MY LS400 gave its life for me and my son...
01-22-10, 10:22 PM
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MY LS400 gave its life for me and my son...
About 5 weeks ago I was driving home on the freeway after a wonderful afternoon of golf at Summitepointe in Milpitas CA. 6pm, Northbound, just 15 seconds from my exit to home, cruising at 65mph and then it happened...
Bam, and suddenly my LS400 was spinning 360, I was blindsided t-boned while in the 3rd lane by a Ford Explorer that was speeding and out of control, he completely wrecked my LS400 on the left side.
But despite being hit broadside with an Explorer running about 90mph, the side collision beams held and prevented the doors from caving in.
Also since I didn't slam on the brakes we didn't flip and once we were out of the spin I realized from the receding taillights that we were back in the original direction and safely made it to the side of the freeway.
Fortunately for me a witness stopped and saw the whole thing and told the CHP and me what had happened.
I just bought new Michelin tires, had $2000 in brakework done last year and had only 135,000 miles on this 95 that I bought used in 2004 at 87,000 miles.
But thru it all, I believe the way this car is built and the quality in it saved my life and that of my 9 year old son. Some have told me that if I was in a smaller car we might not have made it.
Farewell my beloved LS400, you served your family well...
Bam, and suddenly my LS400 was spinning 360, I was blindsided t-boned while in the 3rd lane by a Ford Explorer that was speeding and out of control, he completely wrecked my LS400 on the left side.
But despite being hit broadside with an Explorer running about 90mph, the side collision beams held and prevented the doors from caving in.
Also since I didn't slam on the brakes we didn't flip and once we were out of the spin I realized from the receding taillights that we were back in the original direction and safely made it to the side of the freeway.
Fortunately for me a witness stopped and saw the whole thing and told the CHP and me what had happened.
I just bought new Michelin tires, had $2000 in brakework done last year and had only 135,000 miles on this 95 that I bought used in 2004 at 87,000 miles.
But thru it all, I believe the way this car is built and the quality in it saved my life and that of my 9 year old son. Some have told me that if I was in a smaller car we might not have made it.
Farewell my beloved LS400, you served your family well...
, looked pristine.
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01-23-10, 09:44 AM
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At first I wasn't sure what I would replace it with. I have a 2005 Nissan Titan as a 2nd vehicle and so I was in no big rush. I thought about a BMW 745il but the money was alot bigger than I was thinking of spending for a 2001, and besides I read plenty of horror stories about cost of service.
I have State Farm and they decided to total the car since the repairs would be about 12000. The appraisal came in at 9500, so with my deductible at 1000 they gave me 8500 with the 1000 coming back to me once the case is settled and the other guy is determined to be at fault.
I thought about another LS400, but most at what we got from insurance would have about 170,000+ miles and I figure I would be in for at least timing belt changes and other expenses soon after.
So what to do...well my brother has always said that of all the people in the world he knew, I had the most of what he calls "dumb luck".
What he means is that luck which has no rhyme or reason, just something that happens to me being in the right place at the right time.
It starts with my dad as a teenager, 6 years before I was born. At 15 he's very sick, this is the year 1951. The doctors don't know why, but they think he has TB, but after 1 year the symptoms get worse and they then discover something that would shock them. He had lung cancer. There was a 4cm tumor in his left lung that they saw in the x-rays. At the time there was only 1 way to treat cancer. They removed his left lung in surgery. But the next day the doctor told him that despite their best efforts, the survival rate for this type of cancer is 6 months or less. It was the type of cancer that a 60 year old with a 2 pack a day habit would have and that's what took them so long to discover it, because they didn't suspect something like that in a teenage boy.
Well, 6 months passed, and then a year, and then 5. My dad is alive to this day. His cancer case became a medical journal report. The only succesful survivor pass 5 years of his type of cancer out of 357 cases at the time. It seemed that for some reason, a layer of skin grew around the tumor that prevented it from mestatizing and that's why it grew as a perfect sphere.
When he was 20 he married my mom and a year later I was born, followed by a sister and brother.
In short, I am alive by very long odds. This is the first time I encounter "dumb luck"...
01-23-10, 09:55 AM
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Flash forward to my early college days where I'm running the family business and attending school. Its winter, and one of my employees tells me he has some extra new skis that he wasn't going to use that I could have. Since we're going to Tahoe for the snow by the weekend I said "great" and took them home.
