Damn,
Well I spent a few hours Sunday at the self service car wash, completely
giving my car a once over inside and out,
only to have a buddy of mine back into the drivers side door in
his own driveway.
The good news is that the rocker panels, front fender and rear quarter are all untouched.
The window still goes down, though obviously, only so far.
The mirror works too, and no SRS errors!

So that being said, I was trying to see what all would need to be replaced,
and found something rather odd on the EPC.

It appears that the door is in 2 pieces; the external panel we see,
and the internal part of the door.

Anyone have any experience in this?
While I don't plan on doing the work myself,
we both would rather not have an accident on our records,
(even when it's not your fault they can still raise your rates).

I'm wondering if it's possible to just replace the outside panel, assuming theres no internal damage.
The outside panel is under $200....can this be?
If it bolts on, al I might need is the panel, and a couple trim pieces to be replaced and painted.

ALSO can someone recommend a good auto body shop in the Sunnyvale area? (near work)

I see the state is 10 days,
How long before I must report to insurance?

 

Yep, thats pretty common. Most manufactures sell either the skin(outer piece) or the whole shell complete. But if i'm not mistaken MB will only sell the shell. Actually the p/n is 203 720 06 05 and looking in my system, it does only show the shell. Call up your MB parts dept. and ask if you can get just the skin. But installing the outer panel is a pain. Most of the time you have to tap the flange around the shell and use an adhesive. Best of luck.

 

call salvage yards for a door.. no matter what you will to remove everything. buying a salvaged door may help in some installs..

good luck.

 

Yep, I would buy the whole door and have it sprayed then do a self install.

Just have your buddy pay for the paint, door, and help with install.

E

 

Have you tried removing the door panel and pushing it back out? Did it take off the paint? Picture?

 

Yeah, yeah. Can't believe I didn't ask myself!

E

 

My car is in the shop, getting a new door.
3 grand in damages.
Should be done by the end of the week.

Got a Chrysler 300 as a rental.
Comfortable car, but BORING interior.
Typical American car.
Cool exterior.
Crap interior.

Talk about de-contenting.
Take a W210 and just strip it to the bone.
A Hyundai has more style and features inside.
No buttons on the steering wheel, nothing configurable,
no menu's or data other than odo.
No temp control, or at least not in degrees.

If I had one, I'd pull the door panels, and have them covered with a contrasting material to spiff it up a little. It's just plain grey hard plastic as it is now. The seats are very comfortable.
The suspension is old man comfy, 50 mph feels downright fast on 17.
Kinda like before I upgraded my suspension. It's just bouncy.
You feel like you're sitting up high.

It's easy to drive, good center of balance, but hi-speed control is fugettaboutit! A slushy ride, which was a nice contrast, but uninspiring overall.

Has the 5 speed auto from the benz, and ESP, but the Chrysler 3.5 which is good in hi-rpm but no... ***** as far as torque.
The slightest push of the gas pedal results in downshift.
I'd have to say my M111 has more power + torque, well in the tune I have.

Overall it make me appreciate the features and style inside my C Class.

 

$3000 for a door? Ouch!
Hope it didn’t put the kibosh on your friendship.

Seat time in the C often leaves me jonesing for the next modification that will manifest my self-actualization. When it’s fired up for a run after a workweek of rowing the GMC, it doesn’t feel all that lacking.

 

sorry

 

No kibosh so far.
But I had to slap him around a little, to make him stop whining about his insurance. I'm the one getting f'd here.
I think I got him in line now.

I think my next mod will be the chip being touted for
modded M111's.
Powerchip I think it was?

Hoping to do that come Mb meet this year.
And a dyno. Maybe some folks would want to go down to San Diego with me to EvilSport to get it done. I wonder, would it pass smog chipped?
And always on the lookout for some used BIX.

Here's a pic of the damage. Hopefully the mods won't edit my post to remove the inserted image as was done in a previous post, most mysteriously.

 

yeah most cars have "skins" on the door. then they are pinched or spot welded together or whatnot. sorry to hear about the damage and hopefully ur buddies insurance doesnt go up

 

Why do my inserted images keep getting deleted?

 

I saw the door prior to install.
It's not in 2 pieces as shown on the epc, it's one.
Interesting.

Should be done today.

 

maybe they are one piece but u can order them seperately and weld them together. u know like when u have to replace a quarter panel, its basically cutting the old one out. then lining the new sheet metal up

 

One guy told me they don't like to do skins, as the welding costs as much as
just replacing the door.

 

"It was a dark stormy night"....
The opening line of so many cheezy epitaths.

Mine happens to be true.

I got my car back from the shop at 6pm.
After a quick transfer of approx. $2500 in funds,
I recover 'my precious'.

All seems ok, but the day is getting darker and rain is starting to fall.
By the time I get the rental car dropped off,
back to the shop, paid and out the door,
it was pouring and pitch dark.
I turn on the windshield wipers, only to have the windshield appear to be smeared with grease, as apparently the cloth they used to clean the windshield was soaked with the same crap they lathered the interior with,
in their "detail" job. More on that later.

