betrezra

Wife got hit by a uninsured driver last night coming home from work. Smashed the two driver side doors and ground effects. She's OK just shaken up. No air bag, unibody seems OK.... but we'l see what body shop and ins agent say upon inspection.
Other driver, no insurance.
Got police rpt, photo's, ins co is hot on the case.

funny how the ins co was dealing with my wife all day today.... they were trying to send our car to a ford or chevy dealership for body/work/paint, claiming they wouldn't be on the "list" of bidders if they didn't do quality work..... then I followed up later in the day... and they change their tune agreeing that we should go to a more exclusive shop that spec in MB. I guess everyone needs to make a buck.
Be careful out there folks.
I'm just glad wife is OK.... car will get fixed and we'll be on our way.
Cheers,.

GHAZAN

probably an illegal

dremorg

Wow! Sorry to hear that my man. Glad to hear your wife wasn't hurt though.

enochroot

Sorry to hear that, glad your wife didn't get injured.
Bodily injury with an uninsured driver is a whole other nightmare.

I hate leaving my car with a body shop, I feel like I'm letting a stranger watch my kid. .. (or dog, I don't have a kid)

Whats worse then getting hit by an uninsured driver?
Getting hit by a lawyer with insurance.
(no disrespect to any of our lawyers on the forum)

I got t-boned and totaled by a lawyer and he was 100% in the wrong.
(Red light typically means stop)

He of course denied and tried to fight it, took a year of back and forth to get anything paid out.

betrezra

It really struck me how much I care about my wife..... and the car is awesome....but totally replaceable..... (not to get too sappy here)....but it was very grounding event

The ole c63 looks sad rolling around town with smashed in doors. Makes me sick.

CELLryuu

Glad everyone is ok.

Now.....I almost got hit by some POS on my way home with my girlfriend in the car. We are talking about a 7 lane road with no one around. I had to do some major reacting to avoid a major disaster. I was so pissed that got out of my car at the light just down the road to confront the dumb *** (stupid on my part) but I am just fed up with pos drivers in pos cars that probably dont have insurance.

I punched there car (another stupid thing for me to do but like I said, I WAS PISSED) it turns out that the car was filled with highschool girls all on there cell phones lol. they were freaking petrified!!!!!!!! I bet you they drove safe for the rest of that day.

Driving is a responsibility......get of the fu*&ing phone and pay the MFing attention. Lives are on the line and some of us care about our cars!!!!!!!!

/end of rant.

glad your wife is safe.

jvanbrecht

Glad your wife is OK. The car is easily replaceable, even if you have to get something crappy because insurance won't fix or replace it.

My wife had a bicycle accident this past Friday, and unlike my own many accidents (I have had many as I am a mountain biker), everytime I told my fellow riders to check the bike, as I will heal and have insurance, where as my $6k bike does not.. heh..

This time around, I was like F the bike, how was my wife... which unfortunately, and not to hijack the thread, resulted in a trip to the trauma unit by ambulance, 2 days in ICU, and 1 day in a regular room before I got to take her home. Fracture skull, busted eye socket, concussion, bunch of cuts, some required stitches.

Rule of thumb.. always where a helmet...

ZephyrAMG

yeah...could of been...never know.

Most-Wanted

Glad your wife is ok. A car is just a car. Your soul mate is far more important. My wife was recently hit by a drunk driver which fled the scene. To get that phone call is very grounding as you said. My wife was in a brand new 2010 Audi Q5 and everyone asked wasnt I mad about the damage to such an expensive car. I said absolutely not, I put her in an expensive car to protect her life which it did. So best wishes to you guys and be thankful she was in something that did its job. Plus one for MB

DuaneC63

Glad to hear your wife is ok. If you look at your insurance bill there is a line item for "uninsured motorist". Hence you've been paying for these people all along. While illegal in most states to drive without insurance, very few states do a good job enforcing it. In Cali the insurance companies offered to set up a insurance check computer system free of charge for the state. The state declined as it was an "invasion of peoples privacy". What do they call an uninsured Ford F150 running a red and broadsiding you at 35mph, "a failure to communicate".

Tell your insurance company to forget the ford or chevy bodyshop. You have the right to pick the bodyshop. Find the best euro body shop in your area and insist it gets repaired there. Call your dealer and ask them who does their body work.

betrezra

THanks aLL!

Duance63 - Done and Done! We're going to the best place.
We have uninsured coverage... so we're good.

Take care out there and have fun.

JamE55

Who's your insurance?

BAD430BENZ

funny you should say that cuz i live in El Paso , Tx and there are a ton of illegals here . i saw a guy from chihuahua rear end a brand new Porsche on the freeway . we also have the red light cameras at most major intersections and if they run a red light , there is nothing that can be done to give them a citation cuz they are not registered in the US ........yet they basically have more freedom in the US than Americans

MiamiAMG

Sorry to hear, but glad your wife is ok!

Yuille36

I'm glad that your wives are all okay. Thank the Lord. It is your god given right to have your car repaired at any place you want. Your Insurance company can't dictate where you can, and can't have the work performed at.
They want you to have the work done, at their places they designate to save them money. But are they trying to save you money on your premium. Or do they say, Mr. Jones don't worry about paying your insurance this month, we got it....hell no!!
You pick the place you want to perform the repair

Wettig10

Sorry about the accident, glad she's ok. But, your wife drives the C63? LOL Nice guy you are!!

jvanbrecht

Unfortunately, I have way too much experience with insurance companies (3 separate events with my wife's car, friend reversed into my C63 a month into owning it.... and a bunch of various events with my previous cars).

Fortunately for you, the way the industry works, is that there are set prices, set by the insurance industry that all body shops and repair shops use when they do claim work. The cost will be the same whether you take it to a body shop that specializes in MB/Porsche/BMW, etc.

JonMBZ

This isn't entirely true. The dealer I work for charges insurance companies more, a lot more really than an outside shop. That's why they try to persuade you to go to a non-dealer. My company broke ends with state farm because being a service first dealer was costing us too much money and trying to make us constantly use after market or used parts to fix the cars they also had their set prices they would allow us to charge. They also persuade customers to go to their service first dealers to get work done more promptly without spending adjusters to check the car out. Which is what you could have notice by the OPs first comment.

mgcyr

I'm retry sure that it's not your God given right. There may be done sort of law that allows for it, but God given, doubtful.

jvanbrecht

I should have started off by stating it varies by state...

VA, MD, and DC, are the states I am aware off, since I live here. My most recent trip was this past November... I had 3 quotes, one from my MB dealerships body shop (MileOne, large dealer chain with in house body and repair shops), and 2 others from generic body shops in Annapolis. While the quotes were within a few hundred of each other, the labour costs were identical on all 3 quotes, and for that matter, they were all printed from the same assessment/quote software/system...

The variations were the number of hours, and some misc parts here and there.

betrezra

I won't go into details as this is being fleshed out now.

You will get a follow up for sure. THe ins carrier is "on your side" if that helps.

They worked to persuade my wife to got to the "approved" list for expediency and ease to make it simple, and made it sound like if you go to your shop you'll have to get and est in some remote part of town, then they cut a check and you bring that check to "your" place.... etc.. etc.. very clever.

Also the adjuster is a subcontractor company of the original ins co I have coverage with.... which I find odd. I guess the sub has a little more latitude with suggesting action.... and still be at arms length from the ins co?

In any case once I got involved and clearly stated our requirements..... this sub fell in line, and starting his new line.... yeah this is what I rec for high end cars like this I totally understand we want you to have the best service etc. etc.... so be diligent.

I do find it particularly disturbing that a major ins co would potentially take advantage of a young woman after a car accident knowing she's a little shaken up from incident.... and lead her down a not-so-optimum route..... everyone has to make a buck I guess..

Be safe out there.

bushburninc63

Glad she is okay. It's a good thing that our mercedes are built like tanks.