My brother and sister then say to me, "you need bindings, and it'll take a week to get them mounted, its Thursday, so there's no way you can use those skis this weekend."
Listening I can't help but know they're right but we got to Oshmans sporting goods anyway and look at new bindings. Within a minute I hear someone shout my name, and I turn and it just happens to be my old high school quarterback, I was a running back. Great guy. He asks what I'm doing here, and I tell him the story about the skis, and then he says, don't worry about it, I'll mount the bindings right now..."
My brother turns to my sister and just mutters "...stupid, dumb luck..."
and that's the first time I hear that phrase, but not the last...
My brother and sister then say to me, "you need bindings, and it'll take a week to get them mounted, its Thursday, so there's no way you can use those skis this weekend."
Listening I can't help but know they're right but we got to Oshmans sporting goods anyway and look at new bindings. Within a minute I hear someone shout my name, and I turn and it just happens to be my old high school quarterback, I was a running back. Great guy. He asks what I'm doing here, and I tell him the story about the skis, and then he says, don't worry about it, I'll mount the bindings right now..."
My brother turns to my sister and just mutters "...stupid, dumb luck..."
and that's the first time I hear that phrase, but not the last...
01-23-10, 10:03 AM
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...the year is 1981...
I decide to take a trip to Los Angeles and visit some old college friends. I get there on a Friday, call them up and ask them to dinner. Unfortunately they are going to their church fellowship meeting and can't go... But then they ask me to join them at their church...I say, what the heck, I'm not busy...
I meet some very nice people, and then they invite me to return to the church for the Sunday service. So I go.
I'm meeting and greeting people at the door when in walks in a girl who just moved into the area from Tucson. We're introduced by her cousin who's a long time church member.
We speak again after lunch momentarily. For some reason we both felt very comfortable with each other and I had almost a magnetic buzz or attraction when I was near her.
She didn't realize I don't live in Los Angeles until everyone is saying goodbye to me after lunch when I left for home. It doesn't matter. I visit again, we see each other again. After 1 year we're engaged and have been married now 26 years.
As my brother says..."stupid, dumb luck"...
I decide to take a trip to Los Angeles and visit some old college friends. I get there on a Friday, call them up and ask them to dinner. Unfortunately they are going to their church fellowship meeting and can't go... But then they ask me to join them at their church...I say, what the heck, I'm not busy...
I meet some very nice people, and then they invite me to return to the church for the Sunday service. So I go.
I'm meeting and greeting people at the door when in walks in a girl who just moved into the area from Tucson. We're introduced by her cousin who's a long time church member.
We speak again after lunch momentarily. For some reason we both felt very comfortable with each other and I had almost a magnetic buzz or attraction when I was near her.
She didn't realize I don't live in Los Angeles until everyone is saying goodbye to me after lunch when I left for home. It doesn't matter. I visit again, we see each other again. After 1 year we're engaged and have been married now 26 years.
As my brother says..."stupid, dumb luck"...
01-23-10, 10:11 AM
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2004. We need another car, I've already put 260,000 miles on an Acura Legend I bought new in 1991 and it will shortly die. My dad had bought a 1997 Lexus LS400 and it was a very fine looking car. So I'm looking in Craigslist and I spot a 1995 LS400 with 87000 miles asking to take over the loan of 14000. I go take a look and it looks pristine, and I agree on the spot to take it. No haggling or negotiation, just call up their bank, and take over his loan. My wife is happy because she hates buying cars with me, I usually spend 6 hours negotiating at the dealer to get rock bottom prices, but I tell her, where else can you make $1000 an hour?
Anyway, we pick up the car the next day and the owner tells me that after my handshake he had 3 other people offering $3000 more for the car but a deal is a deal.
...dumb luck...
Anyway, we pick up the car the next day and the owner tells me that after my handshake he had 3 other people offering $3000 more for the car but a deal is a deal.
...dumb luck...
01-23-10, 11:16 AM
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...and now the rest of the story...
...ok, I start looking for another car. I comb ebay, autotrader, craigslist...
we go to the BMW dealer and get in a 750il. I look at all sorts of BMWs, but for reason I can't get by the service and reliability issues.
And then it happens. I'm looking at an ad in Craigslist for a 2001 LS 430.
124000 miles. New timing belt, water pump, idler, thermostat, new brakes, new 18 inch wheels, new tires, new struts, all fluids filters changed, new Xenon headlights... and the best part, $10000.
