This subject could invite all kinds of comments, so feel free to chime in with opinion, personal experience, etc...

My neighbor backed into my parked SL600 the other day, and his insurance is of course taking care of costs (about $3K) to repair to like condition before the accident. However what upsets me more is the fact that my car will now be labeled as an accident car, which I know from my personal experience and just common sense that the "value" of the car after repair will now always be less due to being tainted as an accident car. Take me for instance, I only buy impeccable cars, and for me to buy a car that has been in an accident would require a much lower price for me to purchase it compared to another similar car with no accident history.

So this is what I am currently going through with my SL600, having repairs done first and then looking into the issue of Diminished Value. On the internet I see some sources that indicate ballpark Diminished Value is generally about 30% less than a car without an accident history. As you can imagine 30% decrease in value could result in much more than just the repair costs. I read that recovery of this Deceased Value is usually pretty poor, so we as accident victims just continue to take it up the butt for something not our fault. I just thought I would put this out there for discussion because sometimes we do not think or act upon such things, and insurance policies are usually not built to cover it, but only to "recondition the car to like condition prior to accident".

As can be seen from the photo below, the dent was mainly to the drivers side fender, but nonetheless will still be tainted as an "accident car" and have value consequences as mentioned above.

Diminished Value due to accident by JanDaMan, on Flickr

 

Document the damage and repair.

 

You would be surprised at what paintless dent removal can do. If you really don't want it on your car's history, cut a cash deal with you neighbor and get the dent popped out.

 

no, not for that

 

Not much to add from me other than sorry it happened.

 

This is good advice and perhaps your only course of action to minimize the value impact.

Once the insurance company is involved and there is a payout, an accident history will be present.

If you document the extent of the damage and the repairs, the documentation will allow the next owner to actually see what occurred and can then make decisions based on that. While there is a "diminished value", you can minimize this with such documentation. I would rather buy a car that has had impeccable maintenance and documentation over a car without - any day - even with the damage that has occurred in your instance.

Be lucky that it is only a dent. A dent in the fender is much better than a buckled over drivers side front wheel assembly. How you repair with genuine MB parts is important. The world is not a perfect place and **** happens. I know how you feel and am sorry this happen to you.

 

Thanks, tried that too, but was told aluminum (unlike steel) changes shape (stretches) when dented that bad and can't simply be worked back into shape. Plus neighbor doesn't have the money to pay out of pocket, so need to do the insurance route.

 

thats a small fender bender, take pics and keep the body shop reciept, youll lose a few dollars at sale but as miserable resale values go you wont even know it

 

You'll lose 8.00% of trade-in because of the bad Carfax/Autocheck, maybe more because yours is an exotic car with a more particular clientele.

 

I do not think SL600 has aluminum fenders.

To your original question, igree with "Kustom..." post above. Document the repairs, including pictures so that you can set future buyers minds at ease. Receive in writing there is no structural damage.

You didn't mention the potential hit to your insurance rates that a claim may have. This may be a factor to consider.

 

Yes, our fenders are aluminum per a few body shop estimates (as well as a Mercedes dealer estimate) and insurance company too. Good news for my insurance, doesn't go up for me since it is no-fault, my car was just sitting there parked. But you did get my curiosity up on what our cars are made of, so I just took a magnet to all parts of my other SL (2005 SL65) and the only part that got a reaction to the magnet are the rear fenders, but all else, including hood, trunk, top of car & front fenders no magnet reaction at all.

I kind of calmed down some over this whole thing; but nonetheless when you are hit, you are pretty much the one taking it in the *** even if your car gets fixed. Same thing happened a few years ago when my wife's immaculate 1985 300D got rear ended and totaled. Insurance would only pay for the market rate in our area of similar mileage cars (even if they were pretty much crap). It was understood in the accident expert community (such as appraisers & body shops) that it just "is what it is". Things such as this makes me want to have my cars appraised annually as a potential aid to value, but no fun doing that either.

