Buying $500 Luxury Cars at Auction Is a Fun Way to Gamble.

[00:00] Welcome to Hooie's Garage. And if you

[00:01] were wondering if you could still get a

[00:02] cool car for around $500, well, The

[00:04] Dumbest Automotive Channel has you

[00:05] covered because I scored these for

[00:07] around 500 bucks. 2008 Mercedes CLS550

[00:11] for only $550. And this 2006 Land Rover

[00:16] LR3 for only $600. Both of them run and

[00:20] drive in their current condition, but

[00:22] they need a lot of lot of work. So, yes,

[00:24] you can buy them, but is it worth it to

[00:26] own them and fix them? Well, the answer

[00:28] is no. but definitely no on one of them

[00:31] and probably not on the other. But we're

[00:33] going to try. I know many of you would

[00:34] say it wouldn't take long to figure out

[00:36] if a Land Rover is totally screwed. You

[00:37] just read Land Rover on the front, know

[00:39] it's mechanically totaled. But in the

[00:40] case of this one, you know, you're

[00:42] absolutely right. Because when you start

[00:43] this thing up, as much as I like these

[00:45] things, especially the LR3, it's sort of

[00:48] discovery 3, if you will, the trucky

[00:50] version. There is a frame on body

[00:52] construction. Listen to this startup

[00:54] noise when it's cold.

[01:05] There we go.

[01:08] So, we have a pretty nasty timing chain

[01:11] rattle on startup and then every single

[01:14] light on imaginable when you start

[01:16] driving it. For now, it's just brake,

[01:17] but you have suspension warning lights

[01:19] because it's been converted. 205,000 mi

[01:22] on the odometer, which is actually

[01:23] pretty good for one of these things. But

[01:25] then when you look at it overall, I

[01:27] mean, condition-wise, it is it is

[01:30] incredibly rough. The dash is cracked.

[01:32] These seats are ruined. They have cheap

[01:34] covers on them. And you go in the back

[01:36] seat, it's it's not any better. This

[01:38] thing is definitely a mess, but it

[01:42] could. I mean, it could be safe. Yes,

[01:44] you could do the timing chains, I guess,

[01:45] and replace those. It is a pretty

[01:47] involved job and it is sort of an old

[01:50] school V8 to where I suppose you could,

[01:52] but considering what it's worth when

[01:54] you're done, it makes it makes no sense

[01:57] to do it. That is a 4.4 L V8 that is

[02:00] trying to stall on us right now, but

[02:02] seems to be doing okay. And it's

[02:04] definitely dripping quite a bit in the

[02:07] front and in the back. And I'm wondering

[02:09] the second big issue with this thing is

[02:11] the transmission. It is slipping very

[02:13] badly on this thing. So, it's sort of a

[02:15] one-two punch. Yeah, you could drive

[02:17] with the timing chains loose until it

[02:18] lets go. Maybe it'd last a while. You

[02:20] can do it, but also the transmission

[02:21] needs to be maybe replaced where it

[02:24] could be just low on fluid. We'll find

[02:25] that out here in a little bit. But the

[02:27] body overall is holding up pretty well.

[02:28] The paint pretty nice on the lower

[02:30] parts. On the upper spot, it has sort of

[02:31] a a paint chip, a Gorbachoff spot on its

[02:34] head, if you will. And you go around and

[02:37] yeah, not bad. The suspension's been

[02:39] converted, so the air ride is no longer

[02:41] troublesome. And for 600 bucks, I can't

[02:43] complain at all. Well, Euro Asian Bob

[02:44] wants this thing for parts if I'm not

[02:46] going to fix it, which is most likely

[02:48] where this thing will end up, but maybe

[02:51] not. And like the Discoveries, it does

[02:52] have the triple roof. So, one, two,

[02:55] three pieces of glass there in the

[02:57] ceiling. And I guess if I were buying a

[02:59] Land Rover, you're putting a gun to my

[03:00] head and say you have to buy a 20-y old

[03:01] Land Rover, this would probably be the

[03:03] one that I get just because this is the

[03:05] simplest version and still full size.

[03:07] And there are some pluses to this thing.

[03:09] It still has cold air, so the air

[03:11] conditioning works, the radio works.

[03:13] It's not a complete disaster, but

[03:14] obviously if this transmission doesn't

[03:16] want to come back to life, then it is

[03:18] done. So, cross your fingers for it

[03:20] here.

[03:22] All right.

[03:26] This is a German Seal for Life

[03:28] transmission, isn't it?

[03:31] Yeah. There

[03:35] there's no dipstick. There's no way to

[03:38] fill without dropping the pan.

[03:42] And uh we're not going to do that today.

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[03:54] going through. Not long ago, I was

[03:56] definitely burned out. The stuff I

[03:57] usually enjoyed didn't seem fun at all.

[03:59] Even my hooptie fleet instead just felt

[04:01] like a never- ending hole of financial

[04:03] obligations that I could never dig

[04:05] myself out of. That attitude and my

[04:06] outlook at that time made what used to

[04:08] be a manageable amount of work seem

[04:10] impossible to accomplish. and my

[04:11] productivity, it went way down. Therapy

[04:13] helped me recognize what I was feeling

[04:15] was textbook burnout. I needed to figure

[04:16] out a way to regularly step back from

[04:18] work, stop constantly thinking about the

[04:19] hundreds of things that I needed to do,

[04:21] and set boundaries during downtime and

[04:23] with family. The biggest deal we made to

[04:25] myself was to put the phone down. Just

[04:27] just forget it exists.

[04:30] Basically, like that, it's a black hole

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[04:50] here with you. So, I guess we are in the

[04:54] final breaths of this thing. Come on,

[04:56] move forward. There it goes.

[04:59] Old slippy slippy. Uh, that's the thing.