All sorts of things are racing thru my mind. Why is he selling this car when he just put all this work into it? I can't find any LS430 anywhere close to this price with all the work done like this.
He was 4 miles away from me. So I call.
He tells me someone else is seeing the car and if that guy doesn't want it I can see it the next day.
Well, the other guy feels the car is too big for him, so the next day I go and test drive it.
He gives me the keys, I take it for a spin. It feels better than my old LS400 did. It feels richer inside, the ride is superb, there's more power. The car is gorgeous. With the bigger tires it seems to grip the road thru every turn like nothing I ever experienced.
After my wife and I came back I told him I'd take it. And then he says to me, well I was planning to have it detailed on Monday, so why don't we wait until then to sign the papers. This is too good to be true, even after I say I'll take it, he still wants to detail it to make it look better.
...and then he tells me the rest of the story...
...he didn't intend to sell this car. He bought it last year and fixed it up for himself. He owns Woodside auto&tire. At his house he had 6 vehicles. His wife's BMW, 2 vintage Camaros in the garage, a truck, a van (the "Mystery machine from scooby doo) and a 2007 Mercedes CLS-63...
...about the time of my accident he was at his friends body shop when he saw the Mercedes. He admired the car and his friend told him that he thought it was for sale. He told me that the car was 500hp and a $150,000 car, KBB was 65-70,000. He loved the car but knew he really couldn't afford it, nonetheless the owner called him and remarked that yes the car is for sale and would he like it. Yes, he loves it, but it would cost too much. But the owner said how about $35,000. He was floored, and he bought it on the spot.
Seems the previous owner was an executive at a startup company here in SV that was underwater and they needed cash. So their misfortune turned into his good fortune. The only thing left to think about was which car to keep, the Lexus he just fixed up or the Mercedes?
As my brother always says...its just "stupid dumb luck"
we go to the BMW dealer and get in a 750il. I look at all sorts of BMWs, but for reason I can't get by the service and reliability issues.
And then it happens. I'm looking at an ad in Craigslist for a 2001 LS 430.
124000 miles. New timing belt, water pump, idler, thermostat, new brakes, new 18 inch wheels, new tires, new struts, all fluids filters changed, new Xenon headlights... and the best part, $10000.
All sorts of things are racing thru my mind. Why is he selling this car when he just put all this work into it? I can't find any LS430 anywhere close to this price with all the work done like this.
He was 4 miles away from me. So I call.
He tells me someone else is seeing the car and if that guy doesn't want it I can see it the next day.
Well, the other guy feels the car is too big for him, so the next day I go and test drive it.
He gives me the keys, I take it for a spin. It feels better than my old LS400 did. It feels richer inside, the ride is superb, there's more power. The car is gorgeous. With the bigger tires it seems to grip the road thru every turn like nothing I ever experienced.
After my wife and I came back I told him I'd take it. And then he says to me, well I was planning to have it detailed on Monday, so why don't we wait until then to sign the papers. This is too good to be true, even after I say I'll take it, he still wants to detail it to make it look better.
...and then he tells me the rest of the story...
...he didn't intend to sell this car. He bought it last year and fixed it up for himself. He owns Woodside auto&tire. At his house he had 6 vehicles. His wife's BMW, 2 vintage Camaros in the garage, a truck, a van (the "Mystery machine from scooby doo) and a 2007 Mercedes CLS-63...
...about the time of my accident he was at his friends body shop when he saw the Mercedes. He admired the car and his friend told him that he thought it was for sale. He told me that the car was 500hp and a $150,000 car, KBB was 65-70,000. He loved the car but knew he really couldn't afford it, nonetheless the owner called him and remarked that yes the car is for sale and would he like it. Yes, he loves it, but it would cost too much. But the owner said how about $35,000. He was floored, and he bought it on the spot.
Seems the previous owner was an executive at a startup company here in SV that was underwater and they needed cash. So their misfortune turned into his good fortune. The only thing left to think about was which car to keep, the Lexus he just fixed up or the Mercedes?
As my brother always says...its just "stupid dumb luck"
01-23-10, 03:26 PM
#15
...ok, I start looking for another car. I comb ebay, autotrader, craigslist...
we go to the BMW dealer and get in a 750il. I look at all sorts of BMWs, but for reason I can't get by the service and reliability issues.
