by "sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
Published 04/07/2017 at 11:36
by "sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
Published 04/07/2017 at 11:36
No Tags
STARS: 9
150,000 miles and several major repairs weren’t enough to kill the Wunderbarge. It went the way I never thought it would go. I just got a call from the insurance company. My baby, my first car, my 2001 Audi A8L Quattro, is a flood write-off. I’m off to collect my things from her and say goodbye. Farewell old friend, you were the most amazing first car a guy could ask for, far beyond what I had ever hoped I might get.
The saddest things is, a few months ago I was starting to feel sick and tired of my car. I was getting bored with it, and fed up with the constant repairs. Then, less than a month ago, I made a 14-hour round trip to Chicago to spend spring break with some friends. 14 hours on the interstate, with the cruise set at 83, and this old warhorse was still smoother, quieter, more comfortable, and had more reserve power left to give than most new cars I’ve driven. In short, I remembered exactly why I loved this car.
I don’t know how exactly the flood damage came about; neither Maaco nor Audi could say for sure. All they knew is that somehow, during the obscene amount of rain we’ve gotten over the last 30 days, water and mud and debris somehow made its way in from below.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/07/2017 at 11:37, STARS: 0
RIP. Looks like a fun car in a luxo-barge sort of a way
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 11:38, STARS: 0
It was. The good news is, I now have a designated weekend fun car, so whatever I replace it with can be more practical.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/07/2017 at 11:39, STARS: 0
What’s the weekend fun car?
"Jcarr" (jcarr)
04/07/2017 at 11:39, STARS: 0
Too bad. Are you still in DSM? I didn’t realize there’d been that much rain lately.
"Viggen" (viggen37)
04/07/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 1
RIP Audi.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 1
‘91 Alfa Romeo Spider
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 0
Yup, for school.
"CB" (jrcb)
04/07/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0
I’m sorry to hear that. This is the car I think I’ll always associate you with.
So, time for another luxobarge? Think an E38 7-series would do?
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 11:44, STARS: 0
I have a car I’m looking at...not quite a luxobarge as such...
"CB" (jrcb)
04/07/2017 at 11:45, STARS: 0
Well colour me interested.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 11:46, STARS: 0
More details to come.
"ToyotaFamily" (robbav35)
04/07/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 1
I know that feeling, my car was declared a total loss yesterday as well.
"Spaceball-Two" (spaceball-two)
04/07/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 1
Noooooooooooo. That sucks! Sorry to hear.
"jasmits" (jasmits)
04/07/2017 at 11:57, STARS: 2
Oooh nice!! But yeah you do definitely need a practical daily alongside that
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 12:16, STARS: 0
:(
"Chariotoflove" (chariotoflove)
04/07/2017 at 12:18, STARS: 1
I know how you feel. Opening up the throttle on a good day reminds me why I love mine.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
04/07/2017 at 12:41, STARS: 1
I’ve been very wavy with the LS400 recently. Ive wanting something more fun or more modern but I already told myself awhile ago that I am never selling it. The problem is I haven’t been making long drives recently but I know the second I get up to highway speeds I’m going to be sold on it again. It smoother and quieter then almost anything else. I just love it. I still need to add a 4wd and a manual sportier to my collection though. We’ll see how long that takes.
"Dave the car guy , still here" (a3dave)
04/07/2017 at 13:20, STARS: 1
Sorry to see it go :(
"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
04/07/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 5
Somewhere deep inside you know that this is what you want!
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 14:44, STARS: 0
I do indeed.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
04/07/2017 at 15:25, STARS: 0
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Keep the Landyacht dream alive !!!
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 15:32, STARS: 2
She’s dead, Jim.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 17:13, STARS: 0
I’ll give one hint: If you guessed, you might be 100 percent correct.
"CB" (jrcb)
04/07/2017 at 17:25, STARS: 1
That’s a terrible hint. There are so many things to guess. A newer A8! Another luxobarge! A Prius! A Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer! It could be anything!
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 17:33, STARS: 0
There’s an actual hint to the car in there.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
04/07/2017 at 21:43, STARS: 0
Any post flood pics ?
