fu@K, Sh!+, CR^P! DAMAGE!!!!

[goelise]

Originally Posted by Lambda_drive

I guess Qball is famous now.

Not the kind of fame I would ever want.

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by TerrapinFlyer88

Probably. But I'd still like to see a happy ending to this all. Losing a valued car is like losing a member of the family. It sucks.

Uh....guys....and girls...it is just a car. Can be replaced with MONEY.

[gameson]

Originally Posted by Lotus F1

This is why I have gotten replacement value insurance on my last 2 cars. They cut a check for the full amount not matter how old the car is.

I am interested in this type of insurance. Few questions

1. do all insurance companies carry this type of insurance? what insurance do you use?
2. will it cover the MSRP of the car or the purchase price of the car (either less or more than MSRP)? Does it apply only to the first owner or any owners (that means the 2nd, 3rd, 4th owners, etc bought it used, but still get full priced)?
3. how much do you have to pay extra per year for this type of coverage?

thanks.

[TerrapinFlyer88]

Some vehicles tend to garner a bit of a personality, once you're in tune with them. Having owned 2 GM vans of similar years, and 2 buicks (both the exact same make and model, as well as model year), both vans drive completely different, and so did both buicks. The buicks even had the exact same mileage and similar maintanence records! yet they drove entirely different. Some of us just have a love affair with our autos. Sure, money can replace a car... but can it replace memories?

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by TerrapinFlyer88

Some vehicles tend to garner a bit of a personality, once you're in tune with them. Having owned 2 GM vans of similar years, and 2 buicks (both the exact same make and model, as well as model year), both vans drive completely different, and so did both buicks. The buicks even had the exact same mileage and similar maintanence records! yet they drove entirely different. Some of us just have a love affair with our autos. Sure, money can replace a car... but can it replace memories?

Sorry...dont agree....they are memories...in your head...not in the car. Besides I was making comment on the "like family". Not even close. People with fancy cars sometimes fail to see the forest for the trees. I have built a Caterham...felt as close to a car as you can with that one...but it is and was (I sold it to get the Elise) just a car. I have wonderful memories...but they cannot compare to the memories I have of my kids (now driving my Elise)...and if tomorrow I smashed up the car...I would write a check for new one and not blink an eye or shed a tear. It is just metal....rubber...plastic...etc. I have spent my entire adult life.....fooling around with Lotus cars...from my first Elan S2 (which is how I met my wife and those wonderful memories) to my 73 Sprint Elan....to my Caterham that I built and, I used to get out of after a long trip and pat it like it was a "living thing" saying....it was a "good trip". My M100 Elans...and the trip cross country from Seattle with my brother (which is chronicled on the LOONY website..http://www.lotusowners.com) in my Sprint Elan when I bought it back from Bill Rabel when he bought his Elise. That trip was great memories...but they are memories of my brother and I having a great time...had nothing to do with the car other than we were in it. You have great memories and they stay with you...but cars are transient. Family is not...hopefully...but we all know that is not true as well. Maybe I am overly sensitive to this as I have lost both my parents this year...lost my sister 15 years ago...my best friend and fellow Lotus drive 12 years ago. Losing is car is NOTHING. Get real. I would trade all my cars...every single one that I ever owned for the return of my sister and my best friend... (not that I would not do so for my parents...but they were 90 and that is the nature of living and dying. Everyone will eventually...but it is the ones that are out of natural order that we really regret.)

edit...

You really have to put things in perspective. I would give everything I own for kids health to be better...to bring all the guys and girls dying over seas home.....Personal possessions dont mean a thing.. My dad used to say this about personal possessions and the the people that overrate their importance...I remember when I smashed up my Corvette when I was about 17...I was really depressed and mad....He said to me" When you go to bed at night...and it is dark...all you have is what you can see..which if the lights are off...is nothing. All you have is your character...no money...no car...no nothing. If you can live with what is left (your character) then that is the best you can do and all that matters. Everything else (your possessions) come and go." I always remember that when I see someone making a big deal of how much money they have...or cars ...or houses. I look at their character and more than often I wonder how they sleep when when the lights are out.

[lotusport]

Originally Posted by Dietsch Werks

They use grease on the bolts and it seeps with time - Rob.

HUH?!? Why use grease on the bolts?