[05:03] I didn't realize obviously until I

[05:04] looked, but it makes sense because they

[05:05] unveiled this sealed for life

[05:07] transmission concept where there's no

[05:09] dipstick. There's no topping it off.

[05:10] Supposedly for the life of the car, the

[05:12] transmission fluid is supposed to last,

[05:13] which is stupid cuz of course it's not

[05:15] supposed to last. What the car is

[05:16] supposed to be dead at 100,000 mi. So

[05:18] obviously 205, I can't imagine the

[05:20] transmission fluid's never been changed

[05:22] on this thing. Uh but since it requires

[05:25] dropping the pan and doing a whole lot

[05:27] of work to to do it, obviously that's

[05:29] not going to happen today. But okay,

[05:31] it's trying. There's a big slip.

[05:35] There's a big slip. We have suspension

[05:37] fault.

[05:39] We're getting some speed now.

[05:42] There we go. So, I guess for $600,

[05:47] you could get from A to B. For how long?

[05:50] I don't know. Probably not very long.

[05:52] Between the transmission and the timing

[05:54] chain noise, which now I'm starting to

[05:55] hear at all times, we are probably in

[05:58] the last moment of this LR3's life. If

[06:00] it makes it down to Euro Asian Bobs,

[06:02] which is about 15 miles away, I'll be

[06:05] I'll be very happy. Oh, Slippy, I bought

[06:08] this just, you know, as a drive-thru. It

[06:11] barely made it through the lane of the

[06:12] Hooptie auction, and I thought, you

[06:13] know, for $600, why not? Let's see how

[06:16] much life is left. Whoa. Full full rev.

[06:20] Oh crap. Come on. Come on. Grab a gear.

[06:23] Grab a gear.

[06:24] There we go. Clearly not much left. Not

[06:29] not much. Whoever got this thing uh to

[06:32] the dealer to trade this thing in to

[06:33] where it end up at the hoopy auction,

[06:34] they they got all life out of it. But

[06:36] 205,000 mi, I mean, that's that's pretty

[06:38] respectable for one of these. So, I

[06:41] mean, you can't really knock the car all

[06:42] that much, but dang it. So, one for two,

[06:47] definitely not savable for around $500.

[06:50] The other one though, I'm going to let

[06:51] you in on a secret. I got the thing

[06:53] months ago. I got it back in February

[06:56] and it has been a process to even get

[06:59] this thing somewhat working again and

[07:01] it's basically the never- ending journey

[07:04] unfortunately. So actually let's go back

[07:06] to February when I first got the CLS

[07:10] like 5 months ago. So obviously not

[07:13] worth on that one either. But this is a

[07:15] legend right here. A Mercedes CLS 550.

[07:19] The car that started the trend of

[07:21] four-door coups. the sort of banana

[07:23] shape that sort of dominated design

[07:25] language of cars for a lot of years,

[07:27] especially European automakers. But this

[07:30] was the birth of it. It's also way past

[07:33] its birth date. It is on its last legs.

[07:35] And I thought I was going to do an

[07:36] autopsy video on a car that was near

[07:38] death to take it to the junkyard, its

[07:40] last drive, because this CLS is in

[07:42] really, really bad shape. Unfortunately

[07:45] for me though, after I bought this thing

[07:46] at the Hoopty auction, I drove it back

[07:48] to my shop and the car wants to live.

[07:51] There's just enough life left in this

[07:52] car where I feel like it can be revived

[07:54] for a reasonable amount of money, but

[07:57] it's definitely not going to be easy.

[07:59] I'll never forget seeing one of these

[08:00] for the first time. I thought it was so

[08:02] stunningly gorgeous. And it was so

[08:04] funny. It was at the Witchaw Auto Show

[08:06] and they actually put it behind velvet

[08:07] rope like it was something very fancy

[08:09] that they didn't want people getting uh

[08:11] too close to, you know, over 20 years

[08:13] ago. As you can see, it is a total

[08:15] disaster. Not only is this thing just

[08:17] totally beat, but it has a lot of weird

[08:20] stuff going on with it, including three

[08:22] different sets of wheels. So, an

[08:25] aftermarket one here that just scraped

[08:27] to hell. Audi wheels on the rear. Please

[08:30] explain that to me why someone would put

[08:31] Audi wheels on this thing. The

[08:33] suspension, of course, collapsed to the

[08:35] ground and that's why I imagine the

[08:36] bumper is missing because it kept

[08:38] hitting the bumper and eventually

[08:40] knocked it off. Probably got ripped off

[08:41] driving down the road for a prolonged

[08:43] period with no rear air ride. And then

[08:45] an Audi wheel on this side. And then the

[08:48] most destroyed AMG wheel from the wrong

[08:50] generation right here. I mean, just

[08:52] gouged to incredible destruction. And

[08:56] then on the inside, well, it gets worse.

[09:00] Yeah, this is this is trashed.

[09:05] Why am I thinking I need to fix this?

[09:06] Anyway, the pillarless coupe thing is

[09:09] definitely a trend that went a little

[09:10] too far, I feel like, where it's kind of

[09:12] stupid, especially in SUVs where you get

[09:14] rid of all the practicality of rear

[09:15] cargo room for a coupy swoopy style

[09:18] rear. But with a car in the CLS, I think

[09:21] they did a really good job. But the big

[09:23] drawback is definitely head room. So,

[09:25] when you get in the back of this thing,

[09:26] and there's my engine cover,

[09:29] this is

[09:31] this is really, really tight. This is a

[09:35] four-door sedan and a human does not fit

[09:39] in the back of this thing. So, it is

[09:40] kind of stupid being a design exercise,

[09:43] but

[09:44] it does look pretty cool when it has a

[09:47] bumper on it. Of course, now you're

[09:48] probably thinking that I am a total

[09:50] idiot for thinking this car could come

[09:51] back. But when I did pick it up from the

[09:53] hoopy auction, despite the suspension

[09:55] being totally on the ground, it drove

[09:58] really, really nice actually. Like

[10:00] surprisingly nice. especially here in in

[10:02] the front half of things, the engine and

[10:04] that kind of stuff. And that's why I

[10:06] thought, well, okay, maybe this is a

[10:09] hooptie rescue mission instead of an

[10:10] autopsy.

