In reply to Ian F:
I've yet to meet a person in real life who has seen one in real life. I know way more people who have see Pagani's than these.
In reply to Ian F:
I've yet to meet a person in real life who has seen one in real life. I know way more people who have see Pagani's than these.
dyintorace wrote: You'll pass through Gainesville coming and going. Sounds like you'll be making a banzai run, but I'd love to grab a beer with you guys if possible.
I think we have time to spare on the way back, I'll let you know when we're passing through.
mazdeuce wrote: In reply to Ian F: I've yet to meet a person in real life who has seen one in real life. I know way more people who have see Pagani's than these.
When it comes to high dollar people movers, I see them all in central NJ...
This thread answers the question in my email, so disregard!
Also. EXCITE
Now you just need a built b-body wagon and you'll have all wagon based covered, well besides the wrx, the is300, and maybe a Magnum srt8.
Ha-ha, good thing you bought the best one first.
mazdeuce wrote:dyintorace wrote: You'll pass through Gainesville coming and going. Sounds like you'll be making a banzai run, but I'd love to grab a beer with you guys if possible.I think we have time to spare on the way back, I'll let you know when we're passing through.
That would be fun. There are some decent spots just off I-75.
mazdeuce wrote: This is going to be more of an ownership log than a build thread. Common wisdom says buying a ten year old AMG Mercedes out of warranty is certain to cause immense pain and maritial strife. I don't doubt that for a second, though I harbor a hope that I'm the one guy who gets away with it.
You and Sonic can compare notes. 
I am really jealous. When my wife got pregnant with our third we needed something bigger and my wife said "NO" to a minivan so the choices were thin. I looked at the R because it was unloved by most and were no more expensive than a Honda Odyssey with similar options so we got one, though it is only a 350. Ours is the Saks 5th Ave edition because my wife did not like the wood trim on the others.
I have not been in another vehicle that likes to eat up miles on the highway like it and I can even sit in the third row without issue.
As far as reliability goes it has not been bad. We got it with 75K on it and it now has @140K and aside from the compressor for the air ride and all 4 air springs it has not needed anything out of the ordinary.
There is a black R63 that I see every so often around here and it sounds so good and I think it looks good too.
Anyway, if you have any questions let me know and have fun.
Epic levels of Badassery.
The article goes on to make a joke that I think you should actually do when dropping the kids to school, "...risk becoming front-page news when they are pulled over at 155 mph with an R63 full of children wearing helmets."
I want each kid to have their own "Stig" helmet. When you get them to the curb at school, they step out with helmet on, remove helmet and place it back in the R63 so it will be there for the ride home!
The live version of this:
Yes! I've been waiting for this thread to pop up after the hinting in the other thread.
Can't wait to see this beast
We'll need kill reports on your way back. Let us know what fools tempted fate by challenging the Panzerkampfwagen.
The R class seems to have been pretty reliable by Mercedes standards. Still hopelessly complicated, especially with AWD and the giant engine and complicated cooling system AMG stuffed in there. We'll see.
Tirerack tells me the van came with 265 section tires, but there are indications that the early test vans fit 295's under the sheet metal. I'm going to have to measure. 
mazdeuce wrote:NOHOME wrote: Wait...What ever happened to "With oil prices being almost zero and the family income being tied to oil, we maybe should tuck our financial heads into the turtle shell for a while"?My wife knows me well. When I said "there's an R63 for sale" I might as well have said "Natalie Portman wants to sleep with me" except I'm slightly more excited about the van. This money is basically year three of our three years of savings just in case. It's supposed to be sitting there in case we need it, but instead I'm going to drive it around. If there were an R8 in our price range she would be driving that to work instead of me getting the van. Hopefully those two will cross in value sometime in the next five years. If at any time any of you want to trade your R8 straight up, let me know, I'm in.
Well If I'd have said Natalie Portman want to sleep with me (wife already knows I want to reciprocate) I’d have not so politely been reminded I was already married to my perfect woman.
