Step 1 - 818 Copart Donor Bought & Delivered
After a long slow search I finally purchased a good donor at a good price for my 818 project.
Copart listed a 2006 WRX w/ 137k that was in a rear end collision. It was listed as a "Run & Drive" vehicle. I looked thru the forum and found some horror stories about Copart and their shady fee structure & selling practices so I was hesitant about buying a vehicle from them. Others had a great experience and said they would buy from them again. So I did my homework on all the different auction processes & long list of fees, potential fees, intermittent fees, etc. then dove into the process. All said & done Copart fees added just over 22% to the actual auction price. My transport driver had no issues picking up the vehicle from Copart and I somehow didn't incur any additional fees (I hope there no "everything went perfectly fee!")
When the car arrived at my office it turned into a parking lot party. The guys were all "hell yea!" but the girls were horrified and asked, "Why did you buy that it's wrecked!?". A nickname was promptly givin to new arrival. The poor car is now called WReX. The ignominy of a parts car. I'm sure that's what it'll be like when I get older than I already am even though they think I'm old now.
After checking the fluids I put a jumper box on the battery, crossed my fingers, and turned the key. It started up and purred like a boxer. I don't generally get excited about stuff but seeing the first tangible component of my long awaited Factory Five build put a really big smile on my face.
I will be attending the F5 818 build school in August. My plan is to have WReX stripped down and the kit delivered before then. If everything works out the project will start immediately after returning from the build school.
I tried upload some pics but the bandwidth on my flight is to slow. I'll edit the post later.
I'd also like to say thank you the F5 community. It has been years since I decided to build a F5 and staying connected with this forum was a major reason I kept that goal on my bucket list. I'm looking forward to applying all the hard earned lessons you guys generously share and add a few of my own too.
Thx Mav