[10:13] So, when you start this Hoopty up,

[10:15] you're not greeted with a bunch of

[10:17] warning messages, believe it or not. So,

[10:19] no airbag light, no check engine light,

[10:21] tire pressure warning, of course, a few

[10:24] parking lamps and lights and things. But

[10:25] then one red light comes on and that is

[10:30] stop vehicle too low.

[10:32] And you can hear it rubbing there in the

[10:34] back. So, the rear suspension completely

[10:37] shot. This whole car is riding on four

[10:39] airbags and uh clearly the back is not

[10:43] working.

[10:46] But what is working is the engine. This

[10:50] thing pulls strong. It drives great.

[10:53] Obviously, very bouncy, but the

[10:55] drivetrain feels wonderful. And that's

[10:59] why I saw the potential in this thing.

[11:01] So, I got this car cheap. And my goal is

[11:03] to be under $2,000 all into a

[11:05] presentable, nice CLS. And I've already

[11:08] spent well a lot of that money

[11:10] unfortunately because the bumper I

[11:13] couldn't find in silver, but I found one

[11:15] cheap for $300, but I'll have to have

[11:17] that painted. And then I had to find a

[11:19] set of wheels. That was another $400. So

[11:21] now we're at $700 there with the

[11:24] painting, with the cleanup, with the

[11:26] labor, with the seats, which speaking

[11:28] of, I turned on the heated seats. Ouch.

[11:31] And it's it's direct metal heating

[11:33] elements cooking my butt. So, I got to

[11:37] fix that as well. Um, this is going to

[11:39] be a pretty tall order for all in under

[11:41] two grand, but it is possible because

[11:44] I'm not taking it to the Mercedes

[11:46] dealer. I guess the ABS lights on, too.

[11:47] I have no traction control, but jeez,

[11:50] this car is fast. If I were doing that,

[11:52] I would be uh spending $3,000 just on

[11:55] the suspension. The airbags, they charge

[11:57] $1,000 each. But there are aftermarket

[11:59] companies out there where I got the

[12:00] airbags for 200 bucks. Very easy to

[12:03] replace and keep going. I did get a

[12:05] wheel speed sensor and that was like 40

[12:07] bucks. So, there are some really cheap

[12:09] parts on these things aftermarket to

[12:11] keep them going. And that's the nice

[12:12] part about this era of Mercedes is

[12:14] there's a lot of DIY how-to videos to

[12:16] get things done on this era and it's not

[12:19] too complicated electronically uh to

[12:21] make everything work. It's just in the

[12:23] right spot where yeah, it's not the most

[12:25] reliable, but it's definitely fixable.

[12:27] This is still a serviceable vehicle. And

[12:30] I do plan on helping out a little bit,

[12:32] but I brought in a Mercedes expert here

[12:34] inhouse in the garage to help me fix

[12:36] this thing up and to assist me in this

[12:38] really stupid task of trying to save the

[12:40] CLS. Magic Mike,

[12:42] >> if you're calling me to fix your

[12:44] Mercedes, this really is the dumbest

[12:45] automotive channel in YouTube.

[12:47] >> Oh no, you've been working on Mercedes

[12:49] forever. Forever. I mean, you quit

[12:51] Wizards what, about three years ago now?

[12:53] >> About three years ago. Yeah, I left

[12:54] Wizard.

[12:54] >> He just couldn't work a normal 9 toive

[12:56] for somebody because it cramped his

[12:57] dating life so much. He's just so busy

[12:59] with that that he had to go out on his

[13:00] own.

[13:01] >> Such a socialite. That's exactly what

[13:02] people know me for.

[13:03] >> So, first step is to fix my lovely SLR

[13:08] uh Roadster. Yes.

[13:10] >> I saw it before you took it on your car

[13:12] Trek episode and I didn't see the

[13:14] episode, but I saw it before and after.

[13:16] >> Yeah.

[13:16] >> What did you do?

[13:18] >> Well, we made it into the 722 Sterling

[13:20] Moss winning $100 million car.

[13:22] >> Ah, that's what it was.

[13:24] >> Yes. Oh, I should have been able to tell

[13:25] by the uh by the vents on the side. That

[13:28] should have been the dead giveaway,

[13:29] >> right? But it did start life of a $700

[13:31] SLK. And my sidepipe exhaust, I'm

[13:34] noticing, is a little Oh, no.

[13:38] >> Yeah, I'm guessing you guys were driving

[13:39] pretty hard. A little bit of spirited

[13:41] driving.

[13:41] >> It was Yeah, a little bit of fire. Yeah,

[13:43] this

[13:44] >> Oh, yeah.

[13:44] >> It's It's a touch restrictive now, this

[13:47] exhaust but

[13:48] >> yeah,

[13:49] >> you know,

[13:50] >> it's definitely been through the ringer.

[13:51] So, it started just dumping transmission

[13:54] fluid and it was up on the lift and it

[13:55] just dumped it on the car beneath it.

[13:57] >> Yeah,

[13:58] >> Freddy went in here and did the

[13:59] conductor plate for me. And surely he

[14:02] took his time and, you know, did a good

[14:04] job. And

[14:05] >> I'm, you know, I've seen Tvar do some

[14:07] incredible work, but, you know, he

[14:09] everybody misses a couple of O-rings

[14:10] every once in a while. There's supposed

[14:11] to be a second O-ring here. There's

[14:13] actually supposed to be an O-ring around

[14:16] this right there. I'm not blaming him

[14:18] for it. They could have been missing

[14:19] before he touched it, but yeah. So,

[14:22] that's it. We'll just get you a couple

[14:23] of seals and a new connector and you

[14:25] should be good to go.

