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Im in Ontario, Canada.
The car was being driven in fresh snow and on a turn, the car slid into a hidden curb and hit the curb with the front left side wheel.
We took it to a Mercedes dealer and they said there's over $20,000 in damage which I find hard to believe.
Attached are the photos of the damage and a description from the service advisor.
What can I do? is it actually that bad? Please help
What speed was the vehicle traveling when it contacted the hidden curb?
The list of items you provided is plausible. The photo clearly shows the lower control arm attachment has slipped. Not as clear - it seems the black painted sheet metal is bent, where the inboard LCA attachment bolt is located.
The wildcard that is unknowable until you have replaced the list of parts is - has the body in white been bent/damaged? If yes, the body will need to be straightened.
The price is up to the dealer. Seems high, but they have you over a barrel.
Options:
- file an insurance claim and pay the dealer
- file an insurance claim and take it to an independent MB shop and pay them to do the work
- DIY, however an alignment will be needed. Any place with an alignment rack can do this.
What speed was the vehicle traveling when it contacted the hidden curb?
The list of items you provided is plausible. The photo clearly shows the lower control arm attachment has slipped. Not as clear - it seems the black painted sheet metal is bent, where the inboard LCA attachment bolt is located.
The wildcard that is unknowable until you have replaced the list of parts is - has the body in white been bent/damaged? If yes, the body will need to be straightened.
The price is up to the dealer. Seems high, but they have you over a barrel.
Options:
- file an insurance claim and pay the dealer
- file an insurance claim and take it to an independent MB shop and pay them to do the work
- DIY, however an alignment will be needed. Any place with an alignment rack can do this.
Thank you so much for the reply
the speed was about 10-15 kph
on the exterior everything looks good no body parts were damaged.
Only thing is some curb rash on the rim and maybe a bend in tire sidewall
can't help technically. expect it is CAD so about $15K US. my daughter was hit in her 2015 Subaru Impreza july of 2018. left rear wheel. preponderance of damage mechanical with a bit of body work. $5K. and that was way before shortages of parts and labor. not saying $15K is correct, but could be in a ballpark. your insurance company should send their own appraiser which will give you a better feel. not sure how it would work there, but it would not be a chargeable accident here due to road conditions. good luck, ron
can't help technically. expect it is CAD so about $15K US. my daughter was hit in her 2015 Subaru Impreza july of 2018. left rear wheel. preponderance of damage mechanical with a bit of body work. $5K. and that was way before shortages of parts and labor. not saying $15K is correct, but could be in a ballpark. your insurance company should send their own appraiser which will give you a better feel. not sure how it would work there, but it would not be a chargeable accident here due to road conditions. good luck, ron
The cost estimate doesn't surprise me. That's what sliding 2.5 tones into a curb does. Having seen the result of similar incidents in the past, hitting a curb especially with the front wheels can cause a surprising amount of damage, even if the speed is relatively low. At a minimum file an insurance claim and see what estimate the adjuster comes up with, and then show it to a certified MB body shop and let them deal with the insurance. You don't really have much choice here. I see you are on Michelin CrossClimate, can't see which one, though. Don't wanna turn this into a scolding post, but many like you have learned the hard way that all-season tires have their limits on snow. You are not the first who ended up sliding into a curb on all-season tires. The CrossClimate is one of the better ones as it actually has a three mountain peak snow rating. I've put the CrossClimate 2 on my wife's car as we occasionally drive up into the mountains in the winter, and past all-season tires were disappointing, but it's not worth to get winter tires for a couple of weekends a year. So far I love them in the dry and wet, but haven't had a chance to try them in the snow. Her car is light, though at only 2700 lbs curb weight, so much less inertia if things go wrong vs sliding a 5000 lbs behemoth into a curb.
Thank you so much for the recommendation.
The tires are the CrossClimate SUV, I actually did my research in getting the Michelin tire instead of getting a dedicated snow tire.
Just a head up and not good news. If this shows up as major damage on a CARFAX report, ie frame damage, your car will be worth a thousand of dollars less. I had a frame damage report on my ML CARFAX report and when I went to trade it they dealer offer me many thousand less due to the carfax report. Nothing you can do about it except trade as soon as it it fixed before the car before it gets into the CARFAX system. You would have to take it to a dealer who was not aware of the damage and not mention it.
