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So I was getting off at the exit, it was pouring down with very poor visibility. In a area unknown to me, getting off at the roundabout first exit & I came to close to the sidewalk on the left, hitting a curb no higher than 20cm. Car went half over the pavement as I steered back on the road. I hit the front & back with no body damage, car stopped steering so when I stopped on the side, the front left wheel was bent out of its axis & not turning. I was only doing 20mph max.
No engine management lights, no errors, car still functioned fine.
Called mercedes benz services automania was down with a taxi to get me home.
Now I thought it was very minor, described by automania as probably a broken wishbone.
.. Till I was hit with this heartattack:
Someone with parts knowledge please explain what on earth needs to be replaced, I just hit a curb at a low speed.
ouch. sorry man. but if it got to the point where your car doesnt turn the wheels, that's some bad damage.
I hit a curb in my mitsubishi eclipse after sliding on some ice and i destroyed the suspension pretty good on my R.F. wheel assembly and it cost about $1500. and that was not needing any steering replacement parts. just a control arm, tie rod and a few other things. plus labor.
i would assume not only are these benz parts more expensive, you are also paying a pretty penny to replace two wheels, which is a big ticket expense itself
What a shame - sorry to hear about it. At the very least I hope that insurance will cover the majority of that pain.
Was it a square gutter you hit? Doesn't take much to dent low profile alloy wheels. It's a shame that the rear got whacked as well and needs replacement.
BMW e89 Z4 sDrive 35i & MB S205 C200 AMG Premium Plus
If insurance doesn't help then press them for a discount as £1000 in labour is huge to change suspension components. Get a second opinion from an Indy or another dealer if you're able.
I still can't, quite, get my head around why both front wheels needed replacing? - especially as only I tyre was replaced... If the o/s wheel took enough damage to need replacing (again, from the description of what happened, not sure how) then it seems strange the tyre escaped undamaged.
The front left and rear left wheels need replacing. Before auto mania came I had a good chance to look at the car and the rear left wheel visually had nothing wrong with it. The funny thing is both the tyres were fine as well didn't even burst & there was minor curb damage.
Insurance will be paying for it all I only have a £500 excess to pay.
Sounds like you really messed your car up, it's a 3600lb car at 20mph... Not sure why you think it would be less damage. Also you couldn't steer your car which suggests major damage
Big picture I'm glad you're safe and no one was hurt. Insurance is there for our and others' mistakes, hope this gets fixed soon!
So I am having a bit of a nightmare with the mercedes workshop, they've had my car for 3 weeks now.
Insurance paid out exactly 10 days ago so they started the work, this monday they told me the steering rack was on back order and will be here in 5 working days.
So I spoke to them today for an update and now they tell me there is no stock at all in germany for the steering rack and they have no date.
My car has been sitting in the workshop for 3 weeks now. Total disaster & the worst thing is they haven't even given me a courtesy car due to my age.
Not for nothing, but a 20cm curb is what, 8 INCHES? That'd like hitting a small retaining wall! 20MPH into a 8" curb I would expect some pretty substantial damage, including bumpers, rocker panels and under carriage.
Now the no courtesy car, that's just adding insult to injury.
So I am having a bit of a nightmare with the mercedes workshop, they've had my car for 3 weeks now.
Insurance paid out exactly 10 days ago so they started the work, this monday they told me the steering rack was on back order and will be here in 5 working days.
So I spoke to them today for an update and now they tell me there is no stock at all in germany for the steering rack and they have no date.
My car has been sitting in the workshop for 3 weeks now. Total disaster & the worst thing is they haven't even given me a courtesy car due to my age.
Yeah - I'd be bloody grumpy if they had my car off the road for that length of time, with no courtesy car - REGARDLESS of your age. Surely insurance COULD be made available, somehow!
cars been gone for about 1 month and 10 days now, got a courtesy car from them (had to insure myself as they couldnt, but will defo be getting money back from mercedes) as I have been told by mercedes they have a guided date of when the part (steering rack) is meant to arrive in UK to be the 21st of this month which is a complete joke. Then they need 5 days of labour.
Nearly exactly the time when factories/postal services go on a break.
Guy dealing with my car said its unlikely i'll be getting it back this year.
I'm sorry to hear it too. I'm surprised at how difficult it seems to be for dealers to get parts. We might be able to jet around the world in record time these days, but freight or distribution problems can really escalate your waiting periods on stuff like this. I'm waiting on a patch harness at the moment and been told it'll be at least a week for it to arrive from Singapore.
Part did not arrive on the 21st. Now they are telling me the part is "Expected" to dispatch from Germany on the 8th of jan. + Delivery time + fixing time which means it'll take it to the end of jan.
Thats even if the part arrives. This is a absolute joke.
I need some advice on what to do. I've been in touch with Mercedes support & they've offered to cover my monthly repayments for the car for the period the car has been with them.
Because they've had my car for so long paying my repayments should be standard, I don't see where the compensation is. They've caused total grief over the 2 weeks they couldnt provide me with a courtesy.
They've fully taken the **** & now I am deciding to take legal action. They've told me to get in touch with Motor Code Regulations but is there anything else I should do?
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