Visibility is low, and running the washer continuously does little to improve the situation.

I get on the road, get a few miles but as soon as I get up to about 50 mph,
I'm hearing bad noises from under the car as I'm driving down lawrence expressway.

I pull of to the side, but the shoulder is just nada, so I end up driving on the shoulder for a while till I get to an exit.

I called the shop and it first he wouldn't answer.
I let it ring for several minutes with no answer.
Looks like it's gonna have to be me.

Luckily I'm the kind of guy who keep tools in the car,
and had the right size socket to get the pan off.

I call again as I'm laying in the road, this time they answer.
and he offers a free detail.
And to replace any parts,
and even to dry clean my machine wash clothes.

But what is it worth to be forced to lay in the street at night, in 40-50 degree weather in the pouring rain fixing something relatively small, but
renders the vehicle undriveable?

The piece that was dragging on the ground had previously flown off the car at speed on I280, or rather the previous piece, as it was not recovered.
Again due to Lame people just deciding to just toss needed hardware aside as unnecessary.
As such, this past summer I purchased that piece, brand new AND replaced all the little screws and studs, and plastic rivets of various sizes throughout the vehicle, at least the visible ones, tossed aside by careless $160 hour dealer mechanics.

It took quite a bit of time to look up all the pn's on the EPC,
and time to install.

Then, just one visit to a so called "professional" (IE the Body Shop, who's name I will not yet reveal... perhaps I may have them read this?) and I'm back where I started.
I've had a number of issues related to missing hardware over the years from both Smyth and Autobahn.

They just toss it!
Smyth left screws out in the wheel well, and the liner ended up riding on the tire wearing a hole in the liner.
Autobahn fought me on the replacement of the panel blaming my "lowered" car (yes to European height)
and stated that the Smyth couldn't have left the screws out and if they had, it wasn't up to them to replace the panel, warranty be damned!
They ended pulling the dash apart to fix some issues with the motors that control airflow.

Later I had the dash apart to install the a 6 disck cd, and found that all the screws were missing from the dash from a previous repair.


Any one of these things at low speed, maybe not a big deal, but if some peice of the car falls off at high speed, it could spell big trouble.

Additionally, the body shop "detailed" my car, rubbing what feels like armorall all over the inside of the car, including the leather seats, the steering wheel etc. Just prior to having the car hit,
I had fully detailed it, with the proper product, leather and plastic conditioners.
So here I am freezing and wet, and the steering wheel and seats just feel down right slimy.

To top it off, and maybe I would've normally overlooked these things,
but apparently they disconnected the battery, the time was off by 1/2 hour (it actually had been set, just 1/2 hour slow) the sunroof wouldn't open, needed to be sync'd, and the stink of the chemicals used throughout were chocking me and giving me a headache.

Lastly, the thing that threw my Lame-O-meter into overload was the call from the other insurance company.
My contact for the offending party's ins.
hadn't returned my many calls, and I finally gave up, then speaking to the 1st person to pick up the phone, as was told they'd send me the $500 deductible, that Geico wouldn't waive despite the other side acknowledging
full blame. It's been since Monday, no check yet...hopefully tomorrow or Sat. They also set me up with a rental car.

Now, today, as I'm preparing to leave to pick up the car, and drop off the rental, I get call from the lady at Liberty Mutual that I'd left messages with all last week.
She's finally returning my call after 8 days!
And she makes an amazing request.
She tells me they made a mistake doing a direct billing for the rental, and could i please NOT rent the car, and oh btw could I give her a call,
and could I leave a message, as she's ever so busy and unlikely to answer her phone.

Lame-O-meter OVERLOAD!
3 Gran Centenario tequila's later, and after wrapping in blankets for a hour or so , I'm starting to feel better. I coulda done a hot tub, but the rain is really starting to **** me off.

But god, what have we done? We've entrusted the stupid people
of the world with our very lives.
Expecting to be waited on by a waitperson is looked upon
with disdain. Expecting the people who we entrust our vehicle with, and in turn our very lives, can't be bothered to put the screws and parts they took out, back in.

What should I ask the shop to do?
Do I want to trust the same dumasses that f'ed up in the 1st place to perhaps inspect the vehicle and make sure no fasteners etc are missing?
Or perhaps take it to the dealer, who also cannot be bothered to reinstall screws, fasteners, clips and rivets?

What IS it worth to have to lay in the rain repairing their f'up?
Suggestions please.
Should I ask for monetary compensation?
100 bucks might be nice, or is that too little?

 

We are just thankful you made it out alive! From ‘ouch’ to ‘lame-o-meter,’ wth?

