RobbieRob

So I was out to dinner with my girlfriend on saturday night and parked along the street in an upscale town near my house. Had a great dinner, and was having a nice night until I walked outside to notice whoever was parked behind me hit my car, I guess as they pulled out. Broke my tail light and scratched my paint pretty bad on the rear bumper. No note, and nobody seen anything.... Tail light is about $400, and to paint the bumper is probably around $1000 +-. My deductible is $1000, so its not even worth turning it in. I can't win...

boschk

That's why I leave my towing stinger on my Tahoe. It does a good job inflicting damage to those that can't seem to parallel park.

A while back, I had the mirror ripped off my merc and both the front fender and door badly creased by by a truck when parked. No note and almost 3k in damage. Welcome to the planet inhabited by tons of pri cks.

SolidGranite

Sorry about the wreck! I know that must feel terrible after a nice dinner to have this ruin your night.

Call me captain obvious but a $1000 deductible is too high. Lower it!

Vossen Wheels

Sorry to read about this

telemakhos

I don't think you can win in the long term. A lower deductible + one claim for some damage = higher premiums in the future.

hyperion667

****ing people!

sorry to hear this, just read about another cat too that got hit.....
I hate people, so selfish and lame..........poor and stupid..........

Gsc

SOmeone keyed my truck a few weeks ago, so I know the feeling.

Alot of ****'s out there..

Shawnw

Yep, been there. Somone hit me about 5 wks ago. Needed new bumper and exhaust valance. $1700! ******S

WEBSRFR

Actually shouldn't this go against the comprehensive part of your policy and since you were not at fault it should not affect your policy. I checked with my insurance company before filing a couple bof comprehensive claims (once when my car was keyed) and they said it will not affect my policy unless i gile a claim each month!

Also FWIW I've set my comprehensive deductible at $100. Saved me when it cost $1400 to fix just 2 body panels being keyed... With the insurance I was able to take the car to a MB Certified shop.

grane

I do the towing trick too on the G.

I fold in the mirrors on the G since I saw a truck with those extend windows rip them off the side of a conventional pickup.

Those G mirrors are close to a grand installed. When AMG gets her G55 this spring well make sure she gets a year withe folders like my CL.

OP comprehensive tip is a good one, thanks.

RobbieRob

Ok, I bought a new tail light on ebay for $312.00 shipped to my door and my friend owns a high end auto body shop, he said he will paint my rear bumper for $300.00. The rear will be removed and sprayed, then re assembled on car. He is going to install the tail light also for that price(thankfully he is a close friend of my family). I guess it could have been worse, still sucks I'm out $612.00 for nothing. Thanks for the info on insurance, I am going to speak with my company and discuss for future on the deductable.

erifly

This sucks. I had the back of my car tapped by some moron at an airport parking while I was on vacation. Scratched up the rear and left paint from his vehicle on mine. I didn't even care for the cash to get it fixed, I was more pissed that they just left. No note of apology or nothing. I wanted to sue the hell out of them just to teach them a lesson. Lucky for them, I was jet-lagged and feeling lazy.

Autobahn-Maniac

Happened to my S65 about a year ago. I don't know what hit my car but the right taillight was crushed, right fender, bumper, right dual exhaust tips, truck were all damaged. Went to Nordstrom to pick up a pair of jeans being hemmed. Was in there maybe 10 minutes max in the middle of the day. $4200 later. You would think someone would have seen that and taken down some info or the person that hit my car would had some sort of sense of what they did and leave me a way to contact them. Took 3 weeks to get the car back. It's a war zone out there!!! The car drivable and I had to drive like 12 miles to get home on a Sunday. I don't like it when the wheels on my car have break dust on them. The drive home was the worst part. I felt like a million people saw my car look like **** and said " hey look at that guy with a S65" "He can't even afford to get his car repaired". They had no idea it happened 20 minutes ago. Very embarrassing.

e550 87ss

I live in center city and ehhh. I had street parking with my previous car. It resulted in some scuffs on the rear bumper. If I look out my window I can watch people parallel park, absolutely amazing: some cars are too big for the space, others love playing bumper cars, and some have no idea that they have more than enough space to back up before attempting to pull out...

