Chi500

I've had my new ML for about 2 weeks now and already it's been hit. It was broadsided by this pickup at a bad intersection. I was making a left and so was the pickup on the perpendicular street. When I made the turn he was still very far away but he was speeding and it was raining out. His truck was a '91 Chevy S-10 his brakes locked and he slammed into me, damaging everything on the driver's side of my vehicle.

My car is pretty messed up, the front fender, front and rear door, rear fender and bumper are all damaged. The wheels are also misaligned now because in order to go straight the steering wheel has to be turned a little. Also, when the car is at a stop and I accelerate, it shudders.

Sh*tty part is that I had a stop sign and he didn't so it looks like it's my fault. But I was already 75% of the way through the intersection and he was speeding, but I have no way to prove that. I also have a slight suspicion he did it on purpose. What I think is that he sees a brand new Mercedes and he's in his sh*tty truck full of primer and thinks "hey if I total my car, I can get a new one paid by the insurance of that mercedes owner."

any thoughts on what I can do with this mess? Thanks in advance guys.

jangy

WOW!! Sorry to hear about the ML.

I can't help with the legal action, but you may want to contact your insurance in advance to talk them into footing the bill for an investigation to generate data in your favor or you could hire a lawyer. Either way, I'd get protected.

S-Clusiv

This MAY or may not be the question to ask but...any pictures?

Chi500

Yeah, I took some for insurance purposes. I think the damage isn't as bad as I first thought, only body pieces were damaged.

mick1

it's painful just to look at it.

superduper

Ouch...At least you are okay, thats all that really matters. Best of luck with the claim and the fix.

Birger

@Chi500:

If in any possible way you can: GET RID OF IT!!! I had similar damage (also at two weeks) to a JGC, and nothing but trouble since. The bodyshop may and may not be able to straighten the body, but most likely you'll wind up with wind noise, binding doors and other delights. Furthermore, as your car was probably moving when hit, the entire driveline will have suffered a shock - my JGC went through more wheel bearings, rear diffs, and gearboxes than I'd care to think of. Even if the insurance company may hit you, get rid of it and let someone else "enjoy" the rebuild.

Cheers,
Birger

PS: It's a little hard to see from the photos: Are your 19" wheels standard or chrome??

sosh

Agreed, particularly with a unibody vehicle

Chi500

Thanks guys, and Birger the rims are chrome.

S-Clusiv

Is that your curtain airbag that deployed??

redvettx2

You may want to trade it in as is to a dealer with there own body shop. They can ussually fix it for cheaper then you paying someone else. i have done this in the past with zo6 vette and came out sweet on the deal. Got 40K on the trade and 12k from the insurance company made out to me and the GMAC and traded it in for a new truck. Drove the z06 for a year got back what I paid for it. Free ride for a year. A car that is hit pretty hard will never be the same no matter how good the body shop is. Cut your loses and trade. You will also find out that a car that has its air bags deployed takes a big hit at trade in even if the car was fixed. Sometimes as much as 4 to 5K. Ouch! I would look to get as much from the insurance company as possible and trade as is.

PS. It does not matter what the other driver did if you had the stop sign. Its your fault for not waiting or looking. You only hope was excessive speed and measuring the skid marks. Wet road equals no skid marks. Bent metal is never pretty.

Good luck.

Chi500

Yeah the curtain air bag deployed.

Red vette, thanks for the idea. I will probably do that, but the thing is my insurance company only gave me a check for the visual damage seen by the adjuster, for now. They said they would write a second or even third check as they find more damage along the way as it's being repaired.

Cozz

This is what happens when you take it to 2nd rate body shops. I have seen guys cut and weld 3 clips together on a 85 190E. It was perfect. :v

mbbodytech

Sorry you had a bad experience with a body shop. But, there are thousands of body shops out there, and you picked one of the many, many unqualified and unprofessional ones out there. Maybe you should have done your homework better and found one that is qualified and professional.

Based on the pictures, that is a very light hit - no big deal to repair 100%. We are not yet to the point of throwing cars away, as so many people seem to think. If every car that was damaged the same way as that ML was, no one would be able to afford car insurance!

The key to getting your vehicle repaired correctly is to find a shop that is operating at a high level, a professional, a place that knows MB vehicles inside and out. MBUSA started a program to certify body shops (whether dealer owned or independant) based on thier qualifications, facilities, equipment, training, and on and on to insure that MB owners can have collision repairs handled in a proper way. One of the main elements of a good repair is the use of a dedicated fixture bench to insure that the vehicle's structure is 100% correct before rebuilding the parts. You may hear people refer to this as the Celette bench, however that is only one brand that is approved for use on MB vehicles. The other is Car Bench. If you choose a repair facility that is approved, they will be using this equipment - and that is a huge thing. Really, it's the foundation of a good repair.

