I bought a nearly fully loaded (Prem. Pkg 3, Park Assist, Panorama, Heated Seats/Wheels, Air Balance, Burmester) 2017 GLC 4Matic a few months ago via European Delivery. Two nights ago on a rural Wisconsin highway, I hit a deer pretty hard. Ironically, it was in Distronic mode. Anyway, the airbags didn't go off but the front end is pretty crushed up. I can tell that it needs everything on the bumper, both headlights, both fenders, the entire grille assembly and the hood. The radiator was pushed in pretty far as well. If I just do those parts without paint, labor, electrical or trim pieces, it's over $10K in damage alone.

I know the car is worth ~ $45-46K (I paid like $49K with the European Delivery discount plus $1K additional dealer off) so undoubtedly it is repairable. I am guessing with all the add-ons, the repairs will be in the $20-25K range knowing that we are at $10K in parts before we even open the hood or peel anything back. I have had experience on a prior vehicle where they initially wrote an estimate for $6K and we started repairs and when it was all said and done, the total repair cost was $15K and it took nearly 2 months as we waited for part after part to arrive. I was then out like almost $1K in additional rental fees.

I don't think I want to repair this car. Has anyone taken the insurance settlement and then either traded their Benz in or sold it at salvage? I put a significant amount down and could pay off the note with savings until I recoup it. I figure a $20-25K repair on my Car Fax is going to cause me a $2-5K hit in value depending upon how long I keep the car. I'm not interested in that. Not. At. All. If I'm going to take a $5K hit, I might as well do it now and save myself the agony of repairs.

Has anyone does this? Does anyone know of a good way to sell salvage (albeit with a clean title) Mercedes vehicles? Or convinced a dealer to take it in with trade (along with the insurance check of course). I think with the salvage value plus insurance proceeds, it would be not less than $40K and that's a $5K hit from real value. I can live with that now if it means I save out on 2 months of slow repairs and a damaged Car Fax looming over me. Theoretically, people buy these moderately damaged vehicles all the time and make a profit on them because they aren't paying MSRP for the parts.

Not sure what to do. Anyone have experience or thoughts they'd be willing to share?

 

If the car is damaged that hard, and becomes salvaged, the insurance company should give you a check for the total value of the car and then they take it and sell it to offset their loss.