That really has to burn your cheeks having your car smashed at both ends by a driver who failed to look out the front window. I am glad that you were not injured, and will feel no ill effects in the future. I think the opinion of Tump43 above on post # 10 is correct, and you should get after the insurance company as soon as possible. I would guess that repairs will be in the $ 20K range, plus 20% of MSRP for diminished value, or another $ 12K. Be sure to claim early, because the guy might have a low limit policy, and there may not be enough for you and the fella in front. ES300? Can't be worth much, isn't that a rebadged Toyota, anyhow?

If you don't have an attorney, get one. The insurance company has one, and will abuse you as much as they can if you are not represented. jywang in post # 17 was a victim of an insurance company "nibble" where the company says they only pay a certain amount. An attorney can usually stop the nonsense.

Just got word from insurance that they will most likely repair the damages, but is asking body shop to do a "tear-down?" to check the sub-frame.

i have had cars with 45k in damage come back working 100% fine and looking like new. This C55 was hit pretty lightly and it will be just fine.

im sure it will be fine but i love my cars and if they are rebuilt and function that still isnt the same to me. but thats just me

This car will never look the same after fixed.

and does ur car have this

That's not nice to say. The car will be beautiful, especially because they are using OEM parts. It's like getting a new body kit!


Tee_Tz.

Sorry to hear that but I'm glad you are ok and car turned out good. By the way, I couldn't really tell what the pic is showing...blurry??? What is that?

Doing the tear down to check for frame damage is critical. If the rails are bent, total the car. Otherwise, you will be just fine. I drove my '99 C43 for two and one half years after the same accident and it was just fine. My MB warranty was just fine. Granted, I didn't track the car but for normal spirted purposes the car was not any worse than before the accident. Hence the 3 months in the shop and the astronomical repair costs.

That Sucks !

@SFML320,

hey bro, did you ever get your car fixed? i just had similar damage on my car and i wont hear about the damage from the insurance company for a while. probably mid next week.


https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w203/181316-crashed-my-c55.html
i dont have pics but i will post them if i can get to the towing lot today.

my engine is definitely a little worse than yours but i don think they will write mine off either. anyway, i would be interested to hear how yours turned out after repair.

oh man that really sucks, so gheyy! everyone ok at least

damn, so sad to see.

I had a similar thing happen with a c43 in the past. I ended up taking the insurance check to fix it, and sold it as is on ebay. I lost a few bucks but was out of it without any hassles and no problem trying to sell a car that has been in an accident, and not ot have to drive a car that has been in an accidnet- THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME. Try and get it totalled. Take it ot another place you know and have them write an invoice to total it out and demand the ins. pay.

You will not be liable. I had a similar experience. My insurance co. is Geico and they will sue the person who initially caused the multiple. I would insist on being checked out for whiplash, however. The effects of such an accident will not usually be felt until much later. Good luck.

@14cue, just read about your accident and so sorry to hear that another C55 got banged up. Like others have posted, very glad that there weren't any injuries.

Although I had front and rear end damage (whiched look worst than it was), neither of them came close to a frame or the engine so I was lucky there. At first I thought the they would total the car, which would have been bad, but the shop guy told me M-B parts are meant to absorb and buckle like that to keep the energy being passed into the cabin.

On the other hand if you have parts that aren't meant to buckle but did, then you might have to decide if it's safe to repair it (no matter how perfect it will be). Again for me, all the damages were only panels and grilles.

My story is, as of today the autobody shop is still waiting on parts. They told me there are very little inventory in the U.S. for the C55s. Therefore I would say 80% of them is coming from Germany. This is irritating all the insurance companies but they have no choice in this matter except to wait.

The C55 is at an authorized M-B repair shop (so they say with all those plaques on the wall) and they are being very meticulous on ordering every part from M-B. They ordered 2 new headlight units because they felt the current ones wouldn't be the same after an impact. I'm sure they still work but I have no complaints about replacing them

Be sure to bring it to a place that cares and knows about an AMG car.

I'll post some new pics as soon as they are done with the repairs so you guys can tell me if they missed anything.

Good Luck on your repairs/claims 14cue

thanks bro,

i will keep you posted.

Sorry about your cars guys.

I wanted to give you both a couple of recommendations:

1) keep as many working parts as possible (headlights, foglights, bumper strips, grills, etc). You can at least get your deductible (if applicable) back by reselling them. The repair shops are going to make money out of this anyway.

2) I had a $16K tab in a VW Toureg (front damage) and it was covered under my insurance. In the process, I helped to bump my credit by paying it with a CC and then transfer the funds (insurance's check) to my CC bill the next day. At least you get the CC points and the credit. I'm 23 y/o and it was a good move for me.

It is just a matter of going through the whole process. Your cars are going to be up and running before you know it and this would be a thing of the past.

Regards - Carlos

SFML320 & 14cue,

It's always sad to read these types of threads. I feel your pain when I look at the pictures or read about the accidents. Try to stay positive and I'm sure things will work out.

Hopefully, everything will be resolved quickly for both of you guys.

Here's what happens after 2 months in an autobody shop...still waiting on parts but I saw 95% of them.

two months already and they only worked on the quarter panel?

mine has been at the shop for 2 month and they just started to take it apart for inspection. i dont expect them to start work on it for another month while they wait for parts. after that it will get sent to MB for engine repairs (another 2 weeks). part will take a long time.

thanks for updating us bro. i hope they give that thing a nice detail. is the hood being replaced or repaired?

Hood is being replaced. The only good thing is that all parts will be OEM. There is hardly any "competitive replacement parts" the insurance company can force the shop to use. I think the only non-MB part is the A/C condenser.

After a little over three months, the C55 has been returned to its rightful owner...me.

I'll take some better pictures over the weekend but I wanted to share some shots I took of things, which I don't think was there before. Heat shield under the hood? AMG stamp on the muffler?

What better place than here to let you guys confirm it.

Take a close look at my front hood, I have a feeling it's not align right. There is a large gap in the front.

When the dealer replaced my engine hood pad, I also found the heat shield under the hood. It's right above the oil dipstick. I guess it's a new design. The AMG stamp on the muffler is normal. I saw the stamp this past weekend when I was washing my car. As for the alignment, it's hard to tell from the picture.

im glad you got her back.

please take better pictures. i cant really see the gap from the shot you took. it looks like the angle to me?

mine is about another 2 months away now. wish me luck!
thanks for updating this thread.