[14:26] >> Oh, so that'll be really easy. And then

[14:28] it can go up and be in it shrine for

[14:31] what it is. I mean, this windshieldless

[14:33] ridiculous thing.

[14:34] >> Are you putting it up on the top rack on

[14:36] your racks over there? Does that where

[14:37] it belongs?

[14:38] >> Probably. Yes. Yes. The hoopty rack.

[14:41] Well, the CLS is going to be I mean, we

[14:43] looked at it before. I did get a little

[14:45] sneak peek before the video

[14:47] >> and you do agree with me.

[14:48] >> I think the CLS is worth saving.

[14:52] >> Did the suspension collapse and then the

[14:54] bumper got ripped off?

[14:55] >> I think so. I think that's what happened

[14:57] is it just being bottomed out. The

[14:58] bumper got ripped off. So, I have since

[15:00] got some parts in. So, over there should

[15:02] be the air suspension, some other bits.

[15:04] >> Okay.

[15:04] >> I got a different set of wheels since it

[15:06] has like three different set of wheels

[15:07] and Audi wheels and everything else. And

[15:09] I did get a bumper so it can look like a

[15:13] car again.

[15:13] >> Okay. Yeah, I did see the Audi center

[15:15] caps on there. I wasn't sure if that was

[15:16] blasphemy or if it was like illegal for

[15:18] me to touch the car.

[15:18] >> They're literally Audi wheels. Some

[15:20] someone just decided. Anyway, it it's

[15:23] it's a mess.

[15:24] >> Yeah, we'll go through it. We'll get it

[15:25] sorted out.

[15:26] >> Oh, magic Mike. What am I doing?

[15:28] >> I don't know.

[15:29] >> You obviously you wanted the work, so

[15:31] you were going to say, "Yeah, let's fix

[15:32] it." But

[15:33] >> well, yeah, why not? It's excuse to come

[15:36] over and hang out with you.

[15:38] >> Magic Mike pointed this out. It looks

[15:40] like one side has tried to pop up.

[15:43] It's trying.

[15:44] >> Yeah,

[15:45] >> that's a good sign. At least we know

[15:46] your vacuum pump's working. She's

[15:48] leaking.

[15:49] >> It's hissing. That's because of your

[15:51] jack right?

[15:52] >> Yeah. Well, the bags are toast,

[15:55] >> right?

[15:56] >> But because we adjusted it, it shifted

[15:58] the position and it started leaking

[16:00] again.

[16:00] >> Yeah. Relieving pressure or whatever.

[16:02] Yeah.

[16:02] >> Relieving itself. Oh, yeah.

[16:04] >> Does it look the same?

[16:06] >> Yeah, I think we're looking the same.

[16:09] The only thing that's a little weird,

[16:11] and it may just be because of our

[16:13] suspension link, but that tire rubs on

[16:16] the body.

[16:18] What? See how far forward it sits?

[16:24] It may just be an alignment adjustment,

[16:26] but you can see how much more room we

[16:28] have here,

[16:30] >> I guess. So, it's also the wrong size

[16:32] wheels.

[16:33] >> Oh, yeah. That could be it, too. with

[16:35] the Audi stuff.

[16:36] >> I always forget you've got four

[16:37] different wheels on here.

[16:39] >> Exactly. You would never imagine

[16:40] somebody would do that. But so these are

[16:42] the airbags and they have a little dust

[16:44] cover that's exploded. But then inside

[16:46] that one is thoroughly just

[16:49] >> imploded inside. That should be a nice

[16:51] little balloon.

[16:52] >> Yeah. And it's probably the same story.

[16:54] Oh no. This one decided to air up today.

[16:56] >> So that one came back. But

[16:58] >> this one came back to life.

[16:59] >> Not a bad idea to do them as a pair,

[17:01] right?

[17:01] >> Yeah. Yeah, I definitely recommend doing

[17:03] them as a pair, especially seeing how

[17:04] low it collapses. I'd recommend doing

[17:07] them both.

[17:08] >> And then overall everything else,

[17:10] >> looking up front, yeah,

[17:12] >> I mean, a little bit of an oil leak, but

[17:15] nothing major.

[17:16] >> Nothing crazy.

[17:18] >> Nothing major.

[17:18] >> So, that's when we decided, okay, well,

[17:22] let's see if we can bring this back. But

[17:24] that oil leak's gotten a little bigger

[17:26] since the last time it was

[17:27] >> just a little bit. We can pop those

[17:28] covers off and double check.

[17:30] >> Maybe we take a peek of what's going on.

[17:31] But yeah, the front airbags, they look

[17:33] pretty nice. Like maybe they've been

[17:35] replaced at one point.

[17:36] >> Yeah, I was trying to see if those were

[17:37] our nose. No, these are the Conte.

[17:40] So, they have been replaced.

[17:41] >> They have been replaced.

[17:42] >> So, what's the first order of business

[17:44] then?

[17:44] >> I think we knock all four wheels off to

[17:46] get started.

[17:46] >> Okay.

[17:47] >> Uh then we can look at doing So, we've

[17:48] got a wheel speed sensor. Uh because

[17:50] this wheel is rubbing, we need to

[17:52] replace that wheel speed sensor.

[17:54] >> Yeah.

[17:54] >> So, we'll do that first. Once we've got

[17:56] that done, then we'll go and start

[17:57] knocking off our airbags.

[17:59] >> Sweet. get those replaced and we'll go

[18:01] from there.

[18:01] >> Okay. Gord some AMG wheels for 400

[18:04] bucks. Isn't Ain't this nice here?

[18:07] >> Oh man,

[18:09] I bet that holds air like a champ.

