Re: My Thursday Morning Commute ....

**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:45 pm

I had to run up to the impound yard today to pry some valuables out of what's left of my car, before it makes it's final road trip (Hyundai Heaven, I suppose). Here is the view from the driver's side front of the interior. Notice the 2 extra headrests in the front that were not standard or optional equipment. Lol, just slightly out of there original positions.
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My Thursday Morning Commute .... - Page 2 0306141350_zps9e4561bb

**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:47 pm

**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:48 pm

Close-up of the roof....
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**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:53 pm

And finally, the engine compartment. Notice the Condenser and radiator are bent severely, and the underhood crossmember is shoved back against the intake manifold. Somehow, it never leaked a drop of coolant and was still running smoothly when I woke up on the shoulder after the impact.
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**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 9:57 pm

One more roof shot. I was standing where the rear bumper used to be. The Kenworth's oil cooler must have been broken in the crash, there is oil all over what used to be the trunk.
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My Thursday Morning Commute .... - Page 2 0306141356_zps0cf2ded0

**clacksman** Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:29 pm

That all your crap on the roadside in the first pic? Holy debris field.

Other thing to note in that one is even the side mirror doesn't want to look.

**Rooster722** Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:40 pm

clacksman wrote:That all your crap on the roadside in the first pic? Holy debris field.

Other thing to note in that one is even the side mirror doesn't want to look.

The debris was not mine, I think it was from the upside-down Silverado.

Lol, I noticed the breakaway passenger side mirror shying away from the scene. Can't blame it.

**Rooster722** Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:32 pm

clacksman wrote:No weirdo sores even a few days later? Car died a hero.

Wat's the replacement ride?

Narrowed my choices down to two cars for potential replacement of my Sonata. It'll be a 2014 Sonata SE 2.0T or a 2014 Ford Fusion Titanium. I finally was able to go out and take a close look and drive both cars, they both have many, many great attributes. I have to say, I was much more impressed by the Fusion than I expected to be.

The Sonata Turbo has the advantage in acceleration (way quicker than you would ever expect), warranty, and for me the trust that it will be reliable due to the fact that my now deceased Sonata was never in the shop for anything but a recalled brake light switch in 3 years and 53,000 miles of service.

The Fusion Titanium has the advantage in refinement (it drives like a $60K ride), steering feel, and for me the excitement of something fresh and new. I love the Styling of both cars, but the Sonata has that "been there, done that" factor like a beautiful but previously enjoyed girlfriend. Sorry for the honesty, lol.

If both cars were new to me, the styling would be a wash, IMO. The Aston Fusion would win the front end beauty war, the Sonata from the profile, and maybe a wash from the rear POV. Depending on the wheel choice and exterior color, the profile POV might be a wash as well.

Exterior size and passenger/cargo space are so similar between the two that it's a wash as well.

I checked out a Mazda6 as well. Nice car, but I just can't fall in love with the styling. The front fenders are just too "bulged out" for me, for lack of a better description. At least it's not boring though like the other 8 or so cars not mentioned here in the ultra competitive mid size segment.

**Forgetful** Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:21 pm

I hear the Accord is pretty good, especially the V6.

Any consideration for CPO with a warranty? You can probably have an M car or a gently loved Audi. Maybe buy a Range Rover from Carmax:

http://dougdemuro.jalopnik.com/one-year-with-a-carmax-warranty-and-an-unreliable-used-1485113319

**Rooster722** Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:51 pm

Forgetful wrote:I hear the Accord is pretty good, especially the V6.

Any consideration for CPO with a warranty? You can probably have an M car or a gently loved Audi. Maybe buy a Range Rover from Carmax:

http://dougdemuro.jalopnik.com/one-year-with-a-carmax-warranty-and-an-unreliable-used-1485113319

The Accord would undoubtedly be good, like most Hondas are. For me though, it's styling just bores me to death. Tastes vary greatly, so no offense to anyone. The mainstream midsize car segment, Accord, Camry, Altima, Passat, Sonata, Optima, Fusion, Mazda6, Legacy, are all good cars I think. You could make a good case to buy any of them. For my taste though, the Sonata and Fusion offer the overall most exciting choices.

