Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

There's one around my area that I see on the morning commute. Same thing.

I even tailgated him a little, hoping he'd get pissed and goose it so I could enjoy the sound (I drive windows down)... got nothing.

Perhaps if I'd been behind an S5...
 
There's one around my area that I see on the morning commute. Same thing.

I even tailgated him a little, hoping he'd get pissed and goose it so I could enjoy the sound (I drive windows down)... got nothing.

Perhaps if I'd been behind an S5...

Try an E63. Got behind one of those and it shot off with an angry anti-social bellow. Great to hear.
 
Good to know I am not the only one who chases after people "hey hey come on, floor it, lets here the noise, come on lets here the pretty noise"
 
I got a bit bored and looked up insurance for a 2002 BMW M5 today. Driver (Based loosely on a relative): 18 years old, clean record, will occasionally use car for business, estimated 10,000 km a year of driving. An alarm system is installed. The price of the insurance, for a car which can be had in good condition for a bit over 20 grand, including comprehensive coverage, collision coverage, and liability, is....

$17895 - $24558 per year :jawdrop:

Even without comprehensive or collision coverage (And quite frankly, I probably wouldn't buy insurance without either of those), I could only get it down to $12215. I might try another website later, as this one only offered two companies, but that is insane.
 
That sounds about right. Even though (North) America isn't as horrendous as Europe when it comes to insurance premiums, there's no such thing as cheap AND good coverage for someone under 25--especially if they have a halfway decent car.

This is because the US does not have any driver training, and so teenagers not only naturally suck at driving, but have to teach themselves. 90% of the population isn't smart enough to do that successfully--so crash. The other 10% will probably be crashed into. An insurance company MUST expect at least one accident a year from a driver under 21, with most being fender-benders and maybe one really bad one that includes property damage, medical bills, or totaling a car. It's just common-sense on their part.

And if you have an 18-year-old with a clean record, it just means his/her parents payed out of pocket for the fender-benders and didn't report it--so the big one is coming up. Prices don't drop.

I'm sure 5 or 10 people will reply after me willing to have a billboard with their pristine driving history made and put up for the world to see, but that's the VAST minority.

In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the insurance companies have a hand in the lack of driver training and so-easy-a-monkey-could-pass test... that way they can keep their sky-high rates. [/conspiracy]
 
No I think you are right. The crap contour (worth about 2k) I inherited from my father went to my newly licensed cousin despite the fact his parents could afford something nice just because obviously he will crash it. Even though I haven't had an at fault accident I have had plenty of close calls.
Of course then again I am a girl, so I have girl accidents. A girl accident is driving too close to the cement block and caving in the rocker panel, or scraping on a curb and the stone wall next to your driveway. I have not damaged anything that is not my car doing this yet thankfully so my record is squeaky clean because I paid a man in a shed to make the rocker panel better. It is amazing I have only had girl accidents because the fact I spend so much time on a car forum should indicate that when not parking I do not drive like a girl, and there is a reason why boys have higher insurance. :lol:
 
I had a good amount of mandatory drivers training, and with a cop no less, before I could get my license. Exactly one day after receiving said license I passed their squad while in a line of powersliding cars on a one lane gravel road. By passed I mean they sought refuge in the ditch. She had commented that I was very secure in corners and occasions of reduced traction.
 
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I got a bit bored and looked up insurance for a 2002 BMW M5 today. Driver (Based loosely on a relative): 18 years old, clean record, will occasionally use car for business, estimated 10,000 km a year of driving. An alarm system is installed. The price of the insurance, for a car which can be had in good condition for a bit over 20 grand, including comprehensive coverage, collision coverage, and liability, is....

$17895 - $24558 per year :jawdrop:

Even without comprehensive or collision coverage (And quite frankly, I probably wouldn't buy insurance without either of those), I could only get it down to $12215. I might try another website later, as this one only offered two companies, but that is insane.

See 18 year old who killed himself and three friends in an M5 from a year or two back.
 
See 18 year old who killed himself and three friends in an M5 from a year or two back.

Or the 17 year old that was just on the news for that here recently, or the kids from the next town over that thought they could control a minivan cornering at 90 and smashed into basically a cliff....... It happens a lot.
 
It's kinda sad... but also kinda natural selection.

I do feel bad for the passengers though. Sometimes you just don't know how dumb the guy who offered you a ride home from the game is...
 
And the parents. The 17 year old that just died apparently had his mother nagging him and his friends for not wearing their seatbelts all the time. He didn't.


I honestly have never been able to fathom why you would not wear your seatbelt, it's not like it's that big of an incontinence. I guess that is why I am not dead after being in a rather decent accident. :|
 
And the parents. The 17 year old that just died apparently had his mother nagging him and his friends for not wearing their seatbelts all the time. He didn't.


I honestly have never been able to fathom why you would not wear your seatbelt, it's not like it's that big of an incontinence. I guess that is why I am not dead after being in a rather decent accident. :|


Yeeeeeeeahhhh......
 
Saw a Karman Ghia, a first generation SL convertible and what looked like a Ferrari 250 inside the Ferrari dealer, don't know which one though, all I know it had side vents and was a hardtop/coupe not a roadster/convertible. Any idea? Sorry for no pics but was in the car while I saw all these cars

Any idea?
 
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:think:
 
1.) Go to a local spare parts store and order parts.
2.) Receive said parts.
3.) Book a service at a local garage, take car there with parts.
4.) Receive a call from the garage, that the parts do not fit.
5.) ???
6.) Profit?

The parts store checked their online catalog with the info they got according to my car's registration, so the parts should be correct - and they aren't. The garage sources the correct camcover gasket and replaces it today, but the suspension mounts/bearings might take longer. I hope the car is clunk-free by Sunday...
 
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