[18:11] >> That is a weld. Oh man. But it's the

[18:15] right wheels. That's the thing.

[18:17] >> They're a little stuck together here.

[18:19] >> These are the correct CLS AMG wheels.

[18:22] >> Oh yeah. with a bit I mean a bit of

[18:24] >> they've definitely seen uh seen their

[18:27] share of use but

[18:28] >> but instead of four different wheels we

[18:30] have only four different brands of tires

[18:32] and and tread wear which is is an

[18:35] improvement right

[18:36] >> I think so slow progress is better than

[18:39] no progress

[18:39] >> we're working on a budget

[18:43] >> oh yeah those aren't bad how did the

[18:44] other two look you haven't opened them

[18:45] yet

[18:45] >> I'm I'm scared to do it honestly

[18:49] this is the worst Christmas ever I'm

[18:51] excited

[18:52] >> oh Oh my god. This one too.

[18:54] >> I wonder what they hit.

[18:56] >> Oh,

[18:57] >> that's pretty impressive.

[18:59] >> Cuz they're staggered, I think. So when

[19:01] one side of the car, they're stuck

[19:03] together. Hang on.

[19:05] >> Oh, there's

[19:09] There we go. That's wonderful.

[19:14] Okay, so only two different. So we have

[19:15] Max Trek on the front and Michelin's on

[19:19] the back.

[19:20] >> That's not bad. Yeah, it's a chicken or

[19:23] the egg here. Did the suspension

[19:24] collapse because the airbags failed or

[19:26] because the wiring was getting chewed up

[19:28] by the tires that didn't fit. H that's

[19:30] going to be hard to tell. We'll get some

[19:32] correct size wheels on here and get the

[19:34] airbags sitting where they need to. But

[19:37] yeah, we're going to need to repair some

[19:38] of those wires cuz one of those is a

[19:40] wheel speed sensor. I need to double

[19:42] check and see what the other two are

[19:43] for. But yeah, we'll need to repair

[19:45] those.

[19:47] >> And me doing burnouts right before

[19:49] definitely didn't help, right? You know,

[19:50] I just expect it. Whenever you bring me

[19:52] a car, I assume you're going to do

[19:53] donuts and burnouts in the parking lot.

[19:55] >> Sorry. So, then the fender well liners

[19:57] are completely gone, too. But that's a

[19:59] >> Yeah,

[20:00] >> that's a fight for another day.

[20:01] >> Yeah. Your charcoal canister, it's just

[20:03] going to suck up all that rubber. No

[20:05] problems.

[20:05] >> Yeah. And doing burnouts with class

[20:06] suspension when your fuel lines right

[20:09] there. Or Okay.

[20:11] >> Yeah, it is. Yeah. That's your fuel

[20:12] filler neck.

[20:17] >> This is not good. That's

[20:19] >> So, we got some popcorn going.

[20:23] The suspension's going into the body

[20:26] itself.

[20:27] >> It's been pushed forward.

[20:30] Oh,

[20:31] >> it's been pushed forward. But the

[20:33] subframe,

[20:35] did they repair the subframe? Cuz I

[20:36] would expect to see like I was expecting

[20:39] this lobe to be pushed forward or these

[20:42] mounts to be out of alignment.

[20:45] >> So, what happened?

[20:50] Holy cow. Was it in an accident and then

[20:53] repaired with an whole new subframe?

[20:57] Cuz that's

[20:59] it's hard to imagine spray foam the hole

[21:02] and then replace the subframe.

[21:04] >> Nobody would go to that much trouble.

[21:06] >> Yeah.

[21:08] But yeah, that's definitely smacked,

[21:12] which is part of the reason why our

[21:14] wheel doesn't line up.

[21:15] >> Okay. because the new wheel is much

[21:21] >> shorter, but it's it's wider.

[21:24] >> And plenty of tread left, too, on this

[21:26] on this tire.

[21:26] >> Oh, yeah. You're good for another 10,000

[21:28] mi on that tire.

[21:29] >> But this one this one touches, too.

[21:32] >> This one touches, too.

[21:33] >> So, what can we do?

[21:35] >> Mhm.

[21:38] That's what I'm trying to figure out.

[21:41] Because if it's just a matter of

[21:43] replacing a couple of these arms to

[21:45] bring it back into position, we could

[21:47] definitely do that.

[21:49] >> Like you said, there's nothing looking

[21:52] all tweaked and weird.

[21:54] >> Yeah. I mean, sway bar link looks just

[21:56] as curvy as the other side.

[21:59] I expected to see, you know, one of

[22:01] these arms just totally bent forward.

[22:04] And

[22:04] >> Matt Armstrong would have it fixed in 5

[22:06] minutes.

[22:07] >> Matt Armstrong is very talented. I do

[22:09] not have his resources, though. We

[22:11] finally see one obvious difference with

[22:12] this control arm here where I can put my

[22:15] hand in and then around to the other

[22:17] side.

[22:19] It is much closer to the airbag as you

[22:22] can see. Just Yeah. You can't even stick

[22:24] your fingers through there. So bent bent

[22:29] bent. You like like it's twisted. You

[22:31] think?

[22:31] >> I It's almost like it was kind of the

[22:34] whole assembly was twisted and rotated

[22:36] up and under. But I don't know what

[22:38] would do that.

[22:40] Okay, the subframe is not tweaked. It's

[22:44] just the control arms are all

[22:45] >> the control arms are pushing everything

[22:47] forward.

[22:49] >> That's definitely repairable, but we

[22:51] probably need to check and see what

[22:52] these control arms cost cuz I don't know

[22:54] off the top of my head.

[22:56] So, doing a little bit of digging, these

[22:58] are all 230 part numbers,

[23:00] >> which is the SL chassis number.

[23:02] >> So, it looks like this shares several

[23:04] same similar components.