Now I have a gated lot with 24hour CCTV and assigned spaces, although I do worry about the car next to me dinging my door... I usually pay to park in a self park lot or walk... Neither are always an option, but i guess it comes with living in any city. I've seen a lot of bumper protectors on cars, "bumper bully," won't help in a situation like yours, but protects against scuffs. Best of luck glad you are getting it fixed.

danlnyc

sorry for the n00b question, but what is a towing stinger? Is it that metal ball thing on the back?

This is why I NEVER parallel park in LA. And if I absolutely have to, I will spend hours looking for the perfect spot and walk 5 blocks if needed.

WEBSRFR

So it is not just me... Sometimes I feel vain and almost embarrassed when I have passengers in the car and someone points a parking spot to me and I tell them that I don't like it and keep looking for a better spot

I generally park at an end spot and leave PLENTY of room for someone to fit their car. Also if possible I park so that if someone had to bump the car it is the front of the car because the front license plate holder offers some protection. For curbside parking I generally don't park anywhere someone can park behind me as I believe that's where most idiots bump your car or swipe your car as they pull out.

I've gone as far as obtain cellphone numbers of parking attendants at garages I frequent and bribe them to hold preferred spots for me!

I have to say that though I prefer the Benz driving my Volvo is so liberating as I can leave it wherever I want without a care in the world...

boschk

Arrie

Well,

It has been an eye opener for me to drive an European car. I used to drive all American made cars until Ford and GM screwed it up for me with very poor quality and no service. Had to fix my brand new Tahoe myself under warranty as they did not know what to do with it. And I fixed it too.

Since I first bought an Audi Q7 after my Tahoe I immediately noticed how other drivers on road were not that friendly any more. They suddenly start racing and blocking on the highways and I never changed the way I drive. When I went with the MB things got twice as bad.

You get your MB hit by someone you won't have a note or any vitnesses unless one of them is a MB driver. That is how much an average American hates MB.

You don't believe me, go and rent a Buick or a Ford for a week in the area you drive your MB most and you will see.

telemakhos

No kidding. I had a tow truck driving towing a car speed up to block the left lane as soon as put my blinker on. Sheesh.

WEBSRFR

Must be a regional thing. In the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area and around upper northwest DC I'd say about half the cars on the road are European vehicles. Still this is an interesting observation to keep in mind when I travel

If people are giving you issues merging, consider the V8 the next time... I don't drive that fast but I didn't realize until I bought my car how handy it is to have extra power on reserve just in case... With the extra power very few vehicles on the road can get in your way if you decide to be somewhere

Autobahn-Maniac

Nothing beats raw power. My wife and I drove down to LA a few weekends ago with my S65. I don't think anyone even passed us all the way down. When you're going 70 mph and just press the pedal a little bit that V12 takes you to 100 mph before you can even look back down at the speedo.

WEBSRFR

I know but please be careful! When you hit the triple digits if the cop who pulls you over is having a bad day, he can arrest you on the spot. Big mess. Happened to a friend of mine in Virginia and after spending $5K+ on attorney fees he ended up having to pick up trash for 4 weekends to avoid jail time. He still had to go through the indignity of a full body cavity search each weekend he showed up in jail for his trash pick up shift. Since I found out what he went through I've been a lot more careful about speed. I used to let the car hit 110 or so in secluded highways every now and then but never do it anymore.

I do speed on occasion but very carefully and keep an eye on the speed as it is scary how quickly you can build up speed. Also be careful about not letting anyone at all pass you as that means you are always the fastest vehicle on the road and if there is a cop on the horizon you are instantly the target. When I go 15/20+ the limit I usually ensure I'm in a convoy with other people ahead and behind me Just relax and enjoy the drive and use the power when you need it as there will always be a car in front of you no matter how fast you drive

danlnyc

Wow Virginia traffic laws are brutal!

I had a friend who got caught doing over 110+ on the freeway twice in one week in his ALTIMA (crazy).

Traffic life is different at 60mph....

csquared

Post pics. Let's see the damage so we can all sympathize for you.

Autobahn-Maniac

Appreciate the concern. I rarely hit tripe digits and if I do it is about a 5 second spurt.