Awaiting final settlement but happy to have that out of the way. Many thanks again for the well wishes and advice. She is going up to the dealer to see about finding a replacement.

 

Do you happen to know what ratio of repair cost to market value triggers a writeoff by your insurance company? Given the pre-crash market value of your car, the writeoff suggests estimated repair costs somewhere north of $30,000.

 

Congrats.

 

It is good to hear that the Insurance Co. came to their senses about totalling the car out. BTW, I sent you a PM!

 

Glad to hear that the insurance company is doing the right thing. You should ask them how much they would charge you to buy back the totaled car. You might be able to part it out at a nice profit, especially since the damage seemed to be limited mostly to the front.

 

Which insurance company was this? Insurance usually determined total loss whenever repairs exceeds or equal to about 70 to 80 percent of car value (depending on each company's policy).

On a car such as this, they did the right thing.

Good to know until they jerk us around and then I bring lawsuit. hehe

 

Awesome. Glad to hear it's settled and going the right direction. Good luck.

 

Forget the insurance, thank God (and German engineering) for no loss of life. Your family IS blessed.

 

Amen to that and that is exactly why another E-class will land in my garage. When I needed the car to perfrom in a life threatening situation my precious wife was spared due to the engineering and build quality of this exceptional automobile.

I am also considering buying a C55 for my personal car in the wake of this incident.

Marcus, I know that she went to the dealer today and I believe they had a car that fit her requirements. I appreciate the offer(s) but the local dealer is going to take care of me with the C55 if we purchase both through them.

 

 

State Farm was the insurer and they will go up to 65% of the cars value. Here are the items I discussed with the adjuster.


State Farm

Our issues regarding our heavily damaged E500

Mercedes Benz will not even starmark the car once it is repaired. In essence, it is not even a “good” used car any longer, let alone the low mileage and undamaged car we had prior to the collision. This fact alone deems the repaired car unacceptable to us.

Front frame rails have been compromised, they are replaceable but there is no way to identify whether or not the frame and unibody parts behind the damaged parts have been stressed. Most likely they have been due to the severity of the collision. This, in all likelihood, can and would reduce the cars ability to perform as designed if the car were ever in a similar collision. This is unacceptable.

The unibody portion of the frame that will need to be replaced needs to be re-welded. These parts are welded by precision machinery at the factory. The precision and consistency of the factory welds cannot be replicated by a repair technician and will compromise the safety of the car. This is unacceptable.

The engine was impacted so hard that at least one cast metal part was literally sheared on the front of the engine and another was badly cracked. The harmonic balancer was damaged as were several other pieces on the front of the motor. It is reasonable to conclude that this very substantial impact my have damaged the engine internally and at the very least may have compromised the durability of the engine. The collision center has not even had a certified Mercedes technician examine the vehicle. This compromise is unacceptable.

The paint, specifically the clearcoat is a highly specialized nano technology that impregnates the clearcoat with ceramic particles that enhance the appearance and durability of the paint. This process cannot be replicated by the local repair facility, this is unacceptable.

As you can see, there are numerous substantive issues regarding the safety of the car, the reliability of the car and the value of the car. Even if the work were performed using factory parts, factory trained personnel and without any complications, this car would never be returned to its original condition prior to the accident and in fact the safety, reliability and most certainly the value have been dramatically and irrevocably compromised.

 

You chose insurance companies well. The company clearly understands that the car could never be put right again, even if they spent $30,000 trying. That, and the fact that the accident left a lot of very valuable parts undamaged.

 

No problem, just trying to lend a helping hand to a fellow member! Maybe next time and good luck with the C55.