[TerrapinFlyer88]

Originally Posted by tvacc

Sorry...dont agree....they are memories...in your head...not in the car. Besides I was making comment on the "like family". Not even close. People with fancy cars sometimes fail to see the forest for the trees. I have built a Caterham...felt as close to a car as you can with that one...but it is and was (I sold it to get the Elise) just a car. I have wonderful memories...but they cannot compare to the memories I have of my kids (now driving my Elise)...and if tomorrow I smashed up the car...I would write a check for new one and not blink an eye or shed a tear. It is just metal....rubber...plastic...etc. I have spent my entire adult life.....fooling around with Lotus cars...from my first Elan S2 (which is how I met my wife and those wonderful memories) to my 73 Sprint Elan....to my Caterham that I built and, I used to get out of after a long trip and pat it like it was a "living thing" saying....it was a "good trip". My M100 Elans...and the trip cross country from Seattle with my brother (which is chronicled on the LOONY website..http://www.lotusowners.com) in my Sprint Elan when I bought it back from Bill Rabel when he bought his Elise. That trip was great memories...but they are memories of my brother and I having a great time...had nothing to do with the car other than we were in it. You have great memories and they stay with you...but cars are transient. Family is not...hopefully...but we all know that is not true as well. Maybe I am overly sensitive to this as I have lost both my parents this year...lost my sister 15 years ago...my best friend and fellow Lotus drive 12 years ago. Losing is car is NOTHING. Get real. I would trade all my cars...every single one that I ever owned for the return of my sister and my best friend... (not that I would not do so for my parents...but they were 90 and that is the nature of living and dying. Everyone will eventually...but it is the ones that are out of natural order that we really regret.)

And you don't think I'd gladly trade my van for the return of my mother or the return of a close friend who died of cervical cancer? I don't own any "fancy" automobiles, but... travel is my life. My car is a reflection of my personality. In the general range of loss, yeah, losing a vehicle doesn't rank very high. However, it doesn't make it not hurt when it happens. I'm not denying there are worse things that can happen. Or denying the hurt that it causes. I'm just saying that to some people (myself included) find their vehicles to be extended members of the family. Not that I'm unrealistic when it comes time to send one off to the boneyard. And yeah, the memories remain. I'd rather be creating more.

On a happier note, I leave you some dancing bananas.

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by TerrapinFlyer88

And you don't think I'd gladly trade my van for the return of my mother or the return of a close friend who died of cervical cancer? I don't own any "fancy" automobiles, but... travel is my life. My car is a reflection of my personality. In the general range of loss, yeah, losing a vehicle doesn't rank very high. However, it doesn't make it not hurt when it happens. I'm not denying there are worse things that can happen. Or denying the hurt that it causes. I'm just saying that to some people (myself included) find their vehicles to be extended members of the family. Not that I'm unrealistic when it comes time to send one off to the boneyard. And yeah, the memories remain. I'd rather be creating more.

On a happier note, I leave you some dancing bananas.

Yes...lets end this on a happier note. Did not mean to suggest that anything negative in your post or your character. If that is how i came off..I apoligize. I was just commenting on comparing the loss of a car to the loss of family. I am not even sure if you made that comparison....dont know who really did without looking back.

We all enjoy our cars....that is what makes life for us interesting. This an interesting thread and that is why it has sailed around the world. I hope QBall gets his check and motors on with all of us. Such is life that other losses are not as easy to replace.

Remember...Drive FAST/Take CHANCES

[ZTEC]

Originally Posted by lotusport

HUH?!? Why use grease on the bolts?

I was wondering if someone was going to say something - I didn't understand it either even Anti-Sieze doesn't "ooze" or "seep" unless you use way too much but whatever - It is an oil leak

[smoseley]

Originally Posted by tvacc

...You really have to put things in perspective....

tvacc, that was a wonderfully insightful post. Thought I'd take the time to thank you for the words of wisdom.

[Vitric]

Originally Posted by Lambda_drive

I guess Qball is famous now.

Indeed, this thread now has its own spot on Google

[Taxcheat]

Qball needs to auction his wrecked Elise on eBay so goldenpalace.com will buy it for $100,000.

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by transio

tvacc, that was a wonderfully insightful post. Thought I'd take the time to thank you for the words of wisdom.

You know...that is what i like about Lotus people...even though we have "exciting" discussions...often at different ends of the spectrum...we are all still friends. I have been meeting Lotus people at LOGs and breakfasts since 1986...(got my first Lotus in 1972)....and it is just one great bunch of people.

