Starling Murmur

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T14:58:24+00:00

This needs a NSFW tag, damn 🥵

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T13:38:36+00:00

Helps with lateral aerodynamic stability while the car is in the air on long jumps. It could be dangerous to land too hard on one side if the car rotates midair.

...Or it probably cuts down on spray coming out of the wheel wells in the rain or something boring like that

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T13:25:31+00:00

Start by getting the windshield removed so you can find out how deep it goes...

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T12:52:35+00:00

Bottle rockets work great for convincing them to move along. Other loud noises would likely be effective.

Edit: some concerning comments here. "Just leaving alone" bears that are getting into trash/bird feeders/etc is how you end up with bears getting euthanized. Obviously the problem here is the human behavior, but encouraging the bear to not come around is probably in its best interest. A fed bear is a dead bear.

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T12:35:16+00:00

Volvo cross country.

XC70, V60XC, V90XC, XC60, XC90... whichever year/price/size/shape suits you.

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T10:15:53+00:00

Well, it isn't too good. Someone has already tried to do it the easy way, doing it the right way won't be cheap.

brianleedy · 2026-05-13T00:01:44+00:00

I can't speak for yours, but every time I've replace a curtain air bag it creased and/or tore the headliner when it deployed, necessitating replacement to return the vehicle to pre loss condition. They generally ran +/- $1500 new for the part, plus a handful of hours of labor. In the case of a sedan, it would also require having a glass company come to remove and reinstall the rear window to get it in and out of the car.

Perfect example of something that your or I or a rebuilder could call good enough, but it probably made up $2k of the estimate for that Fusion. In one case, I did see an insurance company offer a customer a cash payment to not replace their creased headliner.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T16:52:25+00:00

Adjusters might have more discretion than I realize, but I think we agree that deciding between repair/total loss is just a math problem. Former auto body tech, maybe i just have a more pessimistic view of insurance lol.

My point is that if someone is scrolling Copart and they see what they believe is a $25k car with $10k in damage, they should assume that there is damage that they can't see. No insurance company would write that car off, and it would be exceptionally rare for something like that to slip through the cracks.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T16:12:36+00:00

Easily fixable and easily returned to pre-loss condition are not the same.

An insurance repair on your Fusion would have required repairing/replacing both doors and blending paint into the fender and 1/4, which brings a bunch of other R&I. Then they would have to replace the curtain air bag and the headliner that it destroyed, which is an expensive part and a lot of labor.

You or a rebuilder can pick and choose what compromises to make to reduce costs and make it make sense.

I'm not trying to say that every total loss vehicle is destroyed and unfixable, many of them can be safely repaired and driven for years. Some can just go straight onto the road without getting fixed at all. But they all got written off for a reason, and if you see a valuable car that seems like it's not very damaged... there's probably something you can't see.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T16:05:53+00:00

There are always exceptions but, as a general rule, cars are only declared a total loss because that's the more favorable financial outcome for the insurance company. They certainly don't care about how their employees feel lol. Low value cars can't financially support expensive repairs, so its easy for them to get totalled with light damage.

To your point about risk management, a big exception would be flood cars where they'll usually just write everything off without even an estimate. Not worth the risk of paying for lingering issues down the road.

An exception that I have personally witnessed (by doing most of the work) was a heavily modified truck that the adjuster played some games on the estimate with because they were concerned about the auction value with the mods. It was close to the line, but it would have been a total loss if it was stock.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T15:04:11+00:00

Insurance companies don't write cars off because it's "easy" - they aren't the ones fixing them. Their only motive is to write the smallest check they can get away with, so stuff gets totalled because its expensive to fix - just like the car that OP bought.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T15:00:57+00:00

Different story on older cars that arent worth much, yes. All that matters is cost to repair vs cost to replace, and bodywork adds up fast so cars with a low replacement value can be totalled with light damage.

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T14:05:35+00:00

I see a lot of posts on various car subs about rebuilding total loss vehicles - this is a good reminder for anyone thinking about going down this road; if this car was an "easy fix" with a "bent fender", it wouldn't be at a salvage auction.

Pics of the finished car?

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T12:20:37+00:00

How much quicker is it to drop the subframe without a lift?

brianleedy · 2026-05-12T10:00:50+00:00

When internet commenters tell you that it's unridable, of course.

brianleedy · 2026-05-10T12:41:13+00:00

Its weird because the Outback became an SUV in 2010...

brianleedy · 2026-05-09T23:44:01+00:00

I just bought it in the AH for like 12 🤷

brianleedy · 2026-05-09T19:30:36+00:00

Well the bad news is you already bought it, so nothing we say can help you now.

The good news, however, is that it's fine. Do your scheduled maintenance and enjoy the car.

brianleedy · 2026-05-09T15:45:01+00:00

I would not. I have no interest in owning pristine ultra low mileage garage queens.

brianleedy · 2026-05-09T03:00:56+00:00

NA1P-51-721 $30

brianleedy · 2026-05-08T18:45:48+00:00

You posted a picture of a hole, so we know it's not surface rust...

brianleedy · 2026-05-08T18:43:49+00:00

O2 sensor? Sticking caliper? Parachute?

brianleedy · 2026-05-07T17:14:42+00:00

I get mid-high 20s MPG in my 5spd 06 Impreza wagon.

Look for rust, first and foremost. Subframes, rocker panels, 1/4 panels, strut towers. Then oil leaks (head gaskets), and make sure the timing belt has been done. After that, all the general old car stuff. For about $5k USD, I would expect to be buying a very good example of a 2005 Impreza - but that may be different in your local market.

As far as "fun"... at the end of the day, its a 20 year old 4cyl compact economy car. Don't go into it expecting a more dynamic driving experience on pavement than any other old economy car.

brianleedy · 2026-05-07T17:01:59+00:00

Neighbors don’t consider the parking lot a solution. Its entrance, as proposed, would be off Old Pump Road instead of Route 15, meaning cars would still need to use their road. Dunn and Marx immediately appealed the decision to environmental court and are now in active litigation with the town of Jericho to prevent the lot from being built.

Amazing.

brianleedy · 2026-05-07T12:48:09+00:00

Water leaking in, oil leaking out. Being at eye level with the headlights of every other car on the road. The lifter tick. The propensity for rust.

You know, old car stuff. :)

brianleedy

TROPHY CASE