Picked it up today. We agreed on 10:30 and we got there a few minutes earlier. I parked in his driveway but he told us to follow him to his shop, not far down the road. Even though it was close he took the opportunity to do one last hammer on the E55. When we got there, I was like "one last mash, eh?" He goes "you know, I wanted to know how fast this thing goes so this morning I had it up to 145. Didn't take long to get there."
This guy is great.
Also, he was totally sandbagging about what his business is.
https://greenerblast.com/
He owns this company which designs and sells blasting machines. He has dealers all over the globe.
So...guy probably has some bucks.
In his shop he showed me the old mounts. They really were destroyed. It was in two pieces and you could see the hydraulic oil inside. It was just ripped apart. He also showed me the boxes for the Lemforder mounts. I guess in his haste, he left out one screw from one of the under panels. It's in the armrest so I'll install that at some point. Maybe just when I change the oil next. I mean they didn't fly off at 145 apparently...
We did the deal and chatted for a while. My dad chatted him up, too. I asked him some service history stuff. I don't think he had anything to add but he repeated several times until I left that I could call if I had any questions.
Car comes with one key so I guess I'll deal with that. Not sure if I can avoid the dealer for a replacement/extra that codes to the car so I will look into that. He also made sure I knew there was no spare (not my first rodeo) and also that I need to keep a spare quart of oil in the trunk. It had a quart of M1 0W-40, not the Amsoil 5W-40 that he runs.
I asked to see his 39 Nash. Here it is. It is a rare 2 door sedan I guess. Nice back seat. This car has flush mount headlights. That's crazy for the time. Most cars didn't get that until like the mid 80s.
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I did ask about the aux in. Evidently, a prior owner installed it because it was in the factory location in the glovebox!! It even had some wire coiled up though it was due for replacement - it was having issues if I touched it.
My first fuel up. Need to add to Fuelly...
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We were almost home when this message came up:
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The thing is you never really know when you are going to get this, at least until I get used to the car, and it ends up using a consistent amount of oil over a mileage interval like my STS (about 2,400 miles). But the good news is, without a dipstick, this means even idiots will be notified that the car needs oil, rather than just assuming and driving it 6000 miles between checking. So that's something. I added the quart of M1 0W-40 and haven't seen the warning come back.
Anyway on the drive the car was awesome. It cruises at 70 just breathing on the throttle. About 2,000 rpm which seems high because it could probably pull off 1,500 rpm. It got an indicated like 22.3 or 22.5 ish on the drive back. If that is near accurate, color me extremely impressed. That is completely acceptable fuel economy for a vehicle like this.
Some of the ergonomics are completely foreign to me. The cruise stalk is weird though probably the same as it's been since the 70s. It sets easily enough and a cool LED bar readout comes on to tell you your set speed and visually show on the speedo where it's set. That's advanced for the time, at least compared to GM which didn't start doing that until around 08. Speaking of, this car also does the triple flash to change lanes when you touch the turn signal stalk. GM didn't do that until 08 (SRX does it, STS does not).
I didn't hear any kind of objectionable wind or road noise. No sunroof noise. Just a little exhaust note but frankly pleasant. This engine sounds....burly. That's a good word. And the car just cruises so nice. No steering wheel vibration.
I drove the entire way back without heavy throttle until I was almost home. Just did a quick blast up to 105 or so. It takes no time. People complain about this transmission but it's miles better than the 4L60E, though maybe not better than the 5L50 in my STS (which I like). It likes to lock up the torque converter. I think it even locks in 1st. Crazy.
I tried the ventilated driver's seat. I felt nothing. At least in my STS you can hear the fan and feel like suction. Maybe it's just not working. Good news and paraphrasing Mitch Hedberg: ventilated seat temporarily regular seat. Sorry for the convenience. Maybe I'll look into it, maybe I won't.
Oh, I hit the Nav button and it said something about device not found or whatever. Soooo....did some digging in my 04 brochure and nav was not actually standard in 04. I wager that this car doesn't have it! In GM land, if it has a screen in the dash, it has nav, at least during this time period. I may be able to add it, which will annoy everyone. Or I may not add it. Depends on how expensive and time consuming it is.
By the way, the visibility is EXCELLENT in this car. It has 90s car visibility. Plenty of greenhouse and no problem anywhere you look.
Also the interior is generally pretty high quality. It's hard to find a surface that creaks and flexes when you press on it. Even the very front of the dash pad feels solid and good. It feels well put together. I know that's almost a cliché but it's true.
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