[TerrapinFlyer88]

I edited the original post. In retrospect, it was a somewhat foolish statemnt. I changed it to being similar to losing a friend (doesn't even have to be by death, just a simple matter of fading away) in more or less this context- I'm appealing to the emotion involved. I look at it this way... monetary aside, the shock of one day having something you hold this attachment to, and the next day, it's suddenly gone, well, that's what I mean. It applies to a lot of things. A lot of times, I use generic (and, apparently, sometimes ignorant) statements to avoid having to explain in-depth what I'm trying to say. It just doesn't come out right at times.

I've been reading through a lot of the other threads, and while I usually don't have much to contribute (I still have yet to figure out WTF a starshield is) it's an interesting, and funny, forum overall. I figured I'll hang around a bit because who knows... once I make a decent chunk I just might buy myself a nice Lotus playtoy. In the meantime, I'm just going to have to figure out ways to sneak my beat-up old cargo van onto the racetrack. No offense taken, tvacc. it was late, I was tired, and I get into these weird defensive moods. Peace, good vibes.

[drjose]

Originally Posted by gameson

I am interested in this type of insurance. Few questions

1. do all insurance companies carry this type of insurance? what insurance do you use?
2. will it cover the MSRP of the car or the purchase price of the car (either less or more than MSRP)? Does it apply only to the first owner or any owners (that means the 2nd, 3rd, 4th owners, etc bought it used, but still get full priced)?
3. how much do you have to pay extra per year for this type of coverage?

thanks.

I am in the middle of a wrecked vehicle. Here's the scoop so far. I bought an 05 Isuzu Ascender July 05. The MSRP was $29,254. I got it 100% finaced with a total price out the door of about $22,500.00 I had it 20 months when I let a friend borrow it and she wrecked it. It was deemed a total loss. Now Allstate is checking to see what the cost of an 07 Ascender is and come up with a figure, including sales tax. I figure it will be around $31,000. Now, I owe 13,000 on it so the difference is about 18K. My cost for the replacement insurance was about $52 per year. I have the same coverage on The Elise. Most insurances just love to settle claims before the year is ove. As an added bonus, I can now go to dealer auctions and get cars wholesale. I have not decided how to use the settlement check. Used SUV or pimp the Elise??
(That is after I pay my tithes.)

[smoseley]

Originally Posted by Vitric

Indeed, this thread now has its own spot on Google

An interesting fact - the link popularity that ET has received from this thread has propelled EliseTalk to the #1 spot for Google searches of "Elise Forum" and "Elise Forums".

If Randy would just SEO the darn site, he could really make it pop to the top of most Lotus searches.

[gameson]

Originally Posted by drjose

I am in the middle of a wrecked vehicle. Here's the scoop so far. I bought an 05 Isuzu Ascender July 05. The MSRP was $29,254. I got it 100% finaced with a total price out the door of about $22,500.00 I had it 20 months when I let a friend borrow it and she wrecked it. It was deemed a total loss. Now Allstate is checking to see what the cost of an 07 Ascender is and come up with a figure, including sales tax. I figure it will be around $31,000. Now, I owe 13,000 on it so the difference is about 18K. My cost for the replacement insurance was about $52 per year. I have the same coverage on The Elise. Most insurances just love to settle claims before the year is ove. As an added bonus, I can now go to dealer auctions and get cars wholesale. I have not decided how to use the settlement check. Used SUV or pimp the Elise??
(That is after I pay my tithes.)

I have a 9 years old Integra which I am the 2nd owner. Can I still get this coverage for my Integra? It would be nice to get $20k+ when the car value currently is $5k even if I have to pay the replacement insurance.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by TerrapinFlyer88

...(I still have yet to figure out WTF a starshield is)

StarShield is the brand name for the paint protection film applied to the more vulnerable area of the Elise/Exige bodies as a "factory" option (it is actually installed at the port after arriving in the US).

[qball]

Update! Goodyear's Insurance has agreed the car is totalled.

Now for them to determine the worth... oh boy!

Any tips on preventing getting raped on this?

Please don't quote estimated values on this thread. I'm sure they are watching. If you have some "value" info, I would appreciate it if you PM or e-mail me.

Unfortunately, the only "values" I can find published are NADA, e-bay sales (ha), auto trader listings, and cars.com.

Muchos Gracias!

[tvacc]

Originally Posted by transio

If Randy would just SEO the darn site, he could really make it pop to the top of most Lotus searches.

For those not in the business...SEO is Search Engine Optimization