[23:06] >> Is it $69? We've got a kit here and

[23:08] they're used, but $69.

[23:11] I mean, we'll double check these

[23:12] bushings, but if the rubber's intact for

[23:15] 69 bucks, I think we're in pretty good

[23:16] shape.

[23:17] >> Just because it's $69, we got to try and

[23:19] do it. But obviously, the labor of this

[23:21] is

[23:22] >> a little

[23:24] >> spicy. I wouldn't think it's too bad.

[23:26] I'd think half an hour for each arm. I

[23:28] mean, they've already cut a hole in the

[23:29] subframe for me to get this one out, so

[23:31] they've done most of the hard work. Give

[23:32] me a head start. All right.

[23:34] >> Yeah. I would think three hours of labor

[23:36] we could get all those arms replaced.

[23:39] >> And the mounts themselves, they don't

[23:41] look

[23:41] >> they don't look like they've shifted.

[23:43] >> No,

[23:44] >> I was expecting to see them twisted,

[23:46] mangled.

[23:47] >> Okay.

[23:48] All right. Well, delay of game, I

[23:51] suppose, on this one.

[23:52] >> Bit of a delay, but we'll come back to

[23:53] it.

[23:54] >> Okay.

[23:55] >> I still think it's worth

[23:56] >> strike one. Strike. We'll see what

[23:58] strike two and strike three are by the

[24:00] time we're done. And I have $50,000 in

[24:01] this CLS 550.

[24:04] I appreciate the work.

[24:06] >> One week later, we have parts. $69 worth

[24:09] here of control arms or whatever. And

[24:12] they don't look crooked. There's not a

[24:14] big difference. Yeah. I mean, after they

[24:17] after we've got them all out, they look

[24:18] fairly straight. The lengths appear to

[24:20] be correct. They haven't been smashed or

[24:22] mangled. But one thing we can tell the

[24:25] difference on, so this is the airbag

[24:27] that came out of the driver's side, and

[24:28] this is the airbag that came out of the

[24:30] passenger side. So, one of the things

[24:32] that's happening is whenever it was hit,

[24:35] this airbag, whenever it tries to

[24:36] inflate, it's inflating at an angle.

[24:38] Now, this one still inflates straight,

[24:40] but this one's inflating at an angle,

[24:41] and that's part of what's pushing our

[24:44] whole assembly forward.

[24:45] >> So, it's bending at all.

[24:46] >> Mhm.

[24:47] >> And we have the new ones in. Speaking of

[24:49] cheap prices, like back in the day when

[24:51] you were working at Mercedes, it would

[24:53] have been $1,000 a strut, $1,000 to

[24:55] install on each side. So, we're looking

[24:56] at like a $4,000 repair from Mercedes.

[25:00] >> Yeah. more than likely. But nowadays

[25:02] >> nowadays it's it's 150 bucks for the

[25:04] pair.

[25:05] >> Yeah, we got two struts and they even

[25:07] look to be a little higher quality than

[25:08] what came from bins. I mean, these are

[25:10] these are very nice.

[25:12] >> I'm going to knock on wood there cuz

[25:14] famous last words. I mean, aftermarket

[25:16] from, you know, but yeah, we'll see.

[25:18] Suncor Industries makes these. They make

[25:20] conversions, but it makes sense when

[25:21] it's so cheap now just to go back

[25:23] airride.

[25:25] >> Yeah, I agree. I think the air raid on

[25:26] these cars is great. I don't think it's

[25:28] worth deleting, but I'm impressed. Yeah,

[25:31] these are these are very nice. I think

[25:33] we're going to be in good shape.

[25:34] >> You haven't put them in yet, so he could

[25:36] be cursing it here in a minute. We'll

[25:37] see. Now, the moment of truth. This is

[25:39] everything uh Michael's reputation

[25:41] stands on right here. All these parts,

[25:44] the $69, the air struts. If this thing

[25:46] doesn't fit

[25:47] >> Oh,

[25:48] >> and it's mechanically totaled.

[25:50] >> Well, we're off to a good start. Before,

[25:52] only that smaller wheel would fit on

[25:53] here.

[25:54] >> So, this is the big fat rear. This is

[25:56] the big fat rear tire.

[25:57] >> And it was rubbing on the front. Hence

[25:59] why the wiring was destroyed.

[26:01] >> Yeah.

[26:01] >> Okay.

[26:02] >> So, after getting all of our arms

[26:03] replaced

[26:05] >> and the bag

[26:07] >> and the bag. So, we're still a little

[26:08] loose. I don't have everything connected

[26:09] on the bag.

[26:10] >> But we're not rubbing.

[26:12] >> But we're not rubbing.

[26:13] >> Not even close.

[26:14] >> Yeah.

[26:15] >> So, what do you think? Cuz those arms

[26:17] look straight. What was it?

[26:20] >> There must have been enough twist in all

[26:22] those arms. That's the only thing I can

[26:23] think of is all of them were out just

[26:25] enough to push it forward.

[26:27] >> Wow. Well, nice work.

[26:30] >> Thank you.

[26:31] >> You were probably puckered a little bit.

[26:32] Like if you were wrong, it would have

[26:33] been

[26:34] >> Yeah. I mean, we've been at this a few

[26:36] weeks now.

[26:39] >> The video is going to be like 10

[26:40] minutes. This has been like 3 weeks.

[26:42] Yeah exactly.

[26:43] >> Between getting wrong parts and getting

[26:44] the correct stuff.

[26:46] >> I see some spray foam is on the floor.

[26:48] >> Oh, yeah. So, we had to utilize

[26:52] that pre-existing hole that they had

[26:54] chopped or cut into the interior.

[26:57] >> It's always nice to utilize a

[26:58] pre-existing hole. So, without it, you

[27:01] would have had to do a lot more work to

[27:03] get those arms off.

