mickey13

btw. Sulaco wants to buy your car and I think you should sell it to him if you decide not to fix it or give up. His favorite color is white, I mean c'mon!

Sulaco

time out! no way I could ever convince my wife to let me pick up a THIRD C43!

though if I had that kind of throw-away money lying around, I'd happily buy this and fix it myself.

IcedOUT56

I took the car to the mechanic today and he doesn't think it is worth repairing. He believes there is frame damage and all repairs will cost around $10,000.

In the case that I have to get rid of my car, how would I get the most money out of it. Many people have responded to my post on Craigslist showing interest at $2500. I need to get the most I can out of this because I lost a lot of money because of my lack of insurance coverage.

Thanks,

Drew

PJmak

Thats bull****. Even if there is frame damage there is no way thatll cost 10 grand.

Wow....

PJmak

Look at this paint job. There was no need for blending in or even buffing because tje guy does such a good job. $150 per panel. My two doors cost me $300 to paint inside and out


This os why i dont go to big shops. Its a ripoff

Sulaco

That mechanic knows little about the car and/or didn't even really examine it.

That impact didn't even hit the frame. It's a unibody design!

The only structural part you need is this:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...238&cc=1356308
$67.79

and MAYBE this:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...237&cc=1356308
$47.99

Other than that:
hood, grille, headlights, corner lights, radiator, aux fan, mechanical fan. get all but the radiator used from a pull apart from any 98-2000 C280 for probably less than $500 total. buy a new radiator, OEM, Behr brand for $220.

The bumper will be iffy to find but they can be found with patience. In the mean time, use a stock C280 bumper to make it presentable while you wait to find a real bumper.

IcedOUT56

The biggest problem is that the car won't start. I'm getting the diagnostics done today to try to figure that part out.

Sulaco

Have you opened up the hood to peak down to the accessory belt area? perhaps knocked something loose, disconnected something, etc.

KJI3jflarryfe93

who don't people have colission included in their insurance if they drive an expensive car?
why didn't you get collission when you bought your car?

IcedOUT56

long story, I don't want to talk about it.

Dziner82

i have firsthand knowledge with very similar damage, hood was not as bad as yours though but hood replacement is pretty straightforward.... that being said the repair bill was just over $6000 from an independent body shop. lots of it was the support frames and pieces just behind the cooling fans, those parts/labor add up....

more than half of that was probably labor and paint of course...
front bumper has to be sourced from europe, $900. rest is shared parts with common w202 models that can be found cheaper as others have said.

i would not have posted it on CL for 2500, would have posted it for maybe 3500-4000 and see what offers you get.

I understand not having the time/money/means to get the car fixed yourself. about 8 years ago a similar thing happened to a camaro i owned, i loved the car and had lots of money invested into it, didnt have collision coverage, ended up keeping the car in a garage for over a year until i had the money to fix it, so i understand the issue... BUT the C43 is a special car not like my standard camaro back then.

I would say if you arent going to be able to do all the labor yourself but you do the legwork sourcing most of the parts on your own then you might be able to find an independent shop to do the work for you and get the car back to normal for maybe $4000? again, you can save lots on parts, but paint and labor is not cheap these days!

from understanding your concerns that you have voiced i would say that the 4000 investment is a good conservative number. if you cant afford to do that over time then part the car out and make more money than the salvage guy is telling you. Its really easy for people on a forum to look at a single photo and say "Oh man i could fix that for $1000" i had people saying the same thing to my car.... then you actually start adding up all the small parts that need to be replaced and the labor to do it and then its a different story.

If you really like the car and want to keep it then try and make it work. otherwise try to get as much as you can for the parts or just put it up for sale for awhile and see what you can get and put that towards another c43!

IcedOUT56

I will do everything in my power to fix the car, but how much can someone make by parting out their car?

I wouldn't be able to do it myself but if I had a partner who was willing to help is it worth trying it that way?

vinceC

Do you even know how these parts are attached? They are NOT bolt ons. They are welded in and the bumper bar is particularly difficult to remove and replace. My former 1995 C280 had damage to the bumper bar. My body guy, who is one of the best in SE Virginia and has been doing it for 30 years never replaces them. On mine he removed the front half (which is a $40 part at the dealer), pulled the back half in his frame table, then welded on the new front half. That takes knowledge, real word knowledge and training, not internet expertise.

I'm afraid there are a lot of folks here making proclamations without having actually examined the car. Frame damage in this case means that one of the longitudinal members welded into the front body structure may have collapsed (which they are designed to do by the way).

This car should at least go onto a frame table to be measured. If it can't be brought into tolerance there are a raft of items that will never fit right.

To the OP, if you can't part it out take the $2500. The car is worth no more than $5,000 in good running condition. My 1995 C280 was totaled after I fixed it. It was excellent inside, outside and mechanically. I got $4250.

PJmak

^^^ you are right but 202s are so simple to work on that its not worth it taking it to a shop. If you could assemble everything your self, youd spend between 500-1000 for painting and parts. Assuming you get a white hood that doesnt need to be repainted.

