As some of you know, I got into a car accident leaving me with this.



I thought I had full coverage seeing that all of the other cars in our house hold do. But for some reason, my car seemed to be the only car without full coverage and with Liability only. So.. that leaves me with the quote. The quote was $9300... I do not know what i'm going to do, it is completely ridiculous. I mean, the car has NO internal damage, no engine damage, nothing. It's ONLY body work, no frame damage either. They are charging me for 92 hours of labor ($5000 in labor alone). The car isn't even worth fixing. I can't afford to fix this, I can't afford to buy another car. I fear that I might be saying good-bye to mercedes benz and you all...a 10,000 car down the drain..

 

I am so so sorry to hear about what happened to you. I am glad you are okay though (read your original thread). As for your car I really do not think it is a complete loss because you can find those parts from other wrecked W210s at junk yards and I am sure there are parts on ebay too. Did the airbags deploy? If worse comes to worse you could possibly part out the car and use the money you get towards another car. Damn insurance. I wish you the best of luck with that.

 

Did you shop around for repair estimates? Try getting quotes from at least 3 other shops. If the damage really is that minor, 92 hrs sounds excessive.

Tragic that you didn't buy collision insurance.

adv074 is right -- you can probably part your car out and recover close to what you paid for it. Engine and transmission alone are worth quite a bit.

 

isn't that kinda too steep for a repair like this???

 

That's way too expensive. Where in Cali are you??? I have a buddy who owns a Mercedes junkyard and I can hook you up with him. Let me know...

 

That is a quote from Anaheim Auto Body. They told me that there is no engine damage, frame damage etc. The air bags did not deploy is the crash was too minor. Like I said, I thought i had collision insurance, but it turned out to be on all of the other cars but mine, and mine is not the cheapest car in the lot either.

Yes, the quote is WAY to steep. It took them 8 days before they even gave me a quote. They have REALLY bad service and their quote is ridiculous.

How much do you think I could get for this car as it is? Everything works, A/C, New Brakes, Etc. It just needs body work. 163k miles.

 

hey, i have an idea. it might sound a bit crazy but just listen to me for a second.

projector head lights $350

c/f hood $700

fog lights $100

fender= go to a local junk yark prob $600

front bumper aprox 1K at the stealership

then install all the parts your self. I've done it, its not that hard.

take it to a high quality paint shop and get it done thats prob 1K-2K depending on their rates for paint. that adds up to 3750-4750.

 

I already have the headlight, the stock hood only costs 500ish, my fog lights are fine, fender is $300 , and front bumper is around $350. But, the mounts for the headlight are slightly bent, so i do need a body shop.

 

I have an OEM front bumper, if you need it, let me know.

 

what will you charge for it?

 

$9800 They would have to fix the car put a Carlsson body kit on and mount Supercharger too. The mos i would say with parts mounting and painting $4000.

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w210/183157-1996-e320-parts-w210-parts.html
Maybe he has some chep parts for you.

 

Ya I agree with the estimates on the parts TommyGunn provided. It's bad, but it could be much worse. If I were in your position I would keep the car and try to replace as much parts I could myself. Whatever can't be done (like that bent headlight mount you mentioned and painting) then have a shop do it. Either way try to save the car.

 

I have a buddy that owns a junkyard in the SFV if you're interested; the offer still stands! Then I have another buddy that owns a body shop for painting and such. Just let me know! If not and you want to get rid of the car, my buddy might just buy it off you for parts...

 

By the way, it's not just a matter of swapping parts and paint. There looks to be damage to the radiator support and the internal fender wall. That stuff requires cutting and welding...

 

I agree with you Jimmy but its no $9800 damage, my uncle owns a body shop here in NY i'm there all the time so i know a little here and there.

 

Yes, the support is slightly bent. I got a quote of $5000 from another place. They are a lot smaller and i'm not sure if I trust them. If anyone is in or around California Bay area and you have parts such as a hood, grill, bumper, fender etc. let me know. Also, does anyone know how to get the lense off of a depo projector headlight? i bought a headlight from someone on these forums, but the headlight has bugs inside of it from leaking. I want to just take off the lense, clean it, then seal it and put it back on.

 

I said $9300 in damage! Not that there's a difference lol :$ You are right, this body shop is over charging. I'm trying to locate parts atm.

 

Look, you have a 10 year old car with high mileage. Even if the estimate is way high its still totaled. If you do the work yourself with used junkyard parts you will be still be throwing good money after bad and will end up with a piece of junk thats not worth anything or could not even be salable. Scrap it and buy yourself a decent car. Its also likely that there is hidden damage that can not be seen til its taken apart, there should even be a disclaimer on the estimate for that. If you were told you had full coverage then sue the person responsible for buying the insurance even though its your stupidity that its not covered.

 

Either way, it is still worth it. If I were to fix it for $5000, i could maybe sell for 8000. The car does not and will not have a salvaged title because i'm not going through the insurance company. I drove the car 25 miles as it is in the picture and it drove completely fine. I even inspected under the hood and the only damage is the headlight support+fender+ visible things outside of the car. I could sell it as is for maybe $3000? Or spend another $5000, drive it for a while, and sell for $8000. At this point, i'm going to try and fix the car. I have located some used parts at junk yards and am going to go purchase them.

 

I believe that your numbers are totally unrealistic. The car will not sell for what you believe and the paint will cost you big bucks and will not match. Driving it for 25 miles will tell you nothing and if you do not disclose the repair/accident you are committing fraud.Thats a moot point though as anyone looking at it will be able to easily tell that it was hit badly and improperly repaired.Junk the thing!!

 

I never said that I didn't report the accident. Of course I reported the accident. However, the dmv does not know that I have 10k worth of damage, only I do. All the dmv knows is that i have over $750 worth. The people at Anaheim Auto Body(place that gave me the quote of $9300) said that it would not get a salvaged title.


Also, the hood i had on it in that picture is not original. My mom's friend drove my car into something and it needed a new hood. It then got that hood and it had a perfect paint match. Even if I were to sell it for $7000 after it is fixed, it would still be worth it. Also, I did have the car checked and the mechanic, like I said, said that there was no frame damage or internal damage. I could drive it as is with all the dents for years and it would be fine aside from common maintenance.

 

Well, you already lied to the DMV and committed fraud. Now you will not disclose the accident or the extent of the damages to the buyer and that too is fraud. Wait till they get you in court, big fine, big payment to the buyer and the DMV gets involved, no license for many years and a fine. You are going to wish you never owned this car. Besides if you do not have 10 grand in the bank you can't afford any car, let alone an MB.

 

You have NO IDEA what you are talking about haha. When you submit the form into the dmv notifying that you had an accident, all you do is check the box that says "damages of $750 or more." In order for it to get a salvaged title it would need to go through insurance. I never lied once so get your facts straight. I would appreciated it if you get off my thread please

 

Also, read this http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying...7/article.html

it says "When a car has been severely damaged (either in an accident, or because of a flood or theft) the insurance company estimates how much it will cost to fix. At some point, the cost of repairs is more than the car is worth. Therefore, the car is often sold to a salvage company and used for parts. To protect future buyers, the car is given a salvage title."

The mechanic even said that the car WOULD NOT get a salvaged title, not even close. It has no frame/engine damage and the crash is actually minor, it's just that the body shop is over-charging. AND IT WILL NOT BE USED FOR PARTS. At least research a bit before making a response and accusing me of fraud.