madC55

OK, I'll start off by saying that I may have some sort of undiagnosed psychological "thing" going on when it comes to cars, but we'll reserve that for the professionals. The issue I have is this, whenever I perceive (and that is key) a vehicle has a problem I immediately start to justify the need to get rid of the car before it is worthless. Now I'll try to explain what the means; an example of this warped reality is if I hit a pothole during one of my random drives, depending on how I perceive the impact of the pothole to be I may immediately start to notice things like the car pulling, or a weird sound, or it is slower than it was before.....basically, any number of things. This has occurred many times in the past (Note to Self: Don't tell anyone in the forum that you've owned 38 cars or they'll think you are really crazy).

Two examples:

2006 Acura TL - Just got the A-Spec body kit installed, tint, custom exhaust, rims/tires and the finishing touch was my Tein coil overs. The thing looked like a show car. On my way home from work about a week after the car had the new lowered suspension I ran over a dead deer on a back country road. I had the car immediately put into the shop at Acura to be gone over with a fine tooth comb for damages. It came back with a 100% clean bill of health. The car was gone 2 months later due to my not being able to live with the memory and feeling like the car was, in my mind, totaled. Had this car for 1.5 years.

2008 C 350 Sport - Only mods were tint and was researching suspension components so I wasn't in too deep. Driving down the road and a rock flew up and chipped the windshield. The car was gone within a week. This story isn't the worst b/c my next vehicle was the C55. The C 350 lasted 10 months total.

I think you get the point.

Now fast forward to yesterday. I was driving home from work and get on to a back country road; typically it is very uneventful from here on out as it is one lane, traffice is sparse and very scenic surroundings. In my head I'm thinking of what I'm going to do for dinner, what "cool" thing my daughter is going to tell me she did at school and if I should take the new Harley out for a ride before it gets dark. All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see this thing (to be named later) running from the left shoulder, crossing the street and heading towards my lane. Guess I was deep in thought b/c it didn't register that I needed to take evasive action until it was too late. Turns out it was a very large ground hog or beaver.......what is the difference anyway.

Rather than smash it with my tire, I swerved just enough to get it to go between my two front tires in the hopes that it would harmlessly pass underneath. No such luck. Bang! Thud! There were two loud noises, one from the front of the car and the second from somewhere underneath the passenger/drivers seat area. I looked up in my rearview mirror to see it spin out the back, jump up and run off (may have given me the finger too, but not too sure). Keep in mind I'm doing about 35 - 40 mph at this point.

Now I'm extremely angry to the point where I can't see/think straight (if you are asking yourself why I'm so mad you may want to reread the first paragraph again slowly, I have issues). I get home and immediately see that the front mesh is hanging off the car (middle and drivers fog light sections) but seemingly no damage. I get on the ground and look underneath from the front, the back and both sides. OK, no fur, damage, brain matter or small children....another good sign. I go clip the mesh in and it is good as new.

.........Wrong, here is where my car issues kick into overdrive (no pun intended). I have to go out every once in a while to look at the car to make sure I didn't "miss" any damage (you know, like the engine fell out and I just didn't notice it the first 5 times I looked at it). This went on until it got dark (no worries I have a nice flashlight) and finally stopped when I got screamed at for being obsessive by my wife and was forced to go to sleep.

Fast forward to this morning. I have one of those jobs where you show up when you want and leave when you want (that translates into 9(ish) to 5(ish) in real life), but having the car issues like I do I was up bright and early, evaluating the car situation again and got to work before 8AM (yes, the boss was shocked when he rolled in later this morning and I had beat him, never happens). By 8:15 AM I was on the phone with Mercedes Benz making my appointment to have the car completely checked out from front to back and had already started fabricating the differences between pre and post ground hog incident. For some reason now the brakes squeaked more than normal, etc.

So here is the gist of the message and honestly, my fear (hopefully you are still with me, I know, this is long). I am dropping off the car in about 2 hours from now and I'm afraid there will be something on the lot that I like and will end up driving it home (C63 perhaps). Again, to the average person (and I'm guessing this is 90% of the folks reading still) this is either classified as BS or complete craziness. I can assure you that is not BS (again, go back to the first paragraph, specifically the last sentence....really, 38 cars).

p.s. This one didn't make my examples, but then again, I have many. One vehicle purchase took place when I took Car A in for an oil change and by the time the car was down off the mechanics lift, I was having Car B demo'd to me by a Salesman. And yes, I had to pay for the oil change even though I'd signed the papers on another......the nerve of the place.

Stay tuned, hopefully I'm not going to have buyers remorse (or glee) this time tomorrow.

rockjock

I'm with you on the thoughts-I'm on #8 in the last 4 years-
if you're selling-I call dibs on any mod parts you have-maybe the whole car-
post miles and damage please (I think with you listing the damage-it will help you agree that you should sell the car to me )
Odds are it hit the rear diff cooler or maybe some suspension-but one thing-these cars are built like tanks-I've been amazed at what I can run over (old ladys too!)-you're good-so is the car-(you hear SELL THE CAR in the background.....)

madC55

I am 100% sure there is zero damage to the car. It is my brain that makes me believe there is.......

Did I mention that I'm 38 years old. Theoretically I could have owned a car a year since birth.

