Hi all,

New to this and first time posting. Please note when it comes to cars my knowledge is non-existent and don't have a automotive/ mechanical background.

Our car was involved in an accident where a moped driver drove into driver side wheel and the force of the moped hitting it somehow managed to snap a steering arm(?). The steering is completely disengaged and it had to be towed to a garage and we of course had to go through insurance. The garage gotten back to insurance and says it will cost over £6k to fix it and possibly more if there is more damage once they strip the car. So insurance and garage decided it's total loss but still being reviewed. Of course the garage does not want to give us any information regards to repairs.

Looking at the picture it doesn't look like much (my partner was driving it), bumper/ headlamp scratched. Looking at the parts list provided by the garage it mentions: lower control arm, tension rod, shock absorber, steering knuckle, wheel hub and list goes on but I listed ones I believe needed for it to be get to a state where its drivable.

The car is 2011 E350 estate in pretty mint condition when we brought it about a month ago. I'm kind of sus about the quote from the garage because I guess once its written off they can buy it for cheap and fix and sell... obviously I'm just speculating

Anyone had any similar repairs done, have any idea what the issue would be?
We would like to buy the car back...do you think something like this is worth getting repaired ourselves after the car is written off?
I know it's hard for anyone to tell without actually inspecting.
I've looked at some YouTube videos and it seems repairing control arm and steering seem like a simple job for a mechanic?

Any advise is welcome

Thank you,

 

has to be inspected to know what parts got damaged.

I cold see a ball joint or steering linkage end maybe.. but A-arm & Knuckle?

HOw fast was the moped going and how far did its driver fly thru air?

 

Completely agree with more details on the inspection are needed. However, from the picture, only the bumper seems to be damaged, no even a scratch on the body panel. So, if the bumper's fasteners did not give up on the panel, the moped could not have gone too fast. I can only envision ball joints snapping and perhaps the tie rod from the steering mechanism getting bent. Hopefully (and a big one) is that the steering mechanism gave up and did not deform the body.

If possible I would try getting a 2nd opinion. From the picture, this side of the car looks great.. It would be a real shame to totaled.

NOTE: In Canada and USA it is possible to buy back your totaled car from the insurance company. You have to do the math if the cost of buying it back plus repairs it is worth your time and effort to deal with the repairs on your own. That way you keep your car with perhaps a minor loss (call it investment to keep your car instead of getting a newer one). Done it once, and I kept my car (Toyota) with a minor disbursement. Numbers: Totaled value ($4500) - Deductible ($500) - BuyBack ($500) - Repairs ($4300) = -$800. Basically, I paid $800 to get my car repaired. I never (still) understood why the insurance totaled. . I drove it another 6 years after that for a total of 18 years ownership and I only towed it once because of this accident (black ice)

 

Well, my '03 S class was hit by a golf cart right on the front right wheel, 9500 in damage according to dealer, whole front suspension and steering rack was damaged, including mounts to the subframe. It was way to much to repair, besides these cars are worth more in pieces than as a whole, I happen to know the wrecking yard guy, he sold all the parts individually for 12K! Obviously he had some labor in disassembly but geez.

 

The damage is very dependent on the angle the car is hit. I have seen that lateral hits tend to deform the body (sub-frame) more, and then the car goes. I saw a lateral hit on a VW Passat 2014, and what seemed minor damage on the rear wheel ended up with subframe damage and 12K+ on repairs after the insurance approved a @7K estimate. However, tangential hits are more forgiving. From the picture, I am speculating the moped did not hit the car at 90 degrees, but just me speculating. The OP could clear that one.

 

It's a 30mph zone and my partner said it happened so fast he didn't even see the guy come up behind him, the car driver behind him also had no idea where he came from. We assume the moped driver was doing anything between 35-40mph. Driver didn't go too far from the car and thankfully the moped driver was ok too, he was taken to hospital but the police said it was just minor scratches.

 

Yep, not one scratch on the body, even the alloys seem to be ok. Such a shame to see it go. We are waiting for insurance to come back to us with some figures and will decide if its worth buying back but at the same time we don't know how much damage there is if we were to get it fixed after we buy back. Like you said the estimates says 7k but could end up costing 12k which at that point its better to walk away. Honestly, can't say at which angle the moped driver hit it, happened so fast and no one can figure out how it happened or where the guy even came from. Even the police were baffled! All we know is that the moped driver must have tried to overtake the car and lost control.

 

in the USA if you buy back a totalled, its labled on the registration as a Salvaged Vehicle, which has insurance implications going forward (no comprehensive or collision insurance available, just liability), AND makes the car MUCH harder to resell.

the problem you're facing is, if you want a 2nd opinion, you're going to have to get the car towed to another shop, AND a non-roller is a real pain for a shop. just to get it on and off their lift for inspection.

 

I think we are mixing up "totaled" and "salvaged" together. An insurance company once "totaled" my car, and once I purchased back there were no traces on my title about being "salvaged". I explicitly asked about it to my adjuster, and he said a salvaged car is beyond "considered safe to be driven even if repaired" while mine was just because they did not want to cover the repair, i.e. beyond what the car was worth to them.

I sold the car w/o any issues or markings in the title. At least that was my experience, and I will consider it again based on the available information and future plans for the car.

I think there is a subtle difference between a "totaled car" (probably also means salvage) and a "total loss car", and anyone pursuing this path should definitely find out beforehand how will the title reflect the "action taken". I perhaps missed the "totaled" and "total loss" differences, but I definitely meant a vehicle w/o issues that can be put back on the road w/o baggage of any kind.

https://www.carsdirect.com/car-insur...car-is-totaled

 

Unfortunately it's cheaper for the insurance company to total the vehicle and give you a check for residual value then possibly pay for repairs that cost more than the vehicle is worth. I have the same year S212 but in blue and it would pain me if something like that happened.

