Hello,
My daughter took our 2009 ML 350 to college in the fall. We live in another state. In November, the roof of the car was damaged by a tree branch during a storm, leaving a major crease along the middle of the roofline, but it did not break the sunroof. The sunroof was significantly misaligned though on 3 of the 4 corners. We contacted our insurance carrier and they gave us a list of 5 places we could take it to for repairs. We took it to an authorized repair shop and were told that the entire roof needed to be replaced. They fixed the car and it was returned in the beginning of December. My daughter got in the car last week and noticed that there seemed to be a lot of ice on the drivers side floor, but attributed it to the major snowstorms they'd had. On Tuesday, she got in the car and started to drive it and the entire electrical system failed. We had the car towed to a Mercedes dealer and have since learned that the wiring harness for the entire car is totally shot, and was covered in ice. The service rep said that it was an ice rink under the car and he thinks it'll be totaled, since its so labor intensive. (not to mention its an '09 with 160k). Does anyone know what my legal rights are? The car had NO issues with water prior to the roof being replaced. Mercedes said they can perform a water test to determine where it is leaking, which I would certainly pay for, but I believe the body shop really screwed up on the repair and its ruined my car. I'm looking for any advice or thoughts on how to proceed. I've contacted my insurance agent, but haven't heard back yet. I'm hoping someone out there knows what my options are and if the body shop will be held accountable. Will my insurance company fight this fight for me since we went through them and used an approved shop? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 

Contact your insurance company first. They are likely to take responsibility since you took it to their recommended mechanic and they approved the repair. If you don't get what you think you should then talk to an attorney.

 

Thanks, Flybd5.
We've contacted insurance and are waiting to hear back. I'm hoping they step in and will help. I can't imagine the body shop will admit fault, especially since we are looking at totaling a car worth around 15k. Based on the amount of water in the car, I don't think it'll be too hard to determine where it got into the car, but it still needs to be attributed to the roof replacement. I'm guessing they could deny fault- but ?? (I am about as far from a gear head as they come, so really I have no idea.) Do you know what doing a "water test" entails? The dealer said they could do one to figure it out. My ML was truly a great car. Appreciate your advice.

 

Most likely they take it to a car wash or put it in a room with a ton of hoses and hit it with as much water as they can to see if and where it leaks. I can't imagine the insurance company refusing the claim.