[27:04] >> Without it, we would have had to lower

[27:05] the entire subframe.

[27:06] >> Oh, that's insane. Okay.

[27:08] >> Yeah.

[27:08] >> So, a hole makes sense.

[27:10] >> Yeah. So, they

[27:14] Well, they were in here. I pulled up our

[27:17] bench seat.

[27:19] Yeah, there it is.

[27:20] >> They may they took a couple of attempts

[27:22] at it, it looks like.

[27:23] >> Oh,

[27:25] okay.

[27:27] >> Now, would you have done that if it were

[27:29] your car?

[27:30] >> No, I would have lowered the subframe

[27:32] and probably done it correctly,

[27:34] >> but on a $600 car,

[27:36] >> I would have done the same thing.

[27:37] >> I think it was $600. It's been so long

[27:39] now, I don't remember what I paid for

[27:40] it.

[27:42] >> I don't honestly don't know. But

[27:45] airbags are in. You've got some wiring

[27:47] to fix. The bumper goes on and then the

[27:50] thing should move.

[27:51] >> It should be up and moving on all four

[27:53] wheels and ready to do more burnouts.

[27:56] >> Believe it or not, it's starting to look

[27:57] like a car. But we're having to get a

[27:59] little creative here. So, Magic Mike has

[28:02] fitted the black bumper and starting to

[28:07] fit things on. But we have a problem

[28:08] with the exhaust. Huh.

[28:10] >> Yeah. So, it's spread a little too far

[28:12] apart. You can see we're rubbing on

[28:15] these edges here. And it's going to be

[28:17] tough to make the bumper fit correctly

[28:19] with it, but I need to bring them

[28:21] together. There's a point of adjustment

[28:23] right here. And that was my first try

[28:26] was squeezing them together and locking

[28:27] that down, but they're still not close

[28:29] together enough.

[28:30] >> So, you need to squeeze this car's legs

[28:32] together.

[28:33] >> We need to squeeze.

[28:34] >> That's just not happening. So, this is

[28:35] where a ratchet strap comes in.

[28:37] >> Yeah. We're going to try to tie her down

[28:39] and see if we can uh

[28:41] >> So, like loop it there and there. and

[28:43] then just ratchet pull it together.

[28:45] >> That's kind of what I'm thinking.

[28:47] >> Okay.

[28:49] Interesting.

[28:49] >> That's what I'm thinking.

[28:50] >> I don't think that's in the Mercedes

[28:51] shop manual.

[28:52] >> No, it's definitely not. And if they saw

[28:55] me doing this in the dealer, they would

[28:56] probably kick me out.

[28:57] >> Hoopty problems require hooptie

[28:59] solutions here.

[29:01] Well, one's okay. That they're both

[29:04] moving.

[29:05] >> They are moving. It's working. Rise.

[29:11] Rise.

[29:16] Come on.

[29:16] >> It's trying.

[29:19] >> Come on.

[29:23] That does a little left, a little right.

[29:25] Little left, a little.

[29:26] >> Uh-huh.

[29:27] Slow and steady.

[29:31] Look at that.

[29:33] She's looking good. Now we can go for a

[29:35] ride.

[29:37] >> Yeah,

[29:37] >> it's

[29:38] >> Oh, is it locked?

[29:39] >> It locks itself. Good thing the window

[29:40] is down.

[29:45] Okay, we have the ABS light cuz it still

[29:48] needs to be reset.

[29:50] And then

[29:51] >> airbag. Nobody's worried about the

[29:53] airbag though.

[29:55] >> That's a lot of

[29:56] >> a lot of bulbs.

[29:56] >> A lot of bulbs. And we're out of gas.

[30:00] >> Okay.

[30:03] I was going to say it may still throw

[30:05] wheel speed sensor fault codes because

[30:06] of the different size wheel on the back.

[30:08] >> Oh, that would make sense. All

[30:11] right, first time out as a car that

[30:15] works. It's so nice to not have a

[30:17] bouncing flat rear suspension. Okay,

[30:20] here we go.

[30:22] Straight to the gas station.

[30:24] >> Straight to the gas station.

[30:25] >> Feels great.

[30:26] >> All right.

[30:28] >> See why I wanted to save it?

[30:29] >> I do see why you wanted to save it.

[30:32] >> It's actually a really nice car. Got the

[30:33] windows rolled away, so it's nice,

[30:35] quiet, and smooth.

[30:36] >> It's pretty good. I was going to say

[30:38] steering feel nice and tight. We're not

[30:40] like

[30:41] >> It's fine.

[30:42] >> All right.

[30:42] >> For still having three different sets of

[30:44] tires on it,

[30:45] >> has no business feeling this good.

[30:47] >> Oh, yeah.

[30:48] >> Things are coming alive.

[30:49] >> Radio works.

[30:51] Let's see here. Do we have good AC or

[30:55] not? I'll be surprised if this AC is

[30:56] charged.

[30:57] >> Why?

[30:58] >> Uh, it's been sitting forever. I'm sure

[31:00] it all leaked out. So, a few little odds

[31:02] and ends to take care of lights wise,

[31:06] bulbwise, error lights wise. But

[31:09] >> she's a cruiser.

[31:11] >> She's a cruiser. I'm pleasantly

[31:12] surprised for 600 bucks plus a little

[31:15] bit of time and labor.

[31:17] >> Yeah. Well, we'll see what the cosmetics

[31:19] come out to be cuz Yeah,

[31:21] >> she needs a little bit.

[31:22] >> There's Look at all this this whatever

[31:25] fungus is growing here. That's just

[31:28] That's just people's, you know, like

[31:30] belly button cheese that they pick out

[31:31] and put in there. It's Oh, jeez. All

[31:34] right. Well, thank you, Magic Mike.

[31:36] >> Happy to help.

[31:37] >> You brought her back.

[31:38] >> We can bring more of them back, too.

