mercedesbenzs55

Anyone else watching the s63? The auction is live atm. It's gonna go for more than 11k.

MrRat

Don't get discouraged. Mike is just pointing out the nuttiness in buying a salvaged S550 from across the country, sight unseen, by just looking at a few pictures and getting an impression that it's probably ok underneath.
I think it's a fun project, worst case, you can part it out. Or just drive it as is, that will make some heads explode...

mercedesbenzs55

I drove and flew to Vegas last year. I also bought $100 of weed from Pawnstar employees the second time. They even guided me into a private parking space! They used an orange come to reserve it, because the parking lot was full.

For the record I don't smoke weed anymore. Even though both Washington and Oregon have legalized it.

compaddict

iTrader: (1)

Money sent. Spend it wisely.

mercedesbenzs55

Thank you Compaddict!

MrRat

I never saw this before, but this is a regular auction at the location.
It lets you live- track the auction and shows the bids by location.
Pretty neat.

I see the car coming up in 16 minutes in lane B. Van nuys CA.

Mike5215

I think the GoFundMe site would be more legit, and donors could see how much you've raised. Check your email spam folder. There's probably an activation email message in there somewhere.

MrRat

Sold for $13,400. All of the bids were from California.

Mike5215

The concept...buying a salvage S hit in the rear where there's little risk of mechanical damage and having the body fixed...is sound. What I thought was a little crazy was that anyone could look at those auction pics and think the car needed a few cosmetic bits and some dent removal.

But, judging from the forum, a lot of people actually could make that leap, which is understandable since most people don't have a lot of training or experience in collision work, and don't really pay much attention to how their trunk is put together.

I also think the inability to estimate the repair costs might have lead to overbidding on this particular car. For example, knowing there probably was at least $5k in obvious collision repairs, build in a contingency of another $2k for stuff you can't see, and maybe cap your bid at $8k. Take a pass on it if $12k shipped was the best you could do. Especially if money is tight. Every dollar not spent obtaining the salvage is a dollar available for repairs.

I think Benz55 is young and maybe a little impatient and impulsive, as we all were at that age. Also, he doesn't have a lot of resources, also a position most of us have been in at some point.

It reminds me of a joke. An old bull and a young bull were grazing on a hillside overlooking a valley. Far down below was a herd of beautiful cows. The young bull says "Hey! Let's run down there and f*** us one of those cows!"

The old bull says, "Let's WALK down and f*** 'em ALL."

Aging sucks, but accumulated wisdom almost makes it worth it.

MrRat

Definitely impulsive.
The plan to hit the dents out with a mallet is most excellent. Maybe he has hidden metalworking talent. If it's not perfect, no real matter, it's at an $8-10,000 discount.

I think your damage assessment is on point.
I would bet it's bent in several planes, basically a little twisted, it looks like an asymmetric hit and bent downwards, but the car will drive, and at some point the trunk will close. He can use it for the next few years like that. Or get bored with it and sell it.

In any case, I'm waiting for the video of starting it for the first time. My wild *** guess is it will start and run ok, but somethings up with the suspension. The forklift thing made me worry about underbody damage.

Mike5215

Yeah, he's hoping the suspension will come back up when the car starts. It might. If the car was tied down hard on the transport it may come back up. My car had to be flatbedded just a couple of miles once and it did the same thing.

xpl0sive

it now says

Sale Date:
Tue. Mar 15, 2016
9:00 PM EST

mercedesbenzs55

This is a nationwide auction. there are copart locations all over the USA, and People from all over the world bid. But there are Alot of shady practices going on in these auctions.

Another dealer only auction is called iaai.com. These are dealer only sales. Some people with a dealers license will bid on a car for you for a nominal fee.

mercedesbenzs55

That's because the car was "on approval", like my S550 was. This means that even after you win the car, if the insurance company deems the winning price too low they will begin a negotiation.

I won the auction on my S550 Twice before state farm let it go to me.

I won it for 7.7k the first time, and S.F. wanted to let it go for 9.4k, I countered with 8.2k, and they didnt even reply. They just put it back on the auction like that S63.

I then won it a week later for 9.4k.. ..S.F. wanted 9.8k, so I agreed. After the Copart fees it was 10.4k.

xpl0sive

so you had a chance to get out of that car not once, not twice, but three times!

mercedesbenzs55

I checked my Fundme.com account, everything is setup. The website just needs to review it first. Its like those people that allow the public to write on their facebook wall, but set it up so they can police each commentbefore its posted(I've never had any social media, but I heard this as a joke once).


Lol! I'm devoted to this one.

mercedesbenzs55

Title came in today! I'm going to pick it up at 8pm PST.

I fresh Reinforcement bar arrived aswell. I'm going to put it on the car right now and put a level on it.

I asked Mb of Portland today if they are open Saturday. So i'm ordering the key tomorrow!

jesydney

Mike5215

Don't mount the new bar. The shop doing the pull will need the old bar and absorbers in place so they can attach the chains to it. The pull will damage the bar, so you won't want the new bar on until the pull is done. You may want to put the taillights in as well so the car is drivable rather than having to tow it to the body shop.

mercedesbenzs55

I got a little carried away when I took it off in three pieces. I'm going to replace it tomorrow.

Tonight, I'm getting a quote for the body work.

Mike5215

As long as you didn't toss it! So is the guy coming to you to inspect the car? My guess is they're going to want to try the pull first and see how much of the rear panel and quarter panel damage comes out but maybe he can ballpark it for you at least.

mercedesbenzs55

I'm going to him for a Comrade guesstimate.

I noticed that my battery is an original Mercedes. This must be a good sign?

Mike5215

It's a good sign if you sell batteries.

mercedesbenzs55

This was on Copart last week.

What purpose could whats left of this S550 serve? Parts car?

Mike5215

I dunno. It needs paint and tires, maybe $1000 in other stuff. I'm gonna get it. Nobody try to stop me!