Just a head up and not good news. If this shows up as major damage on a CARFAX report, ie frame damage, your car will be worth a thousand of dollars less. I had a frame damage report on my ML CARFAX report and when I went to trade it they dealer offer me many thousand less due to the carfax report. Nothing you can do about it except trade as soon as it it fixed before the car before it gets into the CARFAX system. You would have to take it to a dealer who was not aware of the damage and not mention it.
Good Luck
Hi, thanks for the heads up.
How would I know if it’s going to show up as major damage?
there has been damage to the subframe of the car in the form of a bend (as seen in photo)
I will be fixing it at a Mercedes dealer which is expansive but everything is gonna get done properly with OEM parts, would that still cause a reduction in value?
Would a carfax report say where the car was fixed?
Talk to the service advisor and ask if the title will be "branded" with "frame damage" or "collision".
If the subframe is replaced and the foundational body-in-white is not damaged, I would mention to the service advisor that the title should not be branded with frame damage.
If the vehicle needs to be straightened on a frame rack (pulled back into shape), the ethical thing is to accept a frame damage brand on the title and chalk it up to life experience.
Its been a while since this happened. If you search CARFAX on this site, Im sure stuff will come up, because I was working the issue. I just cleaned out my file cabinets and threw all the correspondence away to include the incorrect CARFAX and reduced price.
This is a summary: Its not the dealer who determines the severity of the accident. CARFAX puts it in a Minor or Major cataglory. CARFAX uses insurance data ( they get direct info from every insurance company and then I think they get info from the Car manufactures , on Mercedes it called the VIM report, which your dealer records any work on your car.)
I think once the Insurance claim is paid, that CARFAX gets this data and makes a decision on if it was a Minor or Major accident.
What happened in my case, was CARFAX made a mistake and showed my car having frame damage. I did not know this until, I went to the local Mercedes Dealer to trade the car and he showed me a CARFAX and the reduced worth. I was furious since I knew the car had never been in an accident and never had an insurance claim. It took me months getting info from my Insurance company and local dealer from VMI report to show CARFAX they were in error. They initially did not want to admit they had made the error.
I cannot remember how much it depreciated my car worth, but it was substantial. Maybe when you search the site it will have the email. I have a 2015 ML vs your GLE, but should be able to find my emails
After this happened I started asking around to dealers, auto body about this. Autobody guys say people will have them fix their car up and then immediately trade it before it gets through the CARFAX system. Dealer (saleman)
even told me that they sometime buy or trade for a car not knowing it has been in an accident because they CARFAX report they get, (ie they day you of the trade) does not show an accident but later they find out through a later CARFAX about the accident;
I even ran down a CARFAX guy ( driving a car with CARFAX) on the side and told him about this. He response was they only report the data that the systems give them. He basically told me that it wasn't guaranteed and to be used as a guide. But if it wrong or not up to date your are the one who takes it in the shorts.
SO, what did I learn from this. Number 1, when you buy a used car, the CARFAX they bring up to show you may not reflect damage.(This is not the dealer trying to screw you,)but It may show up later once the CARFAX system processes the data. SO don't take it as the "Gospel"
Check your CARFAX report to see if it is correct.
When I was working this with the dealer, he told me he was surprised I was able to get CARFAX to correct their data. It was alot of work, since you can't call CARFAX and have to do it all by computer.
Good luck, and I know your pain on damaging your car.
I have a similar instance happen on my previous BMW sedan. If you're going for a perfect fix I would follow the recommendations of everyone else and go through insurance + dealer. However, if you wanted a pretty good cheaper fix I would personally go to an indy euro dealer and: replace control arm, replace power steering if damaged confirmed, check bearings to see if loose = replace and do an alignment. Its difficult to diagnose a bent/damaged knuckle because it's literally a massive metal block. After doing the alignment you can look at the specs to see how off it is. You can then decide if you want to correct it further, and thus replace the knuckle + other stuff, or live with the difference. You could probably do the control arm, bearings and alignment for close to $2k-$3k - and I would assume that would all be enough to get it decently close to alignment specs.