Here is the link from MBUSA.com to help locate a certified center:

http://www.mbusa.com/brand/container...d.jsp&menu=3_0

Really, don't worry. Your car is completley repairable, and even more than that, it's not a big deal at all for a proper faclility to repair.

Birger

@ Cozz, Mbodytech

YOU may have a choice - look at my signature (I'm in Luxembourg, Europe), and generally, and particularly with "exotic" brands like Jeep, the choice is zero, here. This is not only true for body damage, but also in case of other major repairs - unfortunately. And most of the time, insurance will refuse to have your wreck taken to an experienced repair shop - out of state/country - because they hae certain "agreements".........

And even if I have a lot of confidence in the local MB dealer, in view of that damage, I'd try to get the insurance have it declared a total loss. Let them bother with reselling it - probably someone located 250+ miles east of here will be able to "fix" it to the delight of one of the local hoods.

Cheers,
Birger

Cozz

I see what you mean but's he's in Chicago USA. I'm sure he'll find a lot of good repair shops in the area. All he really needs is a fender, full front door and a rear door shell.

StephenK

I had what most would say was a small hit in my rear bumper on my 05 SL600, looked minor turned out to be far from that. The bodyshop supposedly only works on mercedes, porchse and BMW's and are right next to the large Mercedes dealer. THEIR WORK SUCKED, they said they did very good work, and I am the one who wears glasses, I pointed out there mistakes, but straigtening out the body, no way. They will get close, but it will NEVER be the same. Suck it up, get rid of it and get yourself a new one. That's what I did. Just my personal opinion.

Chi500

I still don't know what to do. I haven't taken it to a shop yet. I have two options trade it in as is or have it repaired. I'm trying to take the route where I will lose less money. If I decide to trade it in as is, I still need to take it to a shop so they can take it apart so the insurance adjuster can hand me another check. But I can't decide on which shop, there are two dealers near me, one has its own shop, another refers bodywork to an independent one. I had work done at the independent one when a tree branch fell on my old ML and destroyed the roof and windshield. The repair wasn't perfect, and it had a leak. The dealer's shop i've never been to, but I want to stay away because if I have it done there and I want to keep the car, it will be in their service records that there was a major accident and might hurt me if I decide to trade it in at a later time.

FlintCDI

I'm in the same boat you are. And am looking for some insite.

Best regards.

Jeff

StephenK

Wouldn't that information about the accident appear on a carfax report??

I would look at the active work a body is doing on cars and see what their finished quality looks like. From what I have seen, a lot of body shops assign cars to certain people in their shop and they see the work thru completion. I would see how they do it and then select the one who does the best looking work. Get it fixed, try to sell it or trade it. Ask a local attorney in your area, what disclosure is necessary for the amount of vehicle damage thaat you have.

GregW / Oregon

I agree with your assesment on repairability of this case. However, the MUSA link provided only liste two M-B dealers for repair facilities. I know we have a lot of good private shops here.

Chi500

I just got the car back Firday. It's been in the shop for nearly three months, because most of the time it was just sitting there waiting for parts because it was brand new. From what I see now, the body shop seemed to do a very good job. Looks seamless. I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. If I sell it or trade it in it will be for a loss. The only problem that I notice now is that the steering wheel is off-center and the wheel alignment is off. But after that's fixed I think I might just keep it for a little while longer. What happened to your vehicle?

If I sell it to a private party I'll disclose everything. It would just be wrong not to. But if I trade it in i dont really care. The dealer has screwed me over too many times. They give it an inspection before they give me a trade in value, if they don't catch it then, too bad. I won't deny there was an accident, but I won't volunteer any info either for the stealership.

coin

My c320 just had an accident two nights ago... a reckless driver missed a stop sign and bumped into my passenger side bumper...
The bodyshop will replace my front bumper, passenger side fender and headlight... I insist that my hood should be replaced as it is dent and scratched but the bodyshop says that it is repairable...
The estimate mounts to around $4,500.. Am I entitled for the diminished value in Illinois??... Should I just trade my car in (as is) and take the cash..
or should I repair it first then sell it??
I am afraid that if I keep my car, it will not be the same as before. Please give me some advices. Thanks.

Best regards.

benzmodz

The position of the accident, the time of day, the weather and the size of the impact are all indications of the speed of the truck. Given the speed they can determine how and why the truck braked and that would give some indication of who was in the intersection and why.