So a bit of an unhappy weekend for me. My tale of woe is below. My question is, how tough is it likely to be to get the insurance companies to total the car out? What should I be telling them / pointing out to them? The adjuster hasn’t been assigned yet, so I have only limited info so far, but here’s what I know so far:

- Car is a 2005 E500 in very good (near excellent) condition.
- On I80 west bound in Sacto, a semi apparently dropped a big steel bracket off of it’s frame. This is the bracket that they use to hang the snow chains on when they’re not installed on the tires. The bracket is about 2.5 feet long, made out of box section steel about 3 inches to a side. The bracket had large (4” x 4” approx) square flanges at the end.
- I have up to the bracket at about 65 mph. At the time, it was standing on end on one of it’s square end flanges, supported in part by a big set of snow chains that were still wrapped around the bracket. My guess is that the whole thing weighed maybe 60 pounds.
- The bracket hit the front bumper, then got caught under the car. Lots of loud thumps and whacks – and then every single air bag in the car deployed (other than the front passenger forward facing bag – there was no passenger, so it wasn’t activated).
- The engine, brakes and steering died instantly.
- I rolled the car to a stop in the far right e-lane. The car lost most of its coolant, tranny oil, and lots of engine oil.
- The engine started back up, but the exhaust had been punctured or torn off – it sounded like a high school project car. The tranny wouldn’t engage at all.
- There was little obvious body damage in the front, and no body damage anywhere else.
- There were noticeable parts, covers, guards, etc. hanging from below the car.
- All the tires were untouched.
- The CHP and tow drivers both suggested that the insurance companies tend to total the cars out when the bags deploy because of the cost to replace. Of course, I assume in the usual case when the bags deploy, there’s lots of body damage. In this case, the only major body damage I could make out was on the bottom of the car.
- CHP has clearly said I’m not at fault, but also appears to be saying the truck driver isn’t either because the bracket falling off wasn’t foreseeable.

Any thoughts or experiences? What could I say to help steer the insurance companies (mine and the trucker’s) to total this out?

 

If you can identify the trucker he will be responsible. The only reason the thing fell off is that it was not secured correctly. As for your car, as of now you do not know what the damages are. I would have it towed to the MB dealer and have them deal with the adjuster. You may very well have internal engine and transmission damage and likely damage to the radiator, electronics, etc. There are very expensive components as is the driveline which also could be damaged. As far as a total goes it all depends upon the dollar value of the car vs the value of the car. I would think that they would total the thing if in fact the damage exceeds 60 to 70 percent of the car's value. Also do not forget about diminished value. That can add lots of bucks to the total. As far as the value of the airbags are concerned as noted you, thats peanuts compared to what else is broken

 

I would reco just have a full inspection. Possibly holes in pans let fluid out, but could be cracked housings requiring replacments. I would do a detailed damage inspection then determine cost to repair vs replacement. You will always lose with an INS co. (katrina experience). I hope you had the trucker info. I had a similar incident when we were driving our E500 outside of Denver when a block of metal about the size of a paint bucket fell off a truck then hit our grill, hood, windshield. Fortunately it hit the hood first or it might have come through the windshield. When I tried to get the numbers off the truck, 3 other truckers boxed the villian truck to prevent me from seeing any numbers. I got what info I could see and turned it to the ins co. They could not find the truck and of course the truck did not stop.

Total damages $3000, out of pocket $500 Trucker paid $0.00

 

Air bags are expensive, but not enough to total a 2005 E500. Until they get the car on a lift its hard to tell the extent of the damage. MB engineers many parts to break off of major parts not damaging the cases of components. That must have been a very scary expirence, glad your ok!

 

It is my understanding that to officially delare the vehicle "totalled", the cost to repair the damage must be at least 75% of the total car value.

 

This percentage will vary between insurance companies.

 

Yup, good point. I have USAA.

 

They will total it based on the value of the car compared to the cost of the repairs except when there are large unknowns such as questionable frame damage and most importantly, engine damage. If the car doesn't start and lost all of its fluids, I would be surprised to see an insurance company NOT total the car. My experience as an estimator in a body shop is that nobody wants to get caught having to supplement a repair estimate with a new engine. There is such a thing to an insurance company as "shouldn't be repaired". I'm sure though that the body shop or dealership will want to fix it as it will be a big and expensive job. Good Luck!

 

USAA just totaled my mom's E300TD last week. Repairs were going to be 80% of the car's value. About $9-10 thousand in damages. Only one air bag went off. She walked away with only a busted lip (from the air bag).

 

My car was T-boned on the drivers side. $18K to repair damage. The car was 6 months old with 15K miles on it. I bought it brand new with 9 miles on it. USAA did not total the car, nor did they give me a MB rental loaner. Repairs took 3 months.

 

That makes sense as the value of the car far exceeded the estimate to repair. As for the loaner, my dealer does not give loaners for body shop work, just service work. However, the insurance company (person at fault) should pay you a fair dollar value for a rental during repairs. If they do not you certainly can file suit if you are so inclined or, if your ins co is involved and you have that coverage they will pay for the rental and subregate against the other ins co.

 

Even though the CHP says that it is not the truckers fault (it really is not, I am sure it was not done on purpose), it is HIS stuff that fell off HIS truck, so HE is liable, no if ands or buts.

That said, you have an excellent case for the other company to total your car, they will have to pay for your rental, replacement of all damaged parts (it adds up quickly), and whatever future losses you may have because the car will show as having been in an accident on the carfax.

It all depends how you handle it, I think if you are firm you can get them to pay you for the car a fair price and be done with it, even if it is fixable.

Sorry to hear, and good luck.

 

I'm amazed at the airbags deploying. I have heard of quite violent collisions where these bags have not activated, and our old 210 was rammed on its nearside by a Peugeot that was wrote off! No bags deployed and when I queried this with Mercedes-Benz they stated that there is a safety margin built in and they will not deploy unless there is a certain degree of shock\trauma. It must have been some collision??

Whose fault was it? In the UK the truck driver is responsible for ensuring his load is secure and nothing falls off. Drivers of all vehicles also have a responsibility to be able to stop within the distance they can see to be safe. If this was a pedestrian\child etc, or someone laying in the road, then they would have still set off your air bags! I would assume the assessor will make a cost of repair judgement and the insurance company will have a figure that will indicate what the write-off costs will be? I would want to know what trauma activated the air-bags. It could be the bodywork has distorted very slightly and this might be hard to detect?

Good luck
Regards
John from a sunny Torquay

 

The car would not deploy the air bags unless it would been hit to the front or to the side of the car. If the car has been hit in the back, no air bags would deploy b/c there isn't any air bags sensor in the back bumper. What happy to JHH was unfortunately situation but I'm glad the air bags did deploy as a pre-caution. Hope you get everything straighting out. Good luck...

 

have the car inspected at reputable shop. they are usually on the expensive side, and also comprehensive enough to identify all the problems. both of this will increase your repair bill and hopefully get it high enough to be totalled.

 

In England the nearside of the vehicle is directly oposite the drivers side Airbags that deploy 'just in case' would be more hazardous than not having an air bag. They are designed NOT to deploy unnecessarily and on t6he very rare occasion this event happens the manufacturer very quickly becomes involved.

Regards
John