Nothing wrong with buying a CPO, but the choices you mentioned ... too much in-shop time required.

I typically drive about 20K miles per year, so any high end Euro would break the bank, and my spirit, in no time.

**timneyb** Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:26 am

I liked the Fusion a lot. I agree about the very conservative look of the Accord. We decided against the new Legacy for similar reasons (having been bummed because we liked the previous shape a lot). Have you considered VW? Not really as pretty as the Fusion, but our other almost-buy was a Passat (actually the diesel). Their negative was possibly higher cost of ownership on the long term, but not on the same level as the high end euro brands.

However, are you married to 4 doors? The coupés in a few models improve the lines quite a bit. Are you using those rear seats for storing more than just semi-trailers? Too soon?

**clacksman** Tue Mar 11, 2014 11:26 am

timneyb wrote: Are you using those rear seats for storing more than just semi-trailers? Too soon?

loooool

**Rooster722** Fri Mar 14, 2014 4:07 pm

timneyb wrote:I liked the Fusion a lot. I agree about the very conservative look of the Accord. We decided against the new Legacy for similar reasons (having been bummed because we liked the previous shape a lot). Have you considered VW? Not really as pretty as the Fusion, but our other almost-buy was a Passat (actually the diesel). Their negative was possibly higher cost of ownership on the long term, but not on the same level as the high end euro brands.

However, are you married to 4 doors? The coupés in a few models improve the lines quite a bit. Are you using those rear seats for storing more than just semi-trailers? Too soon?

Yeah, not much to fall in love with regarding the new Legacy, generic to the core. Agreed, the previous version was sharper looking. I'm sure the new Passat is very refined, I'm just not interested enough in them to take a serious look.

Regarding 4 doors, yeah, I need them because my car fills the dual role of work/personal usage. Honestly though, I prefer a sedan these days in every way. The Fusion Titanium has become the leader of the pack for me, hopefully I'll be in one before the end of March.

**SpecMiata-JSW** Thu Mar 27, 2014 8:31 pm

I've been crazy busy and haven't done too much with sim driving or visiting forums, I thought I'd stop by here tonight to see what has been going on and I saw this thread. Holy cow Rooster!! Glad you're okay man, that was one serious hit. I'm totally blown away...that Hyundai did a great job of keeping you safe, I'm glad you didn't have anyone in the back seat, they might not have ended up so lucky.

Glad you're safe and sound!

**Rooster722** Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:42 pm

SpecMiata-JSW wrote:I've been crazy busy and haven't done too much with sim driving or visiting forums, I thought I'd stop by here tonight to see what has been going on and I saw this thread. Holy cow Rooster!! Glad you're okay man, that was one serious hit. I'm totally blown away...that Hyundai did a great job of keeping you safe, I'm glad you didn't have anyone in the back seat, they might not have ended up so lucky.

Glad you're safe and sound!

Thanks for the note Spec, glad to see you're still lookin' in on us occasionally. I haven't sat in the rig (sim racing rig, not a tractor trailer) since the crash. I've got some post concussion symptoms I've been dealing with. Looks like the GT6 thing is deader than my Hyundai here, so hopefully I'll see you in iRacing sometime down the road.

**clacksman** Sun Mar 30, 2014 3:20 pm

Rooster722 wrote:I've got some post concussion symptoms I've been dealing with.

That sucks. Crying or Very sad

**SpecMiata-JSW** Sun Mar 30, 2014 4:21 pm

clacksman wrote:
Rooster722 wrote:I've got some post concussion symptoms I've been dealing with.

That sucks.

Yes, that is no good.

As far as racing is concerned, I really don't know when I'll be able to get on the rig in a competitive state anytime soon. I haven't seriously raced in iRacing in almost a year, and GT6 is nice every once in a while since I can suck and my license doesn't get affected, or I don't ruin anyone else's race, my biggest activity finds me logging in to keep my login bonus credits and that's about it.

Hope to see you on track soon!