edspider

Some moron turned left right as I was going thru the intersection. 2006 E350 took on the chin. Rammed the other car off to the side of road. Me and my two passengers were just fine. The car crumbled just like it was supposed to and did it so smoothly, the air bags didn't fire. I must say that 5 star rating is true. Every piece of metal from the front doors forward is damaged.

The dash display suggested "visit workshop soon" which was pretty funny. The engine was still running, but I shut it down.

The sad thing is I liked that car more than any car I've owned and there is nothing on the market I'd rather have. It had every option, was good on gas, and very reliable.

The damage is bad enough that I know I'm not going to love it as much when it returns back from the car hospital. Worse, I figure I won't get much in trade since it will be pegged as car having major body work. I'm very much hoping they will total it.

It was a great 20,000 miles and 20 months.

Anyone out there had a successful or not successful experience after having their E-Class rebuilt? What do you think the dealer will penalize me on a trade in?

- Crash

MB Fanatic

Get the insurance company to total the car. I had done this with my brand spanking new GL550. Then go buy yourself a new 2008 E350 with AMG Sport Package and PII packges. You will love it more than the 2006. Trust me.

Glad to hear you are ok. A car can be replaced a life cannot.

sosh

Keep in mind that if they will not total the car you can go after the other driver's insurance company for diminished value assuming the accident was the other driver's fault.

m52e55

glad ur okay. got t-boned by jeep chrke at an intersection about a yr ago. air bags did not deploy, but driver was going at good rate of speed; enough to spin my 55 counter clockwise. i walked away just fine. fortunately the car had no structural damage, just new panels/paint. yes, these mb's are incredibly safe.

Scambo

Got T-boned on driver's side 2 inches behind driver's door at an intersection after 6 months of ownership and 16K miles. Kid ran a red light. Purchased the car originally with 4 miles on it. Driver's side body side airbags and side curtain airbags deployed perfectly. Airbag deployment team came onto Tel-aid within milliseconds of the hit asking if I was ok. They were on before my car even stopped. Insurance was not able to total the car as the damage was only $18K and it took 3 months to fix. Paid $61.9K for the car out the door brand new including tax, title, options, rims, etc. After repairs from Burli's Auto, I decided to keep the car because I had already paid it off. Only issue outstanding is rattle from center grill covering the center channel speaker. This 211 is a great automobile, and engineering/safety features are critical. I will attest to their effectiveness under crisis situations.

edspider

My insurance company declares a car totaled if the cost to repair it is 70% of it's value. First they determine the ACV (actual cash value) of the car before you wrecked it. Second they determine the scrap value of what's left. Then they get an initial estimate for repair. Simple math decides if the car is totaled.

REPAIRS > 70% * (ACV-SCRAP)

Of course, I don't think they're going to tell me what they came up with for ACV and SCRAP. Looking around, I see cars like mine being sold for around 35K. If I peg scrap at 5K, the car would be totaled if the estimate comes in at 21K or more.

They haven't seen the car yet, but the adjustor said he thinks its unlikely they'd scrap a 20K miles 2006 E unless the frame is damaged.

What sucks to me when I trade this car in whether I do it when the repairs are finished or 2 years from now, I'm only going get about 50-70 percent of what the dealer would normally offer for an accident free car. After all he can't certify it and carfax makes it very undesirable. They call this "diminished value" and the insurance companies aren't liable.

Needless to say if the insurance company wants to proceed with a 21K repair, I will beg them to keep the car and just give me about 29K. They get to keep the salvage, no risk of hidden damage once underway, no $1000 for rental reimbursement.

Scambo

That typically depends on where you get the repairs done. I went to the shop that the dealer uses every day. The GM from the dealership told me that since I went there and he trusts them fully, he would only take off a limited amount for the crash at trade in since he knew the repair would be excellent (and it was). He said if I got the repair done elsewhere, he wouldn't be able to validate the repair quality and would need to take off considerably more value from the vehicle.

edspider

Yes, my dealer did mention that it needs to go to a good repair shop. And it is going to one of their recommendations.

But he said they can't certify a car that has been in a serious accident and they don't sell non-certified cars. So when I come to trade the restored car they can only offer what their wholesaler offers. The wholesaler is going to offer less because of the car's history. It won't be as bad as if it was fire or flood damage, but it will be less. I suspect a lot less.

I would never consider it at any price. And I suspect most MB buyers would feel the same way.

Scambo

I believe there is a price at which a potential MB buyer would consider purchasing a vehicle knowing that it was in an accident. It’s probably somewhere between 10 - 20% below what they would normally pay for a non-accident car. There are a lot of car guys out there who can get the car fully inspected and feel good about driving it even though it been hurt in the past. For example, my car was in an accident. I feel 100% safe in it because I know the repairs were done correctly. Overall, for an accident car, I would generally expect to pay less, and if the car was optioned properly and had the color I liked, I would get it checked by MB prior to buying it.

sosh

The repair cost that constitutes a total will vary from one insurance company to another. As for diminished value this may vary from state to state but in PA it does exist and the accident at fault person is liable as is their insurance company. Do not know about Texas. Here there are even "consultants" that will put the case together for a fee. A friend had a bad one in a C Class and used a consultant to collect over 5 grand beyond his repair costs from the other guys insurance company.

sosh

I would refine that statement to indicate that there are SOME people that would purchase a repaired damaged car at a price. These are usually refered to by dealers as "bottom feeders" There are also many people that would not do so regardless of the price and there are some (like me) who would not even consider a used vehicle at all. It all depends upon the individual and what their motavation is. Some just are frugal, others just can't afford to buy anything else.

Scambo

Yes, Texas covers DV. This DV rate is also negotiable with the insurance company as I found out. If you press the rep, and get an independent third party to assess DV, you can talk your way into a more appropriate DV settlement from the insurance company. Generally expect an original lowball offer of 15-20% of repair cost (which isn’t even close to the actual loss you incur if you try to resell on the open market). I got 27.5% of repair cost because I had an offer from the dealer and an offer from a third party consultant which were both way over what the insurance was offering to start. Insurance offered me $3.6K, dealer told me he would give me $5K as part of a trade in, and the third party consultant give me a written DV estimate of $7.7k. I ended up with $4950.

sosh

Well, I wonder if IL supports diminished value, thats where the original poster hails from. Anyone know??