RLx02

LOL, OCD much?

If a rock chip warrants a new car, then running over a small animal would definitely put it out to pasture...Go and get the C63!

crazeazn

thats just sick

moosejaw

Seriously you need to get a bus pass

saer1one

no matter what car you own weather it be a ford pinto or a bugatti veyron, your car will never be perfect unless you bubble wrapp the **** out of it and put it in storage.. i was the same way as you are (but not that rich) with my c32 when i first got the front rieger bumper installed and roof black out.. it always had to be clean and shiny and would punch anyone in the nose who put fingerprints on my roof.. after about a month of the car being driven for pleasure, the whole bumper was worth ****..! huge chips of paint missing and lower bumper scrapped everywhere, i decided to not give a **** anymore, holy **** did that work..! IM A NEW MAN..! but thats just me.. but yea, i would get a c63.. DO IT DO IT DO IT..

madC55

LOL, wish it were that simple. If I required a bus pass at least I could explain my actions.

I'm actually the exact opposite and I think that plays on the analytical side of me (more like way overly analytical). Big into philosophy (Darwin) and big picture theories. Not to sound like a nerd as I'm am extremely down to earth to the point where all my friends ask questions like "How do you hold down a corporate job?". Maybe the reason they ask is due to me being the first one to slam down 15 Miller Lites and run through "The Quad?" Good question, not only do I hold one down, I excel at what I do and my theory is that my OCD makes me extremely good at what I do.

Either way, they did have a C63 on the lot when I dropped it off last night. Man is that a sweet car! So far, I'm still a C55 owner.

lkfoster

The last time I hit a small animal I didn't have to take it to the dealer to see if there was any damage. I hit what I think was a bobcat on a backroad on the central CA coast. It smacked the RF corner cracking the bumper cover and radiator. Something like $4,000 to fix. I'd just picked the car up from the dealer that afternoon too.

kevblah

If you keep fabricating differences pre and post groundhog accident, just bring whatever issues you are concerned with to the attention of their service department. If they tell you it checks out, then you listen. If you really feel like there's a problem still, replace the parts. If you feel like the brakes are squealing, replace them. I bet replacing a bunch of parts would still be cheaper than the hit you'd take by trading in your car for a more expensive car.

kjb55

1. Gather up all paperwork related to buy/sell for 38 cars.
2. Turn on computer.
3. Launch spreadsheet program of your choice.
4. Create 4 columns: (a) Car; (b) Buy price; (c) Sell price; (d) Variance.
5. Total Column (d) Variance.
6. Look at total. Don't show wife.
7. Look at Daughter.

Prioritize.

ps: Not that I don't suffer from much of the same affliction.

RLx02

madC55

I have thought about doing just that so many times and have decided it is better not to know. I think my priorities are pretty straight as nobody "wants" for anything in my family (wife has a paid off ML500, kiddies have enough toys to put Kiddie City out of business and we are planning a new 2K square foot addition to our already more-than-modest home), but I do get your point. We'd be much better off if I weren't a self proclaimed, and pretty sure easily proven, car junkie.

Anyway, the car checked out fine (and I listened), the front brakes were replaced under warranty and when they pulled the car around the corner of the service shop I realized that I do have one kick butt ride. I'm taking off my "grass is always greener" glasses now and packing to take the family to the shore for a nice 6 day weekend (with the money I saved by not letting my brain win this time).

Later all and be safe over the upcoming holiday weekend.

FormulaZR

Maybe see if you could find a nice, used M1 for sale?

Viper98912

You might be OCD and need medication. Do you lock the door lock five times too?

I can't even imagine the amount of money you've lost on trading in the cars so many times. Regardless if you have Bill Gates money or not, I still would hate to throw away money. I was once super **** about my car (not a MB) but as time went on I realized things are gonna happen. They're cars. On the road. In the world. I've never been a "plastic covers on the sofas" kinda guy, so why should we be the same with our cars.

Regardless, your C55 is probably totalled now and not worth diddly. If you're going to be trading it in to the dealer, let me know and I may be able to offer you a better price (looking into buying a C55). PM me if interested.

JonMBZ

How would it be totaled he said there was no visible damage? If it's driving you crazy and you have the money just get a new one. Hell it's just money at the end of the day and you seem to have enough of it. It's probably better than obsessing over the car 5 times a day. Just use it as a mental write off.

Panzerknacker

I think a lot of car enthusiasts have similar problems. I have went through a lot of cars in the past few years myself I think it is a boredom thing. You have flavor of the month syndrome, an imperfection is just an excuse to move on to the next one.

I had 2 Abrams tanks blown out from under me in Iraq (value about 5 million a piece) Crew survived with minimal injuries both incidents. A number of good friends of mine have been killed in combat as well. One was shot dead in front of us by a sniper's $0.30 bullet. Im not gonna sit here and ramble on with war stories. Dont know if im making sense but $10 million saved my butt and the guys in my vehicle, and 30 cents took something that no value can be placed on.

Basically what im getting at is that its just a machine... scratches and dents and accidents happen, oh well. Buy your wife some roses and kiss your daughter, then go shred some tires and burn some Mobile 1 synthetic. What else is a handbuilt German supercar meant for? Sitting in the garage collecting dust? please.