What, pray tell, has become of quality control and verifying one’s work? In my avocation, such an unmitigated disaster would be akin to installing a profitable front entry door set and then ‘forgetting’ to ensure that they swung, sealed, or latched properly…and ruining the home’s hardwood floor in the process because they leaked during the next storm.

Since your car was rendered inoperable by their gross negligence, and you were placed in harm’s way, it’s only fair that they pay for the flatbed, parts, hardware, and labor to make you whole. We know you didn’t tow it, but had it been any other hapless victim it sure as heck would have been! Don’t let them get off too easily. Ask for $500. Maybe they will install and color match your new spoiler, and you could call it even. On second thought, don’t let them near it again.

Or, you could put it all behind you and be glad it’s back, even if only semi-intact.

 

That was my thought.
On friday I was too freakin' tired to talk to the guy.
My boss cut me loose early, and I got home in time to take a nap before
my lady friend showed up.

I still need to undetail the interior. I'm having an allegic reaction to the
sheet that used inside, and crawl underneath and put the bottom pan right,
as well as install some rivets...I think I may still have some laying around, bought a bunch of extra ones last summer.

And then, yeh, maybe just be done with the whole ordeal, and keep the
paint monkeys away from my ride. FAR away.
They shall not touch it.

 

I talked to the guy today. He had left me a ton of messages.
He was really cool about it.
I said no thanks to any free details, and no thanks to them
doing anything else to the car, and basically gave him the rant I posted here, verbally.
He was more than happy to cut me a check for a hundred bucks.
Cool.

The door looks great BTW.

 

Well, I had the guy at the body shop paint my Faux Renntech wing....for a hundred bucks It looks pretty good, but needs to be buffed yet.

See other thread on that...
I noticed the bumper appeared to be sticking out on the side, so I took it in today, to have him fix that, and mount the wing.
The original estimate called for Remove and install of both bumpers for paint, 2 hours + like .3 hours to remove the headlights...
why would they need to remove the headlights? And r&r ing the rocker panels, which I think is also unlikely that was done.

And I paid 2500 bucks to them for the work based on the estimate, but I never got an actual on the final work, just signed over the checks from the ins. companies, and a receipt for the completed job, but no line item breakdown on the final actual work. As they didn't end up replacing a number of things he had called for, I thought perhaps it would be less? No he took the full 2500.

So, I assumed the mis-alignment of the rear bumper was their fault.
Of course I would, it was in the estimate.
So they re-aligned it, nicely I will say, but when I went to pick it up, he was quick to point out that they hadn't ever removed the bumper when they did the work, just undid the bolts on the wheel well, and pulled it down a little, ergo, they were NOT at fault for the misalignment, but had fixed it anyway, (as he's such a nice guy, doing me a favor.)

As it was, apparently I was at fault for the misalignment, but hadn't noticed it before, as I replaced the bumper cover myself.
I started feeling guilty especially as he was whining about the 2.5% cost on the credit card for $100 in paint for the wing, wishing he had cash, (I offered to pay cash tomorrow am) and was looking a little irritated with me. I also made him replace the missing plastic rivets in the trunk which I'm certain they discarded, I had replaced them all just a 6-8 months ago.

I left feeling quite guilty, so much so, I was too ashamed to ask for the black touch up, and completely forgot to mention the window.
So there I was feeling like I'd done a bad thing........
until it dawned on me as I was driving home.....
I AlREADY PAID HIM TO REMOVE AND RE_INSTALL THE BUMPER,
And up till then, it hadn't actually been done!
1 hour labor.

So well now, I'd gotten what I'd paid for no more, no less.
They aren't doing me a favor...if they had pulled the bumper off, they would've had to deal with the misalignment, irregardless of who did it originally.

I hate dealing with Body shops. Always sooooo shady.
Granted, doing biz in Cali these days, and especially anything involving
toxic materials is hella expensive. But wtf?

I should've gotten an actual tally of the actual work done, and
not just oh, sign the faking check over.
My window make a funny sound when rolling up and down, like the glass is stressed, like a creaking sound and the tint is dinged up too ($75 bucks) and 30 miles away, and I got an alignment this past weekend, something the Geico estimator didnt' seem to feel was neccessary.
I explained to her that the car has suspension bolted to the body,
a fact I'm sure she already knew, and that any impact would effect alignment (it was pulling to the right, and the wheels got out of balance as result, so had the fronts balanced). Supposedly they'll pay if I fax the
receipt.

So still some small things...I guess I'm supposed to feel to guilty to go back? He was still planning to bill Geico for addtl. costs on top of the 2500 last I knew as well....but for what I have no idea.
I hate this shid.

I know I'm being picky, but if you don't speak up, you get rolled over.
I had a couple of different SA's over the year, and they learned not to try to BS me.
As such, I feel more comfortable with my car at 120K miles than I would buying a car with less miles, as every possible repair has been done, every bug worked out...I see low mileage 2002's going Waaaay cheap, it's tempting....but likely the owner never had many of the known issues
repaired and I'd be paying for them all now.