I'm back...with a long story

Cliffs notes: I managed to wreck 2 of my cars at one time but it wasn't my fault.

I haven't been here in a while just because you people are enablers of the highest order and I didn't need any more projects...but I had to log on to tell you what happened last night.

I happened upon a finished but still needs work RX7 V8. It is a rust (mostly) free 83 GSL with a 350 bored 40 over, flat top pistons, reworked cast iron heads, Lunati cam, Holley carb...etc. It needs tires, brakes, a clutch slave, interior, various other little things, nothing I can't do in my driveway. This is a project I've wanted to do for quite a while and the value of sum of the parts added up to more than the asking price. I forgot to mention the 4 14" LE meshies and 2 13" meshies included.

The previous owner was nice enough to drop it off at my work. I decided to take it to the Tuffy's in my industrial park to get tires and an alignment. That turned into a 4 day wait. One day for the tires, 205/60r14s are pretty tough to find nowadays. Then one of the studs broke off and it took them all weekend to get it out. They also broke an exhaust hanger and that took another day.

So, Tuesday the 18th rolls around and the RX7 is ready. A friend volunteers to follow me home in my Volvo 850 T-5R.

Here is where the fun happens.
We stop at a traffic light about 3 miles from work. We are about 7 cars back from the light. I am behind a Toyota SUV in the RX7 and my friend is directly behind me in the Volvo. We are waiting for traffic to start moving when a Jeep Liberty slams into the Volvo...driving it into the RX7...driving it into the SUV.

The SUV is undamaged and he leaves while I, my friend and the Jeep driver spend the next hour and a half standing in the drizzle on the side of the road waiting on the police and paramedics to do their thing. My friend was very dazed but checks out OK with the paramedics. Everyone appears unhurt but my friend will be seeing his doctor because he still suffers from injuries from being rear-ended years ago.

The Jeep's front end is smashed. The front bumper was on the ground and held on only by the flasher wires. The flashers were still working though. Somehow, he secured the bumper and drove home.

The RX7 would not start and sustained a little damage to the front and rear. I think I could have driven it if I could reattach the rear mounted battery but the miles of traffic, dark and rain didn't give me much of a chance to try.

The Volvo...my poor, poor Volvo. It had great original paint, a flawless interior, a full set of titan wheels including the spare, fantastic running engine but high miles. It was stock except for an aftermarket chip and came with loads of maintenance records dating back to the 1st owner. It took the brunt of the damage. The trunk space was smashed in. The trunk lid slid forward and smashed the back window. Both air bags deployed. The front bumper and grill were smashed. But it died protecting my friend. She deserves a place in Valhalla.

Sorry for the crappy cell pic.

The Jeep driver's insurance company accepted liability about noon today and have already decided the Volvo is totaled, sight unseen. I have to agree with that. They came to the same conclusion about the 7 but I asked for an adjuster to inspect it before they make a final decision. Whatever they decide, I will keep the 7. I've got 2 more in the yard to transplant the goodies into if it isn't repairable.

It will be at least a week before they get back with me for a settlement.

Any suggestions for a Volvo replacement? I'm thinking about a late nineties BMW 540i. I would love to find an 850 turbo wagon but this one was in such good shape, I'm afraid another 850 would turn out to be a lemon. I really lucked into finding this one locally.

I want a cushy daily driver but with balls. I am too old and fat to cram myself into the Miata everyday and the El Camino is 70 miles away getting de-rustified and painted.

R.I.P rmarkc's T-5R. Love those cars .

And you can't go far wrong with a larger-engined 5-series for 'cushy, but with balls'.

Wow that story made me cringe, night mare situation. As for a replacement for the Volvo (if you need one) I would say go with a 540i. The e39 (1995-2003) is from what I hear a great car. I was looking for one before I bought my Stag, 540i with the 6 speed. My parents have a 550i (generation after e39) and it is a hoot to drive. One thing to note 1996-1998 are pre VANOS 1998-2003 have VANOS ( variable valve timing) Hope that is a bit of help, and good luck with the cars. -Ryan

Sorry to hear, glad everyone is safe.

