When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Two weeks ago driving home at 80 kmph (50 mph) I rounded a bend and hit a car that had pulled out from a side road directly into my path. Automatic braking and all safety systems functioned perfectly. Both drivers relatively unscathed, and the other driver has admitted full responsibility for the accident.
The car is a company leased car that I have had since June 2020 with 14,000 km on the clock. I am being offered repair or replace, but any replacement whether stock or a new build (that would take maybe eight months) will not carry the level of specifications.
My question is: based on your experience or whatever anyone can make out from the attached photos, what is the possibility of a safe and satisfactory repair? The nominated repair shop is the Mercedes main dealer who supplied the car, but owing to the vagaries of Swiss insurance and loss adjustors, the car has not (yet) been transported to them and has only been inspected by a loss adjustor from the other party's insurance. Transportation to Mercedes is currently only likely if I choose repair - the Catch 22.
The more I research online, the more I see mixed messages whether to repair. Mercedes will obviously not undertake the repair if they feel it inappropriate, and the car has to inspected and certified before it goes back on the road. I should mention in addition to the photos that the drivers door opens but fouled on the front wing when doing so - it sounded like something snapped off when I did so to remove all personal items after the car was recovered. Does this mean that the (sub)frame is dangerously bent?
All suggestions and advice will be much appreciated; thank you.
Personally I would never feel safe that the car is 100% up to standard again.
In the UK at least I can say with utmost certainty any main dealership and many 3rd parties would outright refuse to repair such a damage and would certainly never certify it.
Get a replacement, push for as much as you can get from the adjuster (service just done and had to pay for it? make sure they know about it etc.), if you don't get a satisfactory result try to get an independent adjuster, just a threat of one might be enough to sway him.
Whilst the car is being inspected/repaired/whatever make sure to get a same/similar class loaner on their insurance's dime.
Not a lawyer or anything, just went through a similar process a while ago in UK so it might not even work to the same extent it did for me, fingers crossed though.
Thanks again for the feedback, the insurance did not really budge but a solution has been found that will see the car replaced next week with an almost-match. The new C Class looks good and I would not have minded waiting for delivery (end of this calendar year at best) had the prices have not even been published.
Merbag AG is the official sales arm of Mercedes in Switzerland and they were adamant that they could repair, on the basis of photos alone. Curious, but fortunately irrelevant.
Glad you are okay.
Also happy to hear its being replaced.
However, to answer your original question about repair or replace and possible safety issues I'd ask myself this question.
If you knew nothing about your cars history and its sitting on the lot of a Benz dealer (even if it was listed by MB as a Certified Preowned)
and then you did your due diligence and found the photos that you just posted on line...would you want to buy it?
In the US (at least here in Detroit) we have a saying that goes 'Oh Hell No!'
Just my opinion.
Mitchell
You make a fair point. In the interim I have also learned about what you would call Gap Insurance... this does not apply here, and the problem is I was/am personally invested in a company leased vehicle with an outstanding level of options. In future I will be applying another of your sayings: Never Again!
All things being said, PRE-SAFE in the Driving Assistance Plus package was a major contributor to minimising injuries and is included in the replacement.
Glad no one was hurt and sorry for the accident. My hunch is that the frame is likely bent, given the speed that you said you were traveling at when the accident occurred and that vehicles today are designed to absorb the impact of the crash and it looks like that's what this car correctly did in order to protect you from injury. Yes frames can be straightened and the damaged pieces can be replaced but they're never as strong once they've endured a major hit like your car has taken. I think you've made the right decision to replace your car..
Given the option to repair or replace, always replace from the insurance. Especially when you own the car and hefty repair bill will always net you less when you decide to sell it down the road.
Also be aware after repairing a leased car, the leasor may held you liable for diminished value of their car due to your accident.
Since Switzerland was brought up, here is a small side story...
The only experience we had with Mercedes Benz in Bern (the actual subsidiary of MB, not just a dealer) was comically bad. Prior to a trip to Germany, we brought in our S-Class to have the snow tires mounted as the weather was starting to get cold. Figured we wait for it.
2 hours passed and after making some noise a manager finally came to admit that they crashed the car. The mechanic couldn't make the turn, missed the door opening and hit the wall. Their reason? Loss of traction since it was slippery and the car had no snow tires!
So we agreed to a repair as it was a low-speed collision and it's Mercedes Switzerland after all... The gave us a new S-Class for the Germany trip. So far so good. Came to pickup the car two weeks later and while properly repaired, they missed a trim piece and the paint didn't match (fender & hood).
After some discussion they agreed to repaint the the whole side and hood as they felt the paint was difficult to blend. Even then I felt the car was never quite the same...
That is an awful experience. Friends of ours have recounted terrible experience there too, and the associated service manager no longer works there. I did get the original car from them but apart from winter tyres had no experience there to date.
I picked up the new car yesterday from a dealer in Lausanne, which is relatively far away from me. I am really happy to be behind the wheel of a Mercedes again, also with PRE-SAFE and almost all the options of the original. I think my nearest Merbag CH subsidiary is in Fribourg, so I might be going there for servicing in future.
PS: I have been describing PRE-SAFE as being tightly hugged by my car and then punched in the face, but I would not wish to be without it from now on!
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