I'm going to take a wild guess here assuming property in your part of Texas isn't too expensive, that your car fleet is worth more than your house at this point.
What drugs do you slip your spousal unit or is it sniffing oil all day long? Can I get some?
Houston 15 years ago had some very cheap housing. It's still not expensive if you're looking outside the popular areas, but our house cost us, fifteen years ago, about what this van costs. Carrying no debt makes a lot of other things possible. Word on the street in this part of town is property has increased a LOT. I'm not sure if the cars are worth more than the house, but I would guess they are.
My wife is special. She was driving a manual transmission two door Explorer when we met. The first time she said "I want another car" she bought a first gen Audi TT. The second time it was her 6 speed FJ Cruiser. She adopted the 911 as her own within a week of me bringing it home. She's never had a car with an automatic. We were married in a running V6 Mustang at a drive through in Las Vegas. She bought a service manual and taught herself to swap brake pads when I worked away from home before you could find that sort of stuff on YouTube.
I don't really have any recommendation on how someone would go about finding a woman this awesome, but I'm keeping this one. 
I did the reverse of this trip 10 years ago when I did a fly/drive from Tampa->Houston->Tampa for my F350. It was an eBay purchase and I bought one way tickets for my Dad and I to go out and grab it. We were out and back in just under 24 hours. In the dually it was a 17 hour drive (4:10 gears). I'm guessing yours will be much shorter.
If you guys decide to fly and drive let me know. We could coordinate picking you up at TIA and getting you to the car. Or, if you decide to spend the night in the Tampa area and want to meet up with a GRM'r or two we could put something together. Lots of good eats around these parts.
In reply to mazdeuce:
If by some misfortune you run into problems near Biloxi I have a garage and decent setup of tools...I probably won't be back by the time you're passing through, but it wouldn't be a complete shock to SWMBO if I told her that some people I've never actually met were going to stop by and hang out a while, even though I'm not there. 
Jesus. and I thought he C55 was bad at 16/20
EPA city driving: 12 mpg EPA highway driving: 16 mpg
I can only imagine how cramped the engine bay in that thing will be after working on the C55, so umm you have my well wishes in this journey and try not to break anything.
The one thing I was surprised with ours was how much room there is in the engine bay, but I am down 2 cylinders to that one. Over all it really is not bad to work on and the brakes are the easiest I have ever done.
Which 3 lucky GRM'ers get to join you in this for One Lap? I originally typed 7, but you gotta have room for gear.
In reply to petegossett:
I'll let you know if we need to stop. At this point the guy I roped into driving with me want to hustle right back so that's what we're leaning toward.
t25torx wrote: Jesus. and I thought he C55 was bad at 16/20 EPA city driving: 12 mpg EPA highway driving: 16 mpg I can only imagine how cramped the engine bay in that thing will be after working on the C55, so umm you have my well wishes in this journey and try not to break anything.
The V gets better mileage than it's supposed to if I don't drive like I'm 17, so maybe this will too? I'm going to keep track of it and let you guys know. It is a fairly good time to buy inefficient cars at least.
Considering you said your wife only owned manuals...this breaks that streak? Or will she just sign your name on the title and refuse to drive it? Haha
I dislike minivans but as mentioned, 500 hp changes that, and I think the R although ugly, is the best looking minivan and I'm sure amg really spruces it up nice
We all live vicariously though you.
I've owned autos. The first Odyssey and my truck. I'm not totally against them, Mrs. Deuce just refuses to have one as "her" car.
Insurance is less than the V, but man, I need to find a better way to have 6 cars insured. I'm concerned that we're going to have to sell/store some cars once the Deucelings start driving. 
I know a guy (In MI) who allegedly managed to buy himself a lump of liability (I think from Hagerty) to cover his ever changing 4-6 car fleet.
All packed. Co-driver is on his way. Just need to pick up the kids from school, grab the rental car, feed everyone dinner, and hit the road. I'm glad noone is home. I'm so annoying I'm annoying myself.
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