This is to follow up on my post about somebody rear ending my '88 with an M47 and turbo sways in front of my house, in turn wrapping it around the tree that was right in front of it. Of course, the car was totalled.

But the deal I got from the lady's insurance (AAA) was fair enough, all things considered. They arranged for a rental car for me very quickly, which is a cheap American POS that reminds me why I will never own a FWD vehicle - no damn fun! (If you think Volvo plastic is bad for disintegrating after 15 or 20 years, try a Chevy Classic and its cheap plastic that disintegrates after less than 5,000 miles). When the inspector came out, I gave her my sob story about how meticulously maintained it was, how there was special performance suspension parts, etc. etc. She took pity on me and recommended the vehicle in their highest quality category, whatever that means (I assume it was similar to the KBB rating system). She said that she had to write down a lower mileage for the vehicle than it actually had in order for it to qualify for that category. So she was bending some rules to get me the most I could get, which I appreciated. Turns out the settlement value was around $2300, plus tax and licensing expenses for a total of just under $2800. I bought the car for $2000 and put a lot of work and boneyard parts into it, so I figure the settlement was fair unless you want to talk about the value of all of the time I put into it since I bought it, which of course I wouldn't expect.

So all in all, I'm satisfied with my experience with AAA. I was expecting to have to haggle more than I did, and besides the inspector was a real cute Asian babe with a nice body, a good little bonus.

Also, I pulled some parts off of it to hang onto for either the next brick or ebay - Blaupunkt stereo & aftermarket door speakers, instrument cluster with large tach, and a few misc. stuff. The hood was jammed or else I would have scammed the AMM, the ICU, and a few other goodies. I didn't want to trust the turbo sways after the accident so I didn't take them off or inspect them too closely. I wish I had my tools and more time; I would have pulled off the M47, it was really tight. I should have pulled off the blue map pockets. Damn why didn't I think of that.

If I'm lucky I'll be able to find something comparable and not lose too much money. I've only got three days more with the rental car they gave me, so I'll have to find something quick or else things will start to get really inconvenient. I guess that's the ultimate downer, the fact that I don't have the luxury or waiting around for a really good deal the way I had when I bought the '88.

I'm looking for another 88-93 240 in the same price range, but as it is early summer in the Bay Area, it is once again the season for me to start lusting after a nice classy convertible. Life simply hasn't been as much fun since I sold my old Ghia. There is an Alfa Romeo Graduate I'm looking at that I could afford at the moment, but it needs a new top and of course it's not as practical as a brick. But it does have the same era Bosch FI system (this is what I keep telling myself)......stop me before I go to the dark side.....My fiancée still has the generic white '88 240DL with automatic and stock mushy suspension, so it's not like I'd be totally deserting.....