It seems that the lowered E300 is a rock chips magnet. It doesn't help when the freeways in my area are falling apart and in a constant rebuilding state. I hear the pings against the windshield on the regular basis and the front end of the car is showing the brunt of wear and tear in just 10 months.
I got hit by a fairly sizable pebble on the freeway earlier today that left a 3/8" starburst in the windshield. The uncovered truck that spewed out the rock debris would not stop when I tried to flag him down. A quick Google search resulted in discouraging news in term of filing a claim against the owner of the truck. How should I handle this unfortunate event?
It has been a bad week. I wad bumper tapped by a guy who was preoccupied with his phone. The impact left a couple of deep dimples and the outline of his license plate on my rear bumper. Arrrggg!

 

We feel your pain bro!

Looks like you're going through that spell when everything seems to come at once - we all get that from time to time.

Keep the faith!

 

If you are willing to take the trouble, you can get the truck owner to pay by Small Claims Court. After all,you have to claim with your insurance with a deductible!

 

Unless you have proof that the stone came OUT OF the truck and was not merely on the road and kicked up into your car by the truck, I doubt you will win the case. You only want to go the small claims route when your case is pretty much a sure thing.

 

Forget about having the truck owner pay. That's a lost cause. If you have a high deductible, try repairing the windshield. It's only $50 or $60 and most of the time it is barely visible. Also, if your roads are that bad, you should have the front of the car wrapped.

 

Check with your insurance agent about coverage. In Florida insurance companies must repair/replace windshields at no cost and no increase in premiums.

 

That's the consensus I see on the Internet as well. I've repaired 3 small chips on the E300 and 2 on my SUV windshields already. $80 for the 1st one and $20 for the subsequent repairs at the same visit in my neck of the wood.
Anyone can recommend a good windshield repair kit?

 

Thank you! Appreciate the thought.

 

Yep. It looked like a gravel truck. I saw the stone coming from the direction of the truck, but not particularly from the truck's uncovered top. It'll be a "he said/she said" case but no hard proof.

 

I'm in CA so things might be different. A friend worked for an insurance company told me once that all calls for a potential claim will be logged in the system; whether the call will result in an actual claim or not.