 

Well,

for me it sounds like the repair shop wants to get your car totaled and then buy it back cheap for cheap fixes and have a nice clean car to drive.

You can buy a whole set of front suspension parts excluding the air struts if you have Airmatic for about $1000 and this includes both sides.

If the moped hit so hard that it snapped the steering link rod then it is probably the only damage in the suspension as it had to hit the front wheel in outer rim on the steering rod side.

My recommendation is to have the steering rod replaced and do front alignment and then see if there are any issues with suspension when driving the car.

Personslly I don’t think a moped driver would be walking away from a hit that would break any other suspension members. Speed would have to be so fast for a vehicle probably weighing only 250 lbs. or less.

Tow the car to another shop and ask them to replace the broken steering rod and do alignment. Drive it and see how it handles. Then ask what the cosmetic repairs cost.

Looking at the picture it is a Wagon. I would not want to let it go.

Then you can also ask the insurance what do they pay without totaling it and then fix it yourself.

A moped hit does not sound right for me to total this car.

 

Sorry to hear about that incident, I think you should have it inspected by a mechanics or dealer to make a further decision . The car looks OK but repair cost could be looming

 

Thank you everyone for their messages and taking the time to reply to my thread.

Update-

Insurance ended up writing off the car (total loss), we brought it back and repaired it by a trusted mechanic.
It turned out the control arm was snapped on the driver side and headlight frame(?) (sorry I forgot the exact name for it) got bent on impact and had to fix other small bits. All fixed, cost us less than £1.5k with MB parts and inc labour, compared to what the insurance approved garage quoted, £6.5k+. The car drives fine and I say fine because both myself and my partner noticed a slight difference when we drove it at a high speed (over 100mph+ on a motorway, of course there’s no reason to be doing that speed). The car felt slightly unstable, kind of scary at that speed since having it back. May be because it’s been some time since we both driven it but we both remember it feeling more grounded at high speed compared to what it is now, not sure why. Normal driving around feels absolutely fine.
Glad to have her back, forgot how fun she was to drive and what a beast she really is. It’s a pity that it will forever have Cat N attached to it but not many on the market with the condition we brought it in.

 

Nice to hear your nice-looking car was fixed at a reasonable cost.

When you said "slightly unstable", you mean no vibration but "too nimble for its own good", i.e. minor motion of the steering wheel got you an unexpected response of the car, correct?

I assume a 4-wheel alignment was done, and it is within the specs. Not certain, if during the alignment any frame misalignment can be noted. Others more knowledgeable members can probably help diagnose the "instability" you have noticed. In any case, avoid those speeds until something is figured out.

Forgot to ask. If you have the "approved garage estimate" you can review the parts list and description of the work to see if something subtle is mentioned that could lead to the behavior you are experiencing. Sometimes we dismiss something saying " nooo, that is not needed", but it might be.

 

We had a look at the parts list from approved garage and majority of the costs were related to a brand new front bumper, new headlight… the existing one has a scuff on it and the mechanic said that can be polished out by a detailer. Regards to number- it has a small crack and we managed to find a local plastic welder to fix that and have it respected. Rest of the items were steering rack, nuts/ bolts, the frame etc and we brought all those. Made the mechanic aware that we wanted to fixed properly without cutting any corners as at the end of the day it’s our safety and other road users safety after all 😅 we had to get a new MOT required by the Insurer and that passed without any issues.

I’m terrible at describing but will do my best. So before the accident when we drove it and going at high speed it was like an arrow that was shooting straight (literally the best way to describe it) and now it feels like it pulls to the left slightly and we didn’t notice that before at all. When the wheel alignment was done they noted that it was slightly out of line but nothing major that they felt the need to redo it.
We will definitely have it looked at again and definitely will be avoiding high speeds 😅

 

I don't have access to my PC for now, so I can't dig out documents related to CHASSIS alignment.
WIS/EPC has a set of documents with measurement value to confirm ( after an accident ) if the chassis is out of spec.

Leah wrote :
When the wheel alignment was done they noted that it was slightly out of line but nothing major that they felt the need to redo it.

Take photo of the alignment result, share with us. If they rely simply from alignment machine database, it is not good enough.
MB has so many models variation, only WIS information is reliable if we want the ultimate accuracy.

Example below are MB specified values and allowable out of spec limits for my chassis.



Due to my rear 255/40 Michelin, 1 side is bad due to excessive Road Force variation and I bought a new tire while claiming for it..... I had the opportunity to see what a few millimeters
of taller tire ( 1 new tire ) can effect alignment value at the rear. That is the reason I did my 10th alignment and later 11th alignment when the claimed tire got replaced by Michelin Indonesia.

See the 9th alignment REAR CAMBER RIGHT SIDE and compare it to 10th alignment.
At 9th alignment, all 4 tires are under 1,000KM old.
At 10th alignment , rear right tire is 1,700KM old while the left one is near 7,000KM old or XX millimeters less tall.
Now see 11th alignment, where the age difference between both rear tire is only 2,400KM at best.
See how the RIGHT REAR CAMBER at 9th alignment and 11th alignment is nearly restored back from 41 minute to 42 minute,
where when at 10th alignment it was 47 minutes. Minute tire thickness difference between right and left rear tire create those differences at 10th alignment of approx 6 minutes.

Bottom line : This is how sensitive a suspension system is to changes.

 

That's good news,
I appreciate your update
Happy Driving