Ive owned and worked on nothing but 202s. Those parts can be taken apart and put together in less than one day.

Frame pulling is not that expensive either. I doubt shell have to go under the knife. If there is frame damage its looks like its minor.

Youll get two and a half for the car as is. Lets say you spend a grand to fix it and keep it. Thats three and a half grand. Can you really find a better all around car for under 5k?

PJmak

As for parting the car out....its not worth it. Body panels go from $50 to $200(hood, fenders, doors, and bumpers). Maybe a little more for your bumper and skirts since they are oem amg ones but good luck selling them.

Engine....there was one with 91k for $250 om craigslist for the longest time. Be lucky if you get even that. Everything else that can be sold wont bring you 2 grand. People will buy little random bits that are common weak points and break all the time. My friend has been parting out his 97 c36 for the longest time. I dont think he got more than 1500 out of it even tho he sold the engine and tranny for a decent price. Hes been selling his front oem bumper for $400 but not one bite...

vinceC

My list: 1995 C280, 1996 C220, 1999 C280, 1999 C43 (still owned), 2000 C280. Total mileage = 896,000. I do all my own work except when I realize my limitations. I have had to deal with front end damage several times. The front bumper bar is almost always damaged in a frontal impact. You can tell it by examining the seam between the front and back halves; if it is spread between the spot wolds it is bent. On a 4 cyl or V6 not so bad. On the inline 6 or C43 it doesn't take much to make working on the front of the engine very difficult.

The main point here, that most seem to be ignoring, is that the OP doesn't have the facility to work on it. He has said that. I tend to believe him.

PJmak

If i was local id volunteer as his project manager lol and help get this car on the road

My list: 95 c280, 95 c36, 98 c43, 2000 c280. Brother had a 99 c280, sister has a 98 c230 and she had a 99 c230 before

Sulaco

this is a great point. No one's buying anything special off that car in parts. no one is buying a 4.3 engine. If people need a new engine, there's no way they get a 4.3 over a 5.4. Simply not going to happen.

At least with a C36 you can dump that engine and tranny into several other cars that never had much power (E320, or a 190E). But the 4.3 AMG is just too weak and too rare to bother finding one to dump into a E430 or CLK 430 for an increase of 30 hp. People doing swaps in those cars are also going for a 5.4 litre with 354 hp.

The car is only worth anything if it is repaired. I was pressured by everyone I know to scrap my 99 when i totaled it. Now, it's still my daily driver with 287k miles!

IcedOUT56

The mechanic gave me an update. He says the cooling fan system is pushing up against the pulley. He also said the ignition is no longer aligned with where it should be which is why the key is no longer working.

He still believes the car has suffered frame damage. I'm not sure what the next steps are. I feel like the mechanic did a half *** job but I will question him some more. Any questions you think I should ask?

Sulaco

Let me tell you from personal experience:

My father in law owns the body shop where my car was repaired. He personally assured me it'd get done under budget and on time. He handed the project off to the shop (he doesn't actually work on the cars).

Long story short, every single step of the way, whomever was working on the car just treated it like any other mass-produced Altima or Camry they had lying around and took every opportunity they could along the way to bill me more, whether it be more expensive parts or labor.

I mean, there was even a disagreement as to whether or not the car had "frame damage" to the point that it got on the frame pulling machine twice only to be verified that there was no frame damage and that only detachable components were damaged. There was one part of the subframe behind the front wheel where it was pushed in a little, but was banged back out with ease, apparently. But still, unless you are personally going to oversee the car's entire visit to the shop, they will not give a crap about you or the car and will do everything in their power to maximize the amount of money you're giving them. My father in law had to baby sit his entire workforce for 6 months to make sure they were only buying necessary parts, only billing labor on it when they were actually working on it, etc. In the end, they still snuck in some really ****e ways of ripping me off: $250 for a used fender, got the wrong bumper on ebay and then did not lift a finger to prep it or make it fit even remotely right, just painted over all the imperfections from molding. They still somehow managed to call the local MB dealership to get TWO inner fenders and bill me $300 when I can get the same OEM brand new inners for about thirty bucks online! Even with all that, my bill was $4900. I have cursed myself a thousand times for not doing it all myself.

Call a local pull-apart and get a quote on a hood, a white one if possible. Then, push your mechanic to tell you what he thinks the hood alone is going to cost you. Laugh at him.

IcedOUT56

So I got word from my auto body guy and he says there is unibody damage (high up hit above frame rails). He also said the radiator support is bad. I will add pictures in a bit.

Sulaco

That's the best place for the w202 chassis to get any "frame" damage. That's the only part of the car that can be fixed on a frame puller. Others here can chime in on how quick and cheap that would be.

Radiator support is $70 new, OEM.

IcedOUT56

I have attached some pictures.

PJmak

Take the bumper off. There are four screws. Yoy can see two in the first picture and the other two are on the bottom where the little strip that comes off is . This will allow you to see the damage better. It doesnt look too bad from these pictures...

PJmak

Im pretty sure your cars frame is fine. What kinda vehicle did you rear end? Looks like you hit a vehicle that was a bit higher...