And then it happens. I'm looking at an ad in Craigslist for a 2001 LS 430.
124000 miles. New timing belt, water pump, idler, thermostat, new brakes, new 18 inch wheels, new tires, new struts, all fluids filters changed, new Xenon headlights... and the best part, $10000.
All sorts of things are racing thru my mind. Why is he selling this car when he just put all this work into it? I can't find any LS430 anywhere close to this price with all the work done like this.
He was 4 miles away from me. So I call.
He tells me someone else is seeing the car and if that guy doesn't want it I can see it the next day.
Well, the other guy feels the car is too big for him, so the next day I go and test drive it.
He gives me the keys, I take it for a spin. It feels better than my old LS400 did. It feels richer inside, the ride is superb, there's more power. The car is gorgeous. With the bigger tires it seems to grip the road thru every turn like nothing I ever experienced.
After my wife and I came back I told him I'd take it. And then he says to me, well I was planning to have it detailed on Monday, so why don't we wait until then to sign the papers. This is too good to be true, even after I say I'll take it, he still wants to detail it to make it look better.
...and then he tells me the rest of the story...
...he didn't intend to sell this car. He bought it last year and fixed it up for himself. He owns Woodside auto&tire. At his house he had 6 vehicles. His wife's BMW, 2 vintage Camaros in the garage, a truck, a van (the "Mystery machine from scooby doo) and a 2007 Mercedes CLS-63...
...about the time of my accident he was at his friends body shop when he saw the Mercedes. He admired the car and his friend told him that he thought it was for sale. He told me that the car was 500hp and a $150,000 car, KBB was 65-70,000. He loved the car but knew he really couldn't afford it, nonetheless the owner called him and remarked that yes the car is for sale and would he like it. Yes, he loves it, but it would cost too much. But the owner said how about $35,000. He was floored, and he bought it on the spot.
Seems the previous owner was an executive at a startup company here in SV that was underwater and they needed cash. So their misfortune turned into his good fortune. The only thing left to think about was which car to keep, the Lexus he just fixed up or the Mercedes?
As my brother always says...its just "stupid dumb luck"
we go to the BMW dealer and get in a 750il. I look at all sorts of BMWs, but for reason I can't get by the service and reliability issues.
And then it happens. I'm looking at an ad in Craigslist for a 2001 LS 430.
124000 miles. New timing belt, water pump, idler, thermostat, new brakes, new 18 inch wheels, new tires, new struts, all fluids filters changed, new Xenon headlights... and the best part, $10000.
All sorts of things are racing thru my mind. Why is he selling this car when he just put all this work into it? I can't find any LS430 anywhere close to this price with all the work done like this.
He was 4 miles away from me. So I call.
He tells me someone else is seeing the car and if that guy doesn't want it I can see it the next day.
Well, the other guy feels the car is too big for him, so the next day I go and test drive it.
He gives me the keys, I take it for a spin. It feels better than my old LS400 did. It feels richer inside, the ride is superb, there's more power. The car is gorgeous. With the bigger tires it seems to grip the road thru every turn like nothing I ever experienced.
After my wife and I came back I told him I'd take it. And then he says to me, well I was planning to have it detailed on Monday, so why don't we wait until then to sign the papers. This is too good to be true, even after I say I'll take it, he still wants to detail it to make it look better.
...and then he tells me the rest of the story...
...he didn't intend to sell this car. He bought it last year and fixed it up for himself. He owns Woodside auto&tire. At his house he had 6 vehicles. His wife's BMW, 2 vintage Camaros in the garage, a truck, a van (the "Mystery machine from scooby doo) and a 2007 Mercedes CLS-63...
...about the time of my accident he was at his friends body shop when he saw the Mercedes. He admired the car and his friend told him that he thought it was for sale. He told me that the car was 500hp and a $150,000 car, KBB was 65-70,000. He loved the car but knew he really couldn't afford it, nonetheless the owner called him and remarked that yes the car is for sale and would he like it. Yes, he loves it, but it would cost too much. But the owner said how about $35,000. He was floored, and he bought it on the spot.
Seems the previous owner was an executive at a startup company here in SV that was underwater and they needed cash. So their misfortune turned into his good fortune. The only thing left to think about was which car to keep, the Lexus he just fixed up or the Mercedes?
As my brother always says...its just "stupid dumb luck"