Hi guys,

So I got into my first accident this morning. Ended up rear-ending the car in front of my during early morning traffic; no one was hurt.

There was, however, some damage to the front of the beast. At quick glance, it looks like the front bumper, hood, grille, lights, intercooler, radiator, renders, etc, will need to be replaced. I've already filed my claim with my insurance so I'm just waiting on an estimate. Has anyone gone through a similar repair? I just spent $1000 at the dealer yesterday on new batteries, belts, and other misc stuff.

 

Looks like its not a total loss. The good news is you can go for the E63 front end now.

 

Here is mine, Guy backs into me at a red light.... $5,900.00 Parts and Labor!

 

I'm assuming the airbags did not go off - That almost right there would total the car...

But its going to be close I think to a write off...Who knows...

Where do we start placing bets!?

Sucks thought sorry for your loss!

 

The airbags did not go off. I'm actually astonished at how much composure the car had during the accident. The front end handled all the impact, the cabin was perfectly fine.

 

That sucks

 

12-14K damage car is hit hard above the frame rails, lots of stuff gets moved around.
Good Luck

 

This.


A friend with an E500 had almost identical damage to his E500... Was quoted $17k by insurance using an MB approved to fix it using all OEM parts...

 

Okay 12-14-16K no matter close to write off
What year is the car and mileage
Looks like it kissed the door with the drivers side fender mid door at the seam.
Good Luck with the repair.

 

Such a shame if they write cars off for damage like that. That's such a ridiculously light hit. I'm sure the front frame horns are bent but theyre soft aluminum on purpose and only go back a foot or so so they are replaceable. That car will be better than new if you update the front bumper, and save a few bucks off the factory stuff while you're at it.

 

Won't be surprised if the adjuster writes off. It's what they can't see later that drives up the estimate. With the year and mileage it will play in favor to write off than repair it. So if car is worth about $28,000 and repairs as much as stated on here will be written off

 

That sucks
What's they yer and mileage on the car?

 

Thanks guys. Car is 2006 and mileage is around 88k.

 

Was your first post seriously about how you wrecked your car? I'm sorry you had to be welcomed to this forum under such circumstances. If the car does get written off, I'll be sure to watch for it on insurance auction and may even buy it!

 

It probably won't be a write off

 

och - I would suggest that you tell the adjuster you want all oem parts, and while its at the body shop let them know you want the newer e63 bumper installed.

Good Luck -

 

There isn't really much available aftermarket with the exception of headlights and the E63 bumper/grill parts. Those parts are priced very high from MB and insisting on them might be the difference in them writing that car off or not. You may or may not want that. I personally wouldn't but some people have different opinions about cars. I would way rather have that car with all new E63 parts, shiny new headlights and fresh perfect paint on the front than the seven year old stuff regardless of how well it was kept. But others just would lie in bed restless at night with a nervous twitch in their toe if they had a car in the garage that had paint anywhere on it that he factory didn't squirt on it.

Also something to think about is, there may be a clause in your policy that allows the insurance to replace your parts with aftermarket ones if you wreck your car and you're claiming from them. It's when you have a third party claim from someone else hitting you that you can start making demands and b**ching about it.

How long have you had that car? What'd you pay for it? Anything wrong with it mechanically before it got damaged?

 

At least they got rid of the grille for you.

 

Correct. Usually your insurance has the clause of comparable aftermarket parts for repairs. But if you get hit, you can say no and want OEM parts. I did that when my E55 got rear ended by a Tahoe. Had to wait 3 weeks to get the AMG bumper shipped from Germany. Did get OEM lights and everything else. The adjuster found an AMG bumper in a tow yard that was refurbished and i said no.

 

Damn that sucks but glad your ok. Yes, E63 front end time!

 

That car is around 22k lets say...if damaged excess 16k, that car will be a total loss.

 

that sucks really bad
but now you can get a e63 front end with new headlights

 

Canadian Black book value of this car is between 13500 and 17400. I know it seems low but the age and mileage bring down the value considerably. Unless you can show complete maintenance documentation for money spent. You already have the 1000 dollar bill as stated.
Good Luck, Hope you are all right medically, this is most important! If you are sore consult a physical therapist who will then contact your Insurance company
This will show you how good your insurance company is after all you also pay insurance on what they value the car for as stated by your bill of sale. Now any add-ons are a different ball game.

 

typically if the cost to fix is over 80% of the value it will be totaled. good luck and glad you are ok.

 

Either you're mistaken or they do things differently in Canada.

Here, when making a first party claim ( you wrecked your car and are claiming from your own insurance) it makes no difference whatsoever what kind of maintenance records you have, or what you paid for the car, they dont give the slightest s**t about any of that. Theyll apply KBB value to it based on the miles and condition, and work from there.

Some work with 70%, some work with ashigh as 85% as a number that'll signal a write off. They do this because they want to account for potential supplementary claims for unseen damage that might put them over the 100% value. In some cases such as cars that have a high enthusiast following, the KBB values are way off and you can argue with them a little depending on what you want to do.

If they try and write it off, and insurance wants to pay you 16K for a car you could have easily sold for 22, you can find comps for the same car and claim the actual replacement value to be higher. The same thing if they're trying to write it off and you want it fixed. The KBB value might be off triggering a write off number much lower than the market value causing it to go to scrap much sooner than needed.

As I said earlier, it all depends on what kind of owner you are. If the thought of having a car with paint work done to it gives you an anxiety attack, push to total it. If you see the paint work as an improvement like I do, push to fix it.

You have a much better position to argue with when you're the third party victim of someone else's carelessness. You can even get them to pay way over book on a car with mods if you have reciepts for the mods. I've had people whose cars I've done custom paint jobs on that I've helped get over double and one almost triple the KBB value for custom candy paint jobs.

But try that same approach with your own insurance and they'll tactfully tell you to go f**k yourself. You should have had additional "stated value" coverage to cover any extra mods or custom paint.