The one big issue with the BMW V8s is that the timing chain guides are plastic, and by now most of them are in the process of disintegrating. The chain will rattle for a good long time before it begins making a much more expensive noise, albeit briefly. Unless the guides have been replaced, budget for the repair (somewhere between 3-4k if you have the work done for you, far less if you do it yourself, since it's mostly labor).

That said, the E39 is a really good platform.

Sounds kinda like what happened to me.

My friends 240sx got impounded. I put it in my name, put insurance on it, and we picked it up. I had my other friend drive my 240sx behind us. We stopped on a 55mph road to turn left, and there's no turn lane, just 2 lanes total.

A guy in a truck behind us....didn't really stop. We slowed down with our blinkers, and came to a complete stop, and he was a good distance behind us. He locked up his brakes 2 car lengths behind my friend in my 240, who was following us.

Luckily he saw him in his mirror, and pulled over into the median into the grass. I watched him get over in my mirror, then saw a truck bed coming at me, as I was putting it in first and trying to move straight forward. I managed to move forward about a car length when the bed hit the rear of the 240 i was driving. At that point the guy in the truck had turned left into on coming traffic and hit another car head on, so the passenger side of his bed tagged the 240 i was driving.

It barely damaged the 240, just pushed up the bumper, buckled the 1/4 a little, and broke the tail light. The guy he hit, was in some 1990 dodge shadow 4 door or w/e their small ecno POS is. Destroyed the front and drivers side of that car, spun it around twice, it was bad.

Only the driver of that car went away in an ambulance. We all were lucky, it wasn't that bad. We ended up getting 2K for the 240 that got hit. Since it was "totaled" and was a '90 in great shape. We split the money, it was awesome. Kept the car too, its a good car.

Sad to hear about the volvo, but it did its job. glad every one is pretty much fine.

~Alex

When I was 17, a week after my birthday no less, I was cruising the strip on a rainy night. The rain had let up, but traffic was still light, and I was buzzing along at a little higher rate of speed than normal. One of the lights on the strip is a left-turn-yield-to-green light, and I came up, no one was comming, so I turned. What I didn't see was the Datsun 210 comming up the hill at me at a decent rate of speed, hit me in my passenger quarter and pushed me into this gayass Grand Am GT with a bodykit. The Datsun driver ran, and here I am left in the middle of the street. All I had was liability, cause full coverage for a 17 year old with a Camaro is expensive. I drove it with a crashed in quarter for 6 months before it got into a body shop we could afford.

Later on I learned why certain body shops are cheaper than others. Overspray everywhere, poor gap fitment, and the dude didn't even prime or even berkeleying sand the new parts. I hit em with the pressure gun at a car wash and my white paint flaked right off, leaving sparkling metallic blue underneath.

It really sucks that both cars got hit at once, atleast you can use the car for parts, being as you have other cars. As for the cushy with balls shopping, I dig the big Bimmers, but I'd also go for a big RWD luxury car like a Town Car of Cadillac Fleetwood.

The 540is of that vintage (my buddy had one for many years) also require vigilance on the coolant system, as the plastic parts like to leak w/o warning after 60k miles or so, also, the window regulators like to break/fail and they're difficult to fix. Finally, suspension replacement isn't fun on these. Oh, and goodluck finding one that many of the 'pixels' in the displays aren't dead. Other than those annoyances they're sweet cars...

E39 540i sport package with manual transmission. all issues and DIY instructions are well documented. sick sick car for the money.

Here are some pics I took of the cars today:

You can't tell from the front photo but the windshield is spiderwebbed and the bumper is dented.

On the RX7, the hood didn't close from before the accident. The air cleaner is holding it open.