is low, there may be a leak somewhere, but everything I'm reading says the problem is most likely the accumulators, of which there are two main ones, less than 200 bucks each, and easy to replace. The ride control system has a pushbutton to raise the car in the event of being on a rough road, or using tire chains, etc. I have it set on raised to try to minimize tire rub.
So anyway, the car is VERY nice to drive, extremely comfortable, and extremely well-equipped. This thing has more electric motors than some countries! The steering column tilts down to your setting when you put the key in the ignition. The column is power adjustable for height and reach. The outside mirrors are electrically adjustable, goes without saying. The back seats have fore-and-aft power adjustment. The front seats have all the expected power adjustment, plus the seat cushion can move forward or back independent of the seat back, meaning the cushion can be made longer or shorter! Also, even the headrest height is power adjustable. The rear view mirror is not adjusted by power, but its position is set in the memory that saves the positions of the seats and outside mirrors. There are three memories, and seats, steering column, outside mirrors and rear-view mirror go to their memorized positions when a memory button is selected. The transmission has three modes, comfort, sport, and manual. Comfort has softer shifts and earlier shift points, and starts from a stop in second gear. Sport is more aggressive. In either mode, you can manually select a gear by moving the shifter sideways. There is also a Manual mode, with no automatic shifting, you shift with push-buttons on the back of the steering wheel, right side for up, left for down. It can be an AE!!!! Sorta. More motors: The seats have fans in the bottom cushions for active ventilation. ALL FOUR SEATS! They're also heated. ALL FOUR! There's a mesh sunshade in the rear window, deployed or retracted with a dash button. If you half-latch the doors, the car pulls them in fully shut. (OK, that's pneumatic, not electric, but there's an electric motor for the air pump!) The trunk opens and closes electrically, either from the keyfob, a button under the lip, or a button in the driver's door. The rear headrests will lay flat so they don't obstruct the driver's view, or raised when the seats are occupied, all by pushbutton. (Again, pneumatic.)
On balance, I'm very happy with the purchase, and not too afraid of hidden gotchas. There may be some, but we'll deal with them. It's more expensive to insure than the Aurora was, by about 40 percent. It takes premium, and its EPA rating was 14/18. Kind of in the "If you have to ask..." category for fuel economy. It's not safe to drive any distance right now with the tire rub, not being sure the ride control is properly sorted, but that should all be handled in the next month or so.
So pics:
This shows the cord on the sidewall from the body rub on the tire...
Leather is great, wood trim is perfect, although I probably could have taken the floor mat and shaken it out before the picture...
Back seat easily holds real people, not just kids!
KOMPRESSOR!!!!!!!!
The aforementioned weird locking lug, two of which came out OK.
My replacement wheels. No center caps, but I found a set of Chinese chrome caps on eBay for 16 bucks, shipped.
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Anyway, installed:
