joe.lavallie

Sadly, my 2004 clk55 with 244,000 miles was crashed Saturday. I was in a roundabout and the other person didn't yield. Any ideas how much the car is worth? I would real world list the condition as fair.

BradleyBeck

Given the miles, probably a lot less than what you would like it to be. And the repair will most likely total your car.

Any estimate from a body shop yet?

joe.lavallie

Quote to fix is 3600. They thought it would be higher because of damage they can't see. I really like the car and it runs great. Feel free to chime in on current value.

BradleyBeck

Without the accident impact, Nadaguides shows about $4750 average trade-in and $8175 for clean retail. The value will really come from what your insurance company deems the value of the car. I would be surprised if they don't total it.

For reference, one of the credit unions here locally uses NADAGuides for value. Another uses KBB wholesale values. Both guides are quite a part in value.

KBB shows about $3600 for good condition, private party. Values are from a Seattle area.

Amir_AMG

it would be VERY hard to find a buyer for a 245k AMG

joe.lavallie

The insurance company is valuing my car at 8k. They want to fix it with 4k damage. Does not make sense to me.

BradleyBeck

Is this your insurance or the person that hit you? If the other company, $4k is a lot cheaper than having to payout $8k.

Regardless of being an AMG or not, there is no market for a 244k mile car. Even if it was impeccably maintained. I have heard that these engines, transmissions are good for 300k due to being so overbuilt, but you won't be able to get past the stigma of that mileage.

Since you like the car, the good news is that you will continue to keep it, though now with accident history.

I had an estimate with my car. After they looked at it more closely, it would require about 4 hours of frame work. The total repair bill was about $11k.

Car value came back at about $13,500.

I think some companies go up to 75% repair to car value. Since this is about 50%, that may explain why they are willing to cover the repair instead of total it.

BradleyBeck

Here is the car down the hill from the road.



Close up of the damage.



Front view


Here are pictures of my car. The good news is that my son walked away unhurt.

BradleyBeck

Here is the road. You can see the tire marks.



Here you can see how the back slide out on the passenger side, with the front facing the road.



What you can't see is a tree stump in the upper right side of this picture. The passenger side hit that stump and then pivoted a complete 180 degrees so that the front of the car was directly facing down hill.



Here is the resting spot, taken back up so that you can get the perspective.


Here is the view as you approach where the car ended up. The side of the road was very wet and slopes down hill. The good news is that the tree stopped the car from going down even farther!

BradleyBeck

Here is the car prior to the accident.

GatorMB

I did that in an LTD back in the day but the roads were dirt.

Glad he walked away from that ditch, looks painful regardless.

Gator

joe.lavallie

I called the salvage yards here in Phoenix and the would give me about 750 for the car. Since I like the car and it runs great, I will turn it into a weekend top-down fun car. The crash happened in a roundabout. It is going to take some time to determine liability.

mickey13

Must be minor damage at 3600$

Call up MB for new parts and it'll be totaled right out.

MarcusF

It may be minor, or the body shop may be waiting to get it torn apart before telling the insurance company that it's going to be 250% of the original estimate. Then again, the insurance company may have a lead on a CLK that's been totalled at the opposite end. Standard insurance policies state LKQ and they use it when it's in their best interest. If so, the other party's insurer may be a looking at used parts that they intend to scuff and spot paint. In the past, I've told my insurer to repair my vehicle and they go after the other party for payment- including my deductible. My insurer won't go cheap to cut costs for the other party.

I hope that helps.

joe.lavallie

Thanks for the feedback. The other persons insurance came out today. We will see what happens.

BradleyBeck

What was the outcome from the other person's insurance?