[31:40] Hopefully.

[31:40] >> So, here we are 5 months later, and a

[31:42] lot of YouTube channels will now take a

[31:43] victory lap, see their completed car,

[31:45] brag about how amazing it is, how fixed

[31:48] it is for so cheap. And I am definitely

[31:51] not going to do that because this thing

[31:52] is a total mess. Along with most cheap

[31:55] YouTube project cars, they're never

[31:56] really across the finish line. Yeah,

[31:58] there's an end point where they're

[31:59] running and driving down the road and

[32:00] doing well, and that is a major

[32:01] improvement on this car, but it still

[32:02] has some serious issues. So, let's go

[32:05] over the good. Now, I have all the

[32:07] wheels on. Unfortunately, I had to buy

[32:08] two tires new because the existing tires

[32:11] on the $400 set I got were no good. So,

[32:13] that was another $500 there. So, I'm

[32:16] $900 just in wheels and $550 into the

[32:19] car. So, you can imagine 1,500 bucks,

[32:21] $200 into the struts as well. And you

[32:24] get into Michael's labor and I am right

[32:25] at or a little bit above $2,000 into

[32:28] this thing. That is why the rear bumper

[32:30] did not get painted because we hit max

[32:32] budget for this car. In addition, I

[32:35] forgot the interior. Huge improvement. I

[32:37] spent $300 on a new seat bottom here and

[32:41] it completely dresses up the interior.

[32:42] also had a cheap detail done for a

[32:45] little over $100 and it is very, very

[32:48] nice inside. Looking much like it did

[32:51] when it was brand new. So, for a little

[32:53] over two grand, this thing looks totally

[32:55] amazing. And there is definitely some

[32:57] potential here. It looks like a

[32:59] completely different car with a bumper

[33:00] on it, the right wheels, the interior

[33:01] cleaned up, the headlights polished. It

[33:03] does look like the $50,000 plus car of

[33:06] when it was new. It is close in that

[33:09] sense, but very far away when it comes

[33:11] to issues. So, number one, electrical.

[33:13] Still have issues with the ABS. An ABS

[33:15] light is illuminated on the dash along

[33:17] with a bunch of bulb failures. I'm not

[33:18] sure if they're the bulbs. It's like six

[33:20] different bulbs that have failed on this

[33:21] thing. So, it might be an electrical

[33:22] issue. In addition, the rear quarter,

[33:24] it's still tweaked on this thing. I

[33:26] suppose when you paint the bumper, you

[33:27] could sort of tweak this quarter and

[33:28] make it look a lot better, but obviously

[33:30] the fitment is not perfect. Also, this

[33:33] wheel, the suspension, it's still not

[33:35] perfect. So, on the back side, I had to

[33:38] buy a new tire, which is quite a bit

[33:39] meteor uh than the older one. And it

[33:42] does touch when it's in the air. On the

[33:44] ground, it doesn't touch, but definitely

[33:47] still a bit forward. And you can see it

[33:49] as well just looking at it that it does

[33:51] sit probably, I don't know,/ an inch,

[33:53] 3/4 of an inch too far forward. So, you

[33:55] could size down on tires, or you really

[33:57] could dig into the suspension and figure

[33:59] out what is going on. But, it's totally

[34:01] usable as is. It's a hooptie. So, the

[34:04] big issue now is I decided to take it to

[34:06] the car wash to get it all cleaned up.

[34:08] Even though I've been detailed, it had

[34:09] rained a couple times since then. The

[34:10] cats had walked on it. So, I thought,

[34:11] well, why not go wash it again so it

[34:13] looks all pretty for the finished

[34:14] product so I can brag about my amazing

[34:16] CLS transformation for around $2,000 all

[34:19] in. And uh well, the battery is

[34:22] currently disconnected and that is for a

[34:24] reason. So, brace yourselves here.

[34:32] During the car wash,

[34:34] I think the sand module got wet.

[34:39] Yeah.

[34:42] So, it quits honking at you when you

[34:46] start it up.

[34:50] And as you can see, a lot of warning

[34:53] lights still illuminated. The air

[34:55] conditioning also doesn't work on this

[34:57] thing. So, that is something to figure

[34:58] out. And the stereo, it boots up. All we

[35:01] get is the Mercedes crest and then it

[35:02] completely flakes out. So yeah,

[35:04] something still needs to be done there.

[35:05] A lot of electrical issues to sort out,

[35:07] but now we have a new one.

[35:09] Unfortunately, yeah, I can go drive it

[35:11] right now. Everything's working. I can

[35:13] drive across country right now, but then

[35:15] when I want to go turn it off, let me uh

[35:17] take out the key. Here we go. The key is

[35:20] out. Everything is dead as far as inside

[35:23] the car, the tachometer. But listen to

[35:25] this.

[35:28] Not only that, but with the key out, the

[35:30] steering wheel is still unlocked. It

[35:32] still goes into gear. It still moves.

[35:35] And it's not the keyless go system.

[35:36] That's completely dead. So, this thing,

[35:40] well, it's it's it's ghost running right

[35:42] now. It's it's literally ghost running.

[35:46] And that's what I get for taking it to

[35:48] the car wash to show you how cool and

[35:50] done this car is. because now, well,

[35:52] it'll just run forever, unfortunately,

[35:55] unless I pull what I believe is the fuel

[35:58] pump relay right here.

[36:01] There we go. And then we just give it,

[36:04] you know, 10 to 30 seconds. It'll start

[36:07] starving.

[36:11] Come on.

[36:14] Come on.

[36:17] There we go. Disconnect the battery. And

[36:19] now it's off. That is how I turn off my

[36:21] CLS 550 now after spending all that

[36:24] money and five months to get a video to

[36:26] you guys talking about how you can save

[36:27] a $500 car.

[36:31] Typical, right? Thank you so much for

[36:33] watching.