PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

Looks like a rock hit it

 

I would have noticed that, and I feel like the damage would gone a bit deeper than just the deflector if anything heavy hit it...

 

The set of Christmas lights tangled with the wreath wasn't on last night, so damage done to my light sets by the cold still continues to manifest itself. The other light set will not shut off and has probably been on for two or three days now...

 

Deflectors arent going to crack like that just from temp changes, now when it was real cold it will be more brittle and a small rock will easily do that.

 

So you posted something that you somewhat anticipated "could" be a problem. You got dinged for it as you anticipated might happen. You appealed it and had the ban rescinded as you hoped. You choose to now let the post up as an F you to them. Sorry Charlie but in my eyes you're just looking to stir shit so you can complain when the shit you stirred hits the fan. You're in the wrong on this one is how I see it.

 

The cold weather obviously messed up the innards of the battery pack on the set that's been on for days. When I first took it off the truck, "Off" was dim and "On" was bright. Now it stays rather dim no matter how many times I push the button. At this point, it's an experiment to see how long three AA batteries will power a 20-bulb LED Christmas light set before dying...

 

I didn't anticipate this happening, and certainly not almost 24 hours after I posted it; I am a huge fan of the Walking Dead and don't like it when people come into my house and tell me where to set the thermostat...

-- This has actually happened before; I like it cold, my parents like it cold, and a few years back an aunt who had a reputation for being a thermostat nazi in her own house when I was visiting. She asked me if we could set the A/C above 68 degrees; I told her to get an extra blanket and deal with it, because she was in my house. Well it's actually my parents' house, but one of my autism sensory issues is that I do not sleep well when it's warm in the house. While my parents were a bit upset at me for being snarky with my aunt, they like it cold in the house too, and took my side.

 

Going back to Facebook, yes I do have a legitimate beef with the way they do things, especially their algorithm.

I used to be an admin in an automotive Facebook group. The group was called "Underappreciated Survivors (1973-2003) and posts about Chevrolet Berettas would continually get flagged, resulting in strikes against the group, because the algorithm thought an Italian firearms manufacturer was being discussed. We gamed the system by saying BeReTt@ or just calling them 2-door Corsicas.

Facebook's stupid algorithm also can't tell the difference between the abbreviation for a High Output engine, and a certain derogatory term for a prostitute.

For example, someone would say "oh yeah, that Cutlass has a 305 HO", and Facebook would flag it...

 

@BkerChuck

Fairly recently, like last September, my Facebook account got flagged for spam twice in the span of two weeks. One post was unknown meme that I posted in late 2019 (I was flagged for spam in September or October 2022). The other post was an article about a Marine who helped raise the flag at Iwo Jima in WWII celebrating his 100th birthday, which I posted sometime in 2021.

So yeah, I'll admit it; I have a bit of a beef with Facebook and enjoy stirring shit just to tick off the bureaucrats. However, this most recent one was just because I like The Walking Dead, and I don't like people telling me where to set my HVAC thermostat.

 

Maybe ice?

 

@6 gearT444E
@98tacoma27
@ABA180
@BkerChuck
@ColoradoTJ
@Just_A_Guy
@RustyGreen
@shakerhood
@steelcity2
@Taco critter
@TnShooter
@wilcam47

Is this totaled?

I ended up next to this Buick Lucerne in traffic on my way to work today. It appears to have sideswiped a guardrail or been sideswiped by a large commercial truck. The car is obviously able to be driven, and would probably not be totaled if it were brand new or just a few years old.

However, I believe that Buick made the Lucerne from 2005 to 2010, which means that the newest ones are over a decade old. This car easily went for over thirty grand new, but 12+ year old seniormobiles don't hold their value like a Toyota truck of the same age. I'm guessing that this would be in the range of five grand to repair, and somebody who has the know-how could do it cheaper, but would any insurance company put five grand into fixing an old Buick?!?!

 

Just glancing at it, it appears to just have body damage as the wheel does not appear to be crooked. The owner could grab a door and fender from the junkyard and be good to go.

 

You will also notice that the driver doesn't look old enough to drink (at least in the USA), and is clearly looking at his phone; I think I know how the damage occurred...

 

Good question Charlie, this one is a wobbler, could go either way.

 

If there's no unibody damage, there's a good change most if not all insurance companies will total it based on age and/or mileage. It cost three grand to fix my Tacoma after the scrapyard incident last February, which included a door from a totaled truck and extensive paintwork. My truck was worth over eleven grand at the time.

Just the door and fender would probably be over a thousand bucks, and then both of those have to be painted, which probably brings the cost to $2,500-$3,000. My Tacoma has crank windows, manual locks, and manual mirrors. I did have some custom stereo stuff that needed to be transferred to my replacement door, but Butch didn't charge anything for that. A Buick Lucerne has power everything, and thus a lot more wiring to contend with, so you've gotta transfer all that shit into the new door. I'd say that if the unibody isn't tweaked and there is absolutely no unseen damage, the cost to fix this car would easily approach five grand. If there is even the slightest bit of hidden damage, the car probably would have been fixed when it was newer, but now it would be totaled.

 

I did a quick Junkyard search and parts for that are pretty reasonable, $300 for a Grade A Door and $100 for a Grade A Fender.

 

The Lucerne was manufactured from 2005 to 2011, which means that the newest examples are about to be 12 years old; 12 years in Buick years is a lot different than 12 years in Toyota years, or truck years (regardless of manufacturer). 20-year old diesel trucks are still going for twenty grand if they are in decent shape. This car is probably worth six grand in perfect condition, depending on year and mileage; I just did a Blue Book on a fully loaded 2011 Buick Lucerne Super, which has the Northstar V8 and pretty much every option you can get. I put in 80,000 miles, which seems about right for a 2011 vehicle that would have been driven sparingly by an elderly first owner and then sold to a teenager as a first vehic.e I was shocked to see that the KBB value on this hypothetical Buick was almost ten grand. Still, with this kind of damage it might be iffy. Also, this car is probably about a 2008 based on the GM logo on the fender, and it clearly not a fully loaded example or even one with the V8...

 

Anybody can buy the parts, but few people want to or even know how to take on body work, and the labor associated with any job is what drives the price into the stratosphere. The new door and fender have to painted, and the front bumper can probably be salvaged, but it took some damage as well and would also have to be painted. We also can't see what it looks like with the door removed.

A tree fell on the front of my friend's mom's 2009 Chevy Cobalt LT during a tornado in 2019. The car was in good condition, had like 90K miles on it, and was able to be driven home from the mechanic where the tree was dropped on it. The damage looked deceptively minor, and included a smashed windshield, but some parts were removed and revealed significant structural damage. The insurance company declared the car a total loss and wrote them a check.

 

Yeah I'd say any significant damage to a Cobalt would be an immediate total. I sanded and primed a new fender for Shawn's car this past Summer and he proceeded to drop it in the driveway Grrr.