Well, after only 5 months of ownership, I got into my first major accident. Luckily there were no serious injuries. Someone in the oncoming lane tried to make a quick left in front of me as I was going 45 and he spun out instead. Slammed on the breaks, but there was just not enough time, and I hit the rear of his car. Anyone with similar damage have any idea if this has a chance of being totalled?

that's look total

100% totalled.

How many miles does the car have?

that sucks bad man...
Are the wheels messed up??

-Nick

Glad you are OK!

you are driving a sub-30k car that appears to have suffered a 15k (at least) damage.

i would say it is totaled.

consider yourself lucky and now that you are ok ... good riddance. go get a better one.

Looks like a total to me.

totalled sorry to hear it man glad everyones ok

well this just means another one is in your future

Ouch! Glad your fine the car can be replaced.

I hope you guys are right. It looks bad, but there is no visible damage from the doors back.
The car had 50000 miles, and the wheels are fine but they are just replicas.

I don't even see the passenger side headlight.. But if its around somewhere, Is there any chance the rubber strip that sits on top of the headlight and seals the headlight to the hood is in tact?
If so lemme know, i need one....

Nick

I was rear-ended on New Year's Eve 2008 which shoved me into the car ahead of me. The damage I sustained was not as bad as yours appears to be. To make a long story short, I insisted the car be trailered to a very high end (read expensive) repair shop known for excellent work. When contacted by my insurance agency I said the car IMHO was totaled and insisted they declare it totaled too. Their first damage estimate was $8K which was totally wrong. In subsequent talks with them I continued to insist they total my car and I contacted the body shop to get them on-board too. When all was said and done, the damage estimate was $57K and the car was declared a total wreck. Bottom line, if you believe your car is totaled and you do not want to drive a questionably repaired SL55 with a bad Carfax accident report you must be firm with everyone who contacts you and insist they total your car. If you don't and allow the insurance companies to gain the upper hand, they will not advocate for you, and you'll get a repaired (one of their recommended shops) SL55 back that you'll be miserable with. After my accident I learned the SL55 is a very complex automobile under the paint and many many shops are not qualified top work on it so use caution. You can choose the shop to repair it if you choose. BTW, although you may not have sustained any obvious injuries I would still see a doctor just in case something shows up later (e.g. whiplash symptoms which can appear weeks/months later). Also, don't accept their first settlement offer, it will be low. The insurance companies goal is to settle quickly, cheaply and without further legal recourse. Settlements are also negotiable so hold your ground here too. I learned all of this from a neighbor who was a claims adjuster several years ago and after my first major accident two years ago. Good luck!

Wow I was planning to offer my 03 front bumper for cheap before I got in here. That's definitely totaled.

RIP

is totalled.
at least you're Ok.

Glad your okay.

Even 1/3 of that damage would be totaled.

im glad your ok. cars junk. would you sell the lower mesh grill? i need it

For everyone asking for parts off my car, if the insurance company decides it's a total loss, then they will pay me and take the car. I can't part it out and sell it to you guys. Sorry.

This is true, but please keep my PM in mind.

I just got a call from the insurance company, and they immediately declared it a total loss. Now I'm waiting for their settlement offer. I'm sure the offer will be low and need any suggestions on how to effectively argue for a better settlement.

Yes, because a totaled SL55 is difficult to value your insurance company will review auction prices, KBB, Black Book, Edmund's, eBay, internal guidelines, and other car valuation publications to determine its value which is typically trade-in minus a pre-detemined percentage e.g. 20% (low-ball number). They will also consider miles and recent salvage data for similar cars. Needless to say it will be low. I suggest you do your own research and determine for yourself what you think a reasonable offer should be. Listen to their offer and then counter with yours based upon your own research. If they know you've done your homework they are more inclined to work with you. Remember, its a business negotiation so don't let your insurance company intimidate you. I went through this when my 06 was totaled and we did reach an acceptable compromise settlement figure.

You are 100% correct, this is the best info to OP on this entire thread. The insurance companies want you to think they are "on you side" and "Like a Good Neighbor", just watch TV for more than 20 minutes and you will be guaranteed to see a Geico, Progressive, Allstate and State Farm auto commercials show how caring and compassionate they are when you make a claim and how quickly they want to pay up and get you back on the road....Now fast forward to reality. Insurance companies are in business to make money just like every other business out there and rightfully so. Their goal is to maximize profits and since they are not selling an actuall product that means they want to take as much money as they can in premiums and pay out as little as possible in claims, pretty much a common sense approach. Unfortunately that means when it comes time to pay a claim they they are no longer "that good neighbor", they want to bend you over and make it hurt, they are going to start with a low ball offer, what have they got to loose? They rely on the fact that some people don't know they can negotiate, some people just say OK to the first lowball offer. As was already stated you need to do alot of homework, get lots of current prices for SL's both retail and wholesale, you are a consumer so the retail price is what matter to you but they will keep reverting back to wholesale figures. Make sure you have receipts for all your service, if you have a set of brand new tires on the car don't for get that receipt, if you have an existing exteded warranty they have to pay for that, any add-on or aftermarket parts will be covered up to a certain point. Also in some states and situations they will be required to pay the sales tax on a replacement vehicle, I don't know the exact details of this, but about 11 years ago I was involved in an accident out of state in Florida and Florida law at the time required them to pay my sales tax on my replacement. When they low ball you be preppared to counter with an equally insulting high counter offer, you will end up somewhere in the middle.

Good Luck and keep us posted

Wow sorry to see this...glad ur ok....did you reqar end a semi-trailer or other truck? looks like a nose shave incident

best of luck with the insurance company...the 2 post above are right...don't let them push you around, it's your right to get a fair settlement.

Well, after 2 weeks of worrying about fighting with the insurance company, and all the talk on this forum about how early sl55's are worth only low 30's, their initial offer was actually what my counter offer was going to be! Now the question is how do I come up with another $15K to buy an SL65?

nice....hope everything works out well for you