Since this happened I also debated to do a PriorDesign Black Series body kit, but I think the car is still to nice and thinking I may regret it. Would rather do that on a car in a bit more of an accident and in need of paint.

 

Get a diminished value report/inspection done. Present that to that insurance company to have them pay you that amount.
If they don't play ball, look into a good attorney that does accidents to have them deal with the diminished value report and insurance company.

Used OEM fender is perfectly fine to use, as it will need to be painted pretty much either way inside and out. It's not a wear item, so a good condition used fender is no worse than a new oem one. Just don't settle for a new aftermarket/replacement no matter what.

 

a used fender would cost less than the labor to fix that one. look on ebay

 

You have an influence over market rate. My truck was "totaled" for 3k of cosmetic damage. They wanted to pay out 9k. I showed them my extensive maintenance history and custom work, then they asked me to provide my own set of compatable listings. I found several vehicles in similar condition with more miles listed at 25k so they priced me out at 19k instead.

As far as this incident, i would cut the cash deal if you care about resale value. Just be sure to actually repair it rather than pass it off to the next owner to find. If you plan on keeping the car for more than another year or so, youre gonna depreciate more than the difference between a documented fender bender or a clean history. The main costs would come from damage to the headlight fixtures if there was any..

Terrible luck, im sorry to hear. And i agree, insurance payouts are designed to be fair for the average car (like a civic) not for anything as exotic as any v12 or AMG. However, these cars have proven to be fairly poor investments as far as resale value, so i recommend you just have it fixed and enjoy it. Hell, mod it like crazy now that you dont care about resale

 

Thanks all for info sharing. Nice job in fighting for your truck incident. On my wifes immaculate 1985 300D, since it was totaled I was required to show comparable cars for sale and comparable "sales" within my proximity zip code (for instance So Cal and not any immaculate cars found across the US). So, due to it being such a nice car I was unable to come up with any similar comparisons for sales in the area, and only used blue book etc to demonstrate actual sales (but those things are compiled data and vague). In the end it just didn't work for my instance for the 300D, but I agree everyone should try and not just take it in the butt when insurance is lowballing you.

For my SL600 accident, was already reported to DMV per insurance company so it now gets recorded as an accident car. My opinion on that is that if the law requires that accidents of a certain dollar amount be reported, then law should also accompany that law to require insurance companies compensate for diminished value with diminished value language be written in policies. Google search shows some states do.

 

There is "your insurer", and there is "their insurer". Your insurer likes you because you pay them. Their insurer views you as a pain in the neck. Every time I’ve had one of my cars damaged by someone else, I've had my insurer repair my vehicle and they have collected from the other party. I've never had to pay a deductible doing it this way. There are reasons I go this route. First, my insurer guarantees the work forever. If the paint peels in 10 years, they fix it. If the paint fades at a different rate (the original or the new) they fix it. If anything looks or goes wrong, they fix it. Period. No questions asked. If the dealer is servicing my car and they say, “whoever did this bodywork messed this other thing up”, my insurer makes it right. If the other party’s insurer repairs my car, my insurer won’t fix anything. I’ll be sent to the “other party’s insurer” who is going to go the cheapest route possible, which may include stiffing me.

Will you have to accept a used fender? If you go through the other insurer, yes. If you go through your insurer, maybe. Why? I’ve never seen an insurance policy that didn’t have an "LKQ" clause. L.K.Q. stands for Like Kind & Quality. That’s legalese for we can repair your car with parts from anyplace we want. The other insurer probably won’t install a used fender that has a quarter inch of body filler, but they may simply paint a red one to match your car and send you on your way. Not strip it to metal, use etch primer, build primer, basecoat, and then clearcoat – just paint it so it’s good enough to get you to go away. If you were the other insurer, wouldn't you go the cheapest route possible? After all, you're not their customer. If you use your insurer, and they have to stand behind their work, they won’t cut corners to save your neighbor’s insurer any money.

