Apologies for the wall of text.

Very few of you know me, so I suppose I'll start this with an introduction. I'm Ben, a.k.a. Sonic. I had an obsidian 08 F that I was able to enjoy for the better part of 7 months before I was rear-ended on the interstate. I was stopped in rush-hour traffic just over the crest of a large hill and an SUV came flying over. By the time he realized traffic ahead of him is stopped, it was far too late for him to stop or even avoid me. He tried to steer his car into the median, but with his brakes locked up, he continued straight into me. Reports say he hit me doing at least 50mph and it certainly felt like it. I was severely concussed, so had to make a trip to the ER. After meeting with my chiropractor and completing the x-rays, I was diagnosed with pretty severe soft-tissue damage throughout my neck as well as a reverse-curvature of my cervical spine, (which apparently is common after severe whiplash). 6 months later and I'm not fully healed, but finally settled with insurance.

Here is a picture of the F after the accident:



The SUV that hit me was demolished. Unfortunately I didn't snag a picture of it as I wasn't thinking clearly. (This was my first concussion ever...holy ****. Not fun. At all).

Initial auto body report came in at $7,000 for bumper, exhaust, tail light and some body work. (If you look closely at the above picture, you can see the c-pillar is bent). Car stayed at the shop for a few weeks before they could really get into the work, as they were backed up with insane hail damaged cars from a July storm we had). Once they took the trunk carpet off to further investigate, the car was quickly totaled. The frame had been bent in 3 separate spots. They quit looking after 3 as it was already too costly to fix. I must have done a few things right since owning the vehicle, because the insurance paid out $4,000 more than I purchased the vehicle for. (Some of you might recall my To Buy or Not to Buy thread, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ot-to-buy.html, this car was a bit of a fixer-upper, but I was excited to take on the challenge as tinkering, tearing down and modding are fun). Here are the pictures of the last time I laid eyes on it:







Fast forward 6 months, I have looked nationwide daily, literally, for an F. I struggled to find some in my price range with a great service history. Over the course of the search, I only found 2 that i would consider buying. One was in Illinois and another in Texas. The one in Illinois sold before I was able to speak with the dealership much. The other one in Texas was for sale for quite awhile and I was trying to haggle with the dealership on the price. Clearly I haggled too long, because eventually someone put a reserve on the car and it was sold a month later. Continuing my search, I came across a post on here from a member who just traded his '08 in. After a quick search, I found the car for sale at Audi in Denver and also found the member's for sale thread on here. The car had literally everything I was looking for. Flawless service history, new starter, all recalls sans air bag, my most preferred color and a few goodies. To top it off, the car had a brand new front bumper, headlight, paint job and clear bra after receiving quite the rash from construction debris. After speaking with the member and the dealership, I decided to look at the vehicle on Saturday. Needless to say, I instantly fell in love. The BC coilovers and USRS system from RR Racing make a HUGE difference in the ride. I didn't mind the stock '08 suspension, but the quality, comfort and handing of the coilovers and USRS make the car feel completely different.

Already got to work yesterday personalizing the vehicle. Snagged some plasti dip and blacked out the emblems on the rear of the vehicle and the window trim:













I'm sure there will be a lot more progress pictures to follow. Currently trying to decide on a color for the calipers. I don't think the burnt copper color that I used on my last one will flow with this color, so I'm open to suggestions and examples. One thing is for certain, it feels good to be back.

 

What kind of exhaust is that? Size of tips?

 

RR Racing Bazooka.

 

Nice find, and cool to keep it in the CL family. MM is a great color - easy to keep clean.

 

Glad you came back to us. Hope your physical mending goes well. I also have an '08 MM. I painted by brakes MM with a little added flake. I didn't want them to be too flashy.

Lou

 

Wow! I'm glad you are doing much better from when the accident occured. Getting rear ended is never fun, and the toll it takes on your body lingers on for years. Definitely a good sign you're in another IS F. All I can recommend is epsom salt a few times a week and do things that relieve stress to you. I get sudden headaches from time to time following my rear end a few years ago. Stay strong and keep doing you, my friend!

 

Congrats!

Replacement looks like a good'un!

Glad to hear you are getting better, and I wish you well with the mods on this one.

Liking the subtle changes you've done so far. Keep it up and keep feeling better mate.

 

Glad you're OK and back in the club. Really sorry about your first F.

I can attest for Fs in IL. They go like wildfire.

I say go USB on the calipers. That's what I've done, check out my pictures. Good luck!

 

Excited to see what you do with it.

 

Are you plastidipping the window moldings in that lower picture?

This is something that I would like to do on my black F but I drive it year round and not sure how the plastidip would hold up.

I see kids do their wheels and it looks like garbage.

The plastidip you used looks glossy, is it?

 

Glad to hear you're recovering. Also excited to see what you'll be doing with it. I have a MM 08 as well. Seeing the emblems makes want to do that next!

 

Congrats on the find! And welcome back! I'm very sorry for what happened to you. Time heals wounds, I sure hope you continue to recover without any complications! Enjoy your F and I also look forward on seeing what you do with your ride!

 

Glad you got the car on Saturday!................. let me know when you want to meet up and meet some other F owners up here, you would like the diversity of the mods we have for a reference point

 

Congratulations on your new f. The blacked out trim really works well.

Mine is also an '08 mm, wasn't my first choice (or 2nd tbh) for color but it's kinda grown on me.

Good to have you back, and great to see nice clean cars are available. Hopefully you're not experiencing much residual pain from the collision.

 

glad you are doing better man, i saw that isf at kuni lexus of greenwood village when i was getting some work done on mine. i knew it was lowered on something as it didn't look stock, i ask my service advisor who's it was but he didn't know, later on i jumped on cars.com and saw it for sale at audi.

glad it went to a good home and those upgrades are nice