Greetings all,

I recent crashed my 1998 ml320
Please drive carefully everybody..!!
I broke one of my vertebrae in my lower back...but I feel better now and it could have been a lot worse. I think I will now be attending church on a regular basis. There was no one in my car at the time and no one was injured in the other car.
Excuse my writing; I am on some heavy NARC painkillers.

I was going under 20 with about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground then I began to slide so I let up off the gas and brakes. Next thing I know I was going side ways and my nose was going onto the on coming traffic (I was about to do a 180). It happened in slow motion but I could not do anything and would have stopped on my own but on coming traffic hit me and they were going probably under 20 too.
I was hit in the passenger side at a 45-degree angle, as I was about to do a 180. In other words my nose would have been facing the opposite direction I was going from.
Passenger side was very badly damaged. Cracked rim and windshield. Whole front side will need replacing including suspension etc. The frame was shifted a toward the driver side.
I approx. about $10k in damages
I plan on fixing it then selling or trading it in.

1) Any suggestions as to either a 2000 or 2001
I see the price difference is not much. It will depend the
difference in insurance cost as to which I will get. I average
15k per year in mileage.
I see some good deals at around $31-32K for a 00 or 01 with
20-30K miles
2) I still have full starmark until 2006, 100K miles. I own a 1998
ML320 with 44K miles. What can I expect to get for a trade or
selling.
3) What would you(forum members) do in my situation?
KBB NADA
trade in $17-18k $21-22k
retail $21-22k $24-25k

I would appreciate any feedback and if any could address the 3 questions above.
Thank you and please drive safely,
Nick

 

"never lift"!

Glad you're ok.

Considering the amount of damage I would push to have your insurance company total it.

Repair cost on our ML, which was also hit in the same area, and suffered similar intrusion into the ****pit, was initially estimated at over $17k and there wasn't any suspension damage.

They totaled it.

Good luck.

 

glad you are ok after that accident...wow
thanks for the feedback
my car did not flip though
but it was hit pretty hard at the front pass. wheel..enough to crack the rim

so you suggest a total on the vehicle...can I push the insurance co. to do this?
I was told if the damage is 75% of the value then it is a total...i guess I have to wait for the appraisal from my insurance co., then I can discuss it with them.

thx
Nick

 

I would have thought the ESP and other stuff on the ML might have helped - but maybe you had exceeded the laws of physics and just were plain unlucky drifting into oncoming traffic.
Like Pete says, probably not a good idea to lift - even though that's the instinctive re-action :-)

Get better soon, and like Pete says I'd push to have it totalled.

Sorry to hear about your ML Pete, but look on the plus side you've got an ML55 now :-) Maybe I should buy more stock in a gas company !

Hope the ML55 is a 'good one' - I'd like to think they apply a little more TLC when building the 55 compared to 'run of the mill' ML's.

 

Some of the build quality is still limited by the available parts though.

I inherited machine gun locks for instance.

 

Unfortunately, ESP was not introduced on the ML until 1999.

 

St.Nick,

I am very sorry to hear about your accident. But, your health is first and foremost, and cars come and go. Glad to know you are okay and will be okay.

I had a minor accident and fretted over the ding to my car and become petty over it, but then, my common sense kicked in, and realized i was not hurt and walked away no with no straches.


Best of luck to you in your recovery!!

DJAMER

 

whoever owns this black flips ML need some new set of tires. kinda bald in the middle. LOL

 

Now that you are ok, I want to know if you had winter tires on the ML?

3-4 inches of snow to me would warrant the use of winter tires.

 

WTF ARE WINTER TIRES??? LOL i got 20s on my truck. LOW PROS ALL YEAR ROUND IN JERSEY...

 

originally posted by some pete guy

Considering the amount of damage I would push to have your insurance company total it.

Just remember that you will get fair market value for your truck, usually not enough to replace it.
Good luck.

 

I am pretty sure that it snows in Jersey. Does your insurance company look at the tires if you have an accident? Mine does. Winter conditions require winter tires.

In my mind, safety comes before fashion.

 

I am pretty sure that it snows in Jersey. Does your insurance company look at the tires if you have an accident? Mine does. Winter conditions require winter tires.

In my mind, safety comes before fashion.

 

Plenty of tread left. Consider the flash angle.

Why would bald tires make you laugh out loud?

 

????

Fair market value = what it would cost to replace your vehicle.

My insurance company got 60 comps for recent sales in my local area to establish the price.

 

hey pete your ML looks clean in those pics. you finally decided to wash it?

 

leave it to Al to make sure all cars are neat and clean! lol

 

well i owe about $23k on the financing....i will have to see how things go through with the insurance co. I am not sure what to expect...i have never been in this situation before.

They told the body shop it may be around $20k

kbb
trade is $17k
retail is $21,600
My insurance takes the average.
Can I argue with them to get more...I have reciepts for some upgrades as well.

 

KBB is very low.

My insurance company uses cbd (or something like that) which actually pulls comps from your local area.

In my case KBB retail was $25k +/-, nadaguides was around $32-33k, and my payoff from my insurance company was $37,800, after my $1k deductable.

You're in a negotiation now. Read your contract over again and be prepared to fight. Bring up "diminished value" as well.

 

This is very new to me and am not even sure where to begin on the negotiations. Well my max property payout on my insurance policy is $25k.

kbb retail is $21k
trade in $18K

NADA retail is $26K
trade in $23K

I owe $23K to the bank, paid $2K for rims and tires, and $1k deductible.....total $26K to break even.
The body shop told me my insurance co would be lookin at paying about $20K, when they went to inspect right after the accident.
I have the reciept for the rims, only about 2 months old.

if I can get the max from my ins. co. ($25k), I would be happy...any suggestions on negotiations would be very helpful...

Thanks and happy holidays to everyone.
Nick