Will your rates go up? Mine never have and I’ve done exactly what I’m explaining to you. Maybe I’m old school. I have a real insurance agent. Someone who’s in an office and works for a major carrier – Allstate. After a car of mine was damaged by another party I asked if my rates would go up if Allstate fixed my car. My agent said, “It’s simple. If we pay, you’ll pay. If anyone else pays, we don’t care. In this case, someone else is going to pay. No, your rate will not go up.”

I hope this helps and your car is repaired in a satisfactory manner.

 

I'm with Marcus on this one. I've had my share of cars damaged, and I always file my own claim through my own insurance carrier. As Marcus noted, my insurer is there to take care of me. My car goes to my favorite shop (MB certified), and that shop fixed it the way I want it done. No, it can never be perfectly new again, but it can be very close. My shop helps to minimize the difference between new and now.


They and my insurance company both warrantee all of the parts and work done, so I have some level of confidence that the repair will remain as performed, well into the future.

 

Good info guys, but my insurer (Farmers) said the outcome would be the same if they file and only difference would be that it takes a bit longer. They said AAA (persons insurance that hit me) basically sends a quote to me and I take that AAA money to apply at whatever shop I want. The AAA estimate is good (same as a couple body shop estimate I got) but I just didn't know industry practice about a used fender, so I checked with my Farmers on that and it seems industry practice is to do that; however AAA said they would grant a new (non-aftermarket). So, just waiting on the new estimate. Farmers also said in CA anyway he has only heard of one case on that which was handled through small claims court. So, repair to condition pre accident seems to be one thing and diminished value a separate issue. But searching on the web it seems some states have different practices. Since the language isn't in CA policies, AAA did say they will consider a separate claim which is on me to do. Since it isn't in any CA insurance policy, it is not an insurance policy issue.

But I will check with my Farmers about any warranty issues, and how that works now that you mentioned it. But before I ask, can you let me know how your know your insurance warrantees all parts and work done? In other words, what does it say in writing that you have in hand. Thanks.

Plus, everyone don't assume a MB certified shop is better, they damaged my car twice when in for service through shop negligence (MBZ will not help you in this regard because they tell me the shops are still "independent" shops). Basically you straighten out issues encountered with the MBZ shop yourself, or utilize an attorney to help. This is why I am probably going to another good body shop with my repair, as I don't need more in quick out quick assembly line type of service that a big shop seems to provide. We will see...crap shoot. If I went back to Fletcher I bet my attorney would say "what are you stupid!!"

 

Everyone has their own preference for insurers. I've had Allstate for over 30 years. Allstate allows any customer to use something called the "Good Hands Repair Network". I simply haul my wreck to one of the shops that participate in the Good Hands Repair Network, and they fix it. My loaner is waiting for me at the shop, and that's where I return it. Allstate gives me a written guarantee of repairs and the guarantee is for as long as I own the vehicle. I can use any shop I want, but to get the FOREVER guarantee, I have to use their shop. The good news is, I'm in So Cal and (1) the best body shop where I live is part of the Good Hands Repair Network. (2) If I decide I hate that shop, lots of other shops participate. This link explains it - https://www.allstate.com/auto-insura...te-repair.aspx

Everyone has seen the Mayhem commercial. We all laugh. If "the other insurance company" fixes my car, and it goes to hell in 3 years, Mayhem will be in the passenger seat laughing at me. If I use the Good Hands Repair Network, there is no Mayhem. If Allstate wants to hand me a piece of paper that says GUARANTEE FOR AS LONG AS I OWN THE CAR, I'd have to be nuts to use anything else.

As for Farmers steering you toward the AAA solution, that makes sense to me. Think of it from a business owner's perspective. If I were Farmers, and I could get away with tying up AAA's money AND not being on the hook if something goes sideways, I'd do it. What do I have to lose? As a consumer, I want "my" insurance company fixing "my" car. I pay my insurer because they're on the hook for anything that happens.