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 22:38, STARS: 0
I wish I had thought to get some better ones, if I go back to the shop again this week I will.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
04/07/2017 at 23:09, STARS: 1
That’s just so sad. It was soo clean. If anything like that ever happens to the S600, I’m going to salvage the Designo bits and then blow it up with an assload of tannerite. I refuse to see it sitting forlorn.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/07/2017 at 23:14, STARS: 1
I know. I had at least hoped when I was done with it, it would live on. Now it seems like that’s only going to happen if it becomes a parts car. It sure does make me sad.
"Nauraushaun" (nauraushaun12)
04/08/2017 at 00:15, STARS: 1
I feel like every German car’s life is determined by a trade-off of expensive repairs vs how nice the car is. If it’s a poorly built average car, a big repair will kill it early. But the same flaw wouldn’t kill a car that’s nicer to own.
It sounds like this car was just winning the battle until flaws in its design betrayed it.
rip
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/08/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 0
Forgive my ignorance, but doesn’t a car have to be submerged past the door sills to be, you know, “flooded?”
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/08/2017 at 16:05, STARS: 0
Apparently not. I don’t know what my insurance company’s qualifications are for “flooded” but I guess this meets them.
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/08/2017 at 16:08, STARS: 3
I have learned in the past year all too well that the greatest responsibility of car insurance companies is not to protect us from accidents or liability, but to take old cars off the road. If your car is more than 6 months old and has more than 10,000 miles, it’s totaled.
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/08/2017 at 16:14, STARS: 1
I would buy mine back and part it out myself, just to make sure nobody else drove it after me. Then again, I will accept nothing less than a 60mph clobbering to “total” my S600. It must actually be totaled-totaled, not cost-repair-value-analysis-totaled before I let my insurance company take an S600 off the road.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
04/08/2017 at 16:32, STARS: 0
Yeah. But if the entire electrical system is borked and it’s like $10000 to fix it I’m going for a 2012 S65.
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/08/2017 at 20:04, STARS: 0
It would take more than a few grand in junk yard fuseboxes and controller modules for me to give in. Then again, I really like the W220 generation and I’ve grown a little too attached to mine.
"V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches" (jbv12)
04/08/2017 at 22:51, STARS: 0
It’s a very pretty S class.
"Viggen" (viggen37)
04/09/2017 at 00:01, STARS: 4
You know, I just realized, I’m gonna miss seeing your car’s “Move along, peasant” wheels on Oppo.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/09/2017 at 00:14, STARS: 0
);
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/10/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 2
I think you need a last gen 9-5 in your life.
"AutoSavant" (AutoSavant)
04/10/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 0
What exactly is damaged?
"Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero" (sampsonite24)
04/10/2017 at 10:04, STARS: 0
not true, progressive didnt total my 08 cobalt after a tire gator caused 1200 dollars in damage last summer
also a friends 2014 passat didnt get totaled after getting mauled by an drunk driver in an F150 causing major damage to both front, side and rear
"Eric @ opposite-lock.com" (theyrerolling)
04/10/2017 at 10:05, STARS: 0
That’s a secondary job. The main thing you’re paying for in your premiums is for the risk of bodily injury because medical bills are insane. That’s why safe cars are so cheap to insure and why they love to total your car. That added risk of an accident is worth far more than your car.
"pip bip - choose Corrour" (hhgttg69)
04/10/2017 at 10:07, STARS: 0
find another one perhaps?
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 10:17, STARS: 0
I would agree with that.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 0
Much of the car’s electronics, and the air duct system is full of water.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 10:18, STARS: 0
I’d love to, eventually. My next car is going to be a bit more reliable to get me through college.
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/10/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 0
My mother clipped somebody in a Hyundai who decided to false-start when the light turned green. Did, at most, about $1,500 in damage to our 2004 Jaguar in used parts. The impact was less than 5 mph. Car goes to the body shop, but they won’t release an estimate to us until an insurance adjuster comes out to ‘verify’ the damage.
Somehow, the car has $8,700 in damage now and we’re totaling it because the value of the car is...coincidentally...$8,700.
The commonality in your examples is the cars are completely pedestrian. God forbid you crack a xenon headlight lense or have aluminum body panels. They’ll total it for door dings!
"Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero" (sampsonite24)
04/10/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 0
but then your statement is still false as the majority of cars on the road are what youd call pedestian, insurance companies arent just out to total your car, unless you have something special or high dollar
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
04/10/2017 at 10:30, STARS: 0
How bad was the damage? My car went through Hurricane Matthew last year, and insurance decided to total it even though it seemed fine other than the mildew smell. They told me that they’d pay me X and take the car away, but they’d sell it to me at the expected auction value of the car. It still ran, so instead of getting paid X and losing the car I was able to get paid X-$383 and keep it. I’m still driving it nearly 6 months later.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 10:35, STARS: 1
Bad enough that with the car only worth a few thousand dollars it wasn’t worth fixing. This car is one giant rolling overcomplicated late-90's computer. Once water gets in there, pardon the pun, but you’re hosed.
"Chuckles" (chucklesw37)
04/10/2017 at 10:45, STARS: 1
I’m sorry to hear that. I forgot to account for the complexity of your car. My flood car is a 2003 Honda Civic. The water affected the interior but didn’t seem to affect anything important. For less than $400 it was worth keeping as a beater. All I had to do was gut the interior and let it dry out. Someday it will die but at this point I already feel like I got my $400 out of it.
"dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
04/10/2017 at 14:44, STARS: 0
*whispers* lexusssssss
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 14:45, STARS: 1
*whispers* You may be on to something.
"dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford" (dtg11)
04/10/2017 at 14:46, STARS: 0
LS430 or GS430
"Land_Yacht_225" (nadenator)
04/10/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 0
I disagree, based on the fact that crap-can, high volume cars shouldn’t be considered because who really cares if somebody totals out another Camry. For cars that actually MATTER my point stands, even if a little hyperbolic. If I have a black Camry XLE, I can go out tomorrow and buy another black Camry XLE at any dealer I want and be back in time for dinner. If I have a fully loaded Mercedes S600 in Barolo Red metallic, I am going to have to go half way across the country to find another one, if at all, because insurance companies have totaled them all for collisions with shopping carts. Insurance should be there to fix my special or high dollar vehicle before they go around fixing every Toyota Corolla and Honda Accord on the planet because I can’t just replace it if you cut me a check. How is it not ass backwards that the more special your car is the more likely it is to be arbitrarily totaled and thrown in the scrap heap because you can’t buy bumper covers in bulk from the manufacturer? If I pay $3,000 a year for full coverage and don’t have an accident for 10 years, I figure I at least have $20,000 in the bank to repair my low production luxury car with used parts, and that is letting them walk of with $10,000. But no, your Jaguar must be repaired with new parts from the dealer because that means we can run the bill up and oops, well look at that, the repairs are $8,500, the car is worth $7,500, we say it’s worth $6,500, so here is your check for $2,500, we want you to know we appreciate your business, and have a nice day asshole.
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/10/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 0
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/11/2017 at 00:41, STARS: 1
You can probably get a 6M fairly cheap ... and GM will have to fix them and provide parts for the foreseeable future. Forget where you live (Portland?) but I’d love a turn behind the wheel.
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/11/2017 at 00:46, STARS: 1
OK - http://jalopnik.com/the-last-great-saab-sedan-is-now-officially-affordable-1750884080
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/11/2017 at 08:01, STARS: 0
Omaha
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/11/2017 at 14:43, STARS: 1
And I think we’re out of Khan blood, but I’ll check.
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/11/2017 at 14:46, STARS: 0
Has anyone suggested buying it back from the insurance company?
"sm70- why not Duesenberg?" (sm70-whynotduesenberg)
04/11/2017 at 15:02, STARS: 0
I have thought about it, but then what? I love the car, but then I’d have paid several thousand dollars for an already unrealibe & expensive-to-fix Audi that’s now full of water. Nobody on earth would think that was a smart move given how many electronics are in that car.
"Steve in Manhattan" (blogenfreude01)
04/11/2017 at 16:00, STARS: 1
Yeah - you’d spend a lot just figuring out what’s wrong and getting estimates. I’ll show myself out.