91RS

Who makes a strut brace for these cars? What's so wierd is that on one hand the car seems like it had the **** knocked out of it, but then there doesn't appear to be much damage under the panels. I had the passenger carpet out when I was installing my radio upgrade and the floor looked fine. Ugh.

I doubt it and this point, it's been about 2 months. I'm about to make my second payment in about a week.

Glyn M Ruck

You are going to have to get local input on the strut brace - I don't know. In South Africa you would be protected under the law of latent defect. I would ask for a contribution to the straightening.

91RS

Well, part of the problem with that is I bought it from work. So to try and get some reimbursement from them may ruffle some feathers I don't need ruffled. I'll just have to see how much this is going to cost first though. Also, even though I didn't know it was in a crash before I bought it, whoever "repaired" it did a good enough job with the repair that I'm pretty sure I still would have bought it. I checked out the car twice before I decided I wanted it, and I didn't see any evidence of a crash until I was installing my HIDs when I had all the covers and fender liners out. Even then all I saw was what looked to be minimal damage repair on the right front frame horn and the impact bar. I didn't even think to look for the fender adjustment evidence before I bought it though.

Glyn M Ruck

Understood!

91RS

I called Atlanta Classic Cars today and they told me I'd be looking at $800 + whatever needs to be fixed. He told me that they will be taking the entire front suspension out of the car and then mounting it on the "frame jig" (I can't remember exactly what he said it was called) be it is supposed to bolt up exactly to all the front sspension mounts and whatever doesn't needs to be fixed.

91RS

Oh yeah, check out this beauty.











And the driver's side.

LILBENZ230

Atlanta Classic Cars? I used them.. They're $$$ when you have to pay for something but they always gave me a good loaner.

So is the driver's side how it SHOULD look?

There has to be some sort of legal recourse on this.

Glyn M Ruck

Oh man! - a classic bodge job. - Yes - get her on an alignment jig. It's the only answer. I know you work for the sellers but I would politely ask them for a contribution.

91RS

I don't mind paying a little extra to get something fixed the right way, especially something like this. It's not going to be cheap anywhere, so I'd rather the dealer, who actually knows how to work on this car, fix it.

I'm going to try and at least get a little help from them.

Glyn M Ruck

As a word of encouragement. None of what you have shown me is major structural. Corrected on a jig & properly repaired the car will be fine - all that work which is relatively minor is in the car's designed to crumple area.

91RS

Yeah, and at least it's localized to the one area. I guess I'll have to buy 10 stock lug nuts so I can put my stock wheels back on and as soon as I pay off the credit card for the wheels, it'll be going to Mercedes. I'm just pissed that I didn't bother to look at a Carfax before I bought it and then really inspect the car for damage and how shops who "repair" **** like that can stay in business.

Glyn M Ruck

Well - if your employers have any kind of ethics they will fund part of this repair.

91RS

I called Athens Mercedes today and got another rought estimate. They are about an hour away though, Atlanta Classic Cars is about 20 minutes away. Athens Mercedes is more than just a Mercedes dealer, so they use a laser alignment system rather than the Collette (sp?) system Atlanta Classic Cars uses. The guy I talked to said they will charge me $150 to measure the car and then go from there. He said the system ACS uses is a great system and is super accurate, but it's more complicated and more labor intensive, thus why they cost more. He also said ACS is more expensive because they ONLY work on Mercedes and that everyone there is Mercedes certified. So I guess it depends on what I want to do. What do you think? I'm not really sure how long I'm going to keep this car right now, it will really depend on how many (if any) problems I have with it. I had my Camaro for about 5 years before I sold it for the down payment on the C230.

91RS

I dropped my car off this morning at Atlanta Classic Cars, so I should be able to get my C63 wheels back on soon! I'll post an update on this when I get one.

Glyn M Ruck

Great! Keep us informed.
Good luck.

LILBENZ230

Who is your ATL Classic SA?

91RS

I talked to Tom in the Collision Center and I went to Don in service.

LILBENZ230

I don't know either of them. I had Kim and Christy.

91RS

Well, I just got the call and I just authorized about $1300 in repairs. The strut tower is pushed in about an inch and pushed back a little, too. He said this car really should have had a frame rail when the damage was repaired, but said he didn't figure I'd want to do that (he didn't even have an estimate written for that). He told me that whoever repaired the car used heat (as seen in the picture above) to unwrinkle the metal, which is not approved by MB because that reduces the tensile strength of the metal (it should be pulled cold). He said the car is still safe to drive, but that area will not crumple as MB designed it to. He said the guy working on my car said he thought he could pull the car and get it where it can align properly. So I approved the repairs. There's also some damage under the a-piller, he said the frame rack uses the 4 lift point pads as mounts too and the right front one is pushed in a little and he said the trans tunnel is probably narrowed a little bit. He said not to worry about that damage though since it isn't a safety concern and since the body panels lined up nice before, he didn't think it's a problem.

Glyn M Ruck

I know it's a lot of money but it sounds as though they know what they are doing which is good.

91RS

I am a little upset about the cost, but I was prepared for at least $1000 (I guess I was just hoping it wouldn't be that bad). I'm more upset with the incompetancy of whoever "repaired" this car, and that just makes me worried there's more that I don't know about (though Carfax only reported the one crash). I'll be going up there tonight to drop off the alignment bolts I forgot to bring when I dropped the car off. Hopefully he'll let me see the car since I'm curious to see the setup they have. I guess I need to look into a strut tower brace, is the only one available the one on eBay?

LILBENZ230

I can vouch that Atlanta Classic Cars WILL get it right.. for me it wasn't always on the first try (minor stuff, though), but they always kept at it until it was perfect.

dmatre

A competent shop will get that fixed without problems.

When I was racing my Integra, I went off in the esses at Road Atlanta (mid-4th gear), and hit the clay wall on driver's right (before they put in the concrete).

The car hit the wall travelling sideways, with the nose impacting first, spinning the car up into the air, then impacting the top of the trunk lid on the clay wall, throwing it back out toward the track.

When the spinning/twisting/near flipping stopped, the car looked like someone had grabbed the front & rear bumpers and twisted them in opposite directions. The front end was probably 5-10 degrees twisted from the rear (driver's side low, passenger side high).

I took it to a local shop to see if it could be repaired, and they didn't hesitate to say 'absolutely'. About 5 hours on the frame machine and the car was good as new (as evidenced by lap times and seat-of-the-pants feel at speed). As an added bonus, when they straightened the chassis, all of the panels that had dented, 'popped' back out again - so it wasn't even necessary to repaint.

What skilled hands can do with the proper equipment can amaze those who haven't seen it before.

From the info I've seen so far, I'm sure that they'll get your car right without much problem.

Glyn M Ruck

+1

91RS

Problem too is that I'm OCD, so seeing all that bent metal irks me. I just dropped off my alignment bolts, so I took a few pictures. I've found out the right front door is a replacement, the fender was obviously replaced in the "repair," and the front bumper most likely was as well. Good news is all the replaced parts appear to be Mercedes parts. They're hoping to send it for alignment tomorrow, and hopefully it'll be done Friday.

New seam sealer over repaired area:



Inner Fender:





No bumper:



Previous owners name?