zdkdeeier493

Although it's nothing really major and thankfully no one was hurt, I've been pretty depressed about it all day. I was merging from one street onto another this morning when some guy cut from the lane to the left of me, across my lane, and then slowed down to turn into an alley which was directly to the right of me without even knowing I was there. I nearly T-boned him but I was able to slow down just enough to nail his rear right corner. The thing that pisses me off is that his car was 100% unscaved whereas I recieved well over $1,000 worth of damage to mine. The hood has been warped - messing up the alignment, the front left fender is pretty messed up in front, my whole headlight shattered, the turn signal is giving me a fault warning, and the bumper has been significantly damaged as well. I doubt it will be anything serious (there is no damage to the structure or framework of the car) but does anybody know roughly how much this might hurt my resale value if at all? Cool thing is, although I recieved all of the damage, I didn't even feel a bump whereas his car skidded out as if it were on ice. I guess my beast gave that guy a little piece of her mind They actually make the damage look very modest, but here are some pictures that I took with my mobile.

MBE55AMG

Aw man... hate to see an injured E55. I am so sorry about the accident, I have to say so many people are self-centered when they drive.

As for resale value, well it is going into accident history I believe, so it might affect the resale value.

Again, I'm sorry and hope it gets patched up quick!

MB Fanatic

Sorry to hear about your unfortunate event. But now you could upgrade to Bi-Xenons. lol.

Anyways hopefully his insurance will reimburse you with every single penny. Just make sure you take it to any body shop you want and not one of their choice. See if you can get some resale money out of it as well. Never hurts to ask.

Glad to hear you are ok, and we all wish you the best of luck on getting the Beast fixed ASAP.

zoink

Sorry to hear that.... and glad you're OK. Based on my experience, if you could get it fixed at a very good body shop so that no eyes couldn't tell the difference, I don't think it would affect the resale value significantly, if at all (assuming the alignment has been fully corrected). For body paint, make sure when it's blended with the areas w/ original paint (I'm sure all body shops nowadays do that) and it neither leaves any paint line nor has any running paint. And also, if the body shop took your fender apart, make sure when they install it back the bolts are also painted as if they hadn't been opened (no marks left behind).

This is with one exception when a dealer checks the entire car w/ paint thickness measurement (my cousin always does that - safe for him but not good for the seller ). But don't worry only few people / dealers do that.... and as a private seller, you don't have to disclose it unless asked.

Good luck!

naadp

From personal experience, it'll only show up on a carfax if the body shop orders any VIN coded parts, or if the car is repaired at the dealer. It doesn't look like you have damage that would require any body panels, so you may be safe...

adx

Sorry to hear about your accident. Hopefully, they can repair her to its original state. It doesn't sound like there was any engine, frame or drivetrain damage just the fender and hood. Good luck.

zoink

Not if it's a minor accident.... somehow, I've never seen carfax shows any history unless it's a major accident.

Just make sure you don't fix it at a dealer

eagleeye

Man, the exact same thing happened to me in my old CLK430. As soon as it was repaired, I traded it for an M3 cab. I couldn't handle driving a less than perfect car.

Also the body shop really f'ed it up, overspray on windshield, left off a piece of the front ground effects, etc.

BTW, clean those rims man.

JAY55

Sorry about the bad news mate, glad you're OK and no one was hurt.

BoBcanada

sorry to hear man, hope everything works out well for you!

vrus

Sorry to hear about the beast getting damaged.. Like everyone else stated, most important thing is that no one was hurt. Car can get repaired and will be just like new.

Buy yourself a new mod.. you'll feel better.

SL BRABUS

Sorry to hear about that........hope you feeling better.......

v8plus4

Does anyone know if the dealerships use the factory scratch-resistant Ceramiclear paint when they repair this kind of damage?

Thericker

I thought all 2003 on up 55 AMG'S came standard w/Bi-Xenon's?

E55_POWER

Your car's value should be fine...

My car had over $12K in damage and I still got $74K selling back to the dealer without actually trading in for another car.

My car was 05 and I just found out they sold that car within 3 days.

Beowulf

Sorry to hear of the accident, but your safety is the important thing!

It's your call on repair vs. replacement on the 55. Obviously, the relatively small amount of damage means it doesn't qualify to be totalled. Repair can make it look "almost as good as new", but the work will always be evident to a sharp eye and will defintely affect the resale value, sooner or later.

Get it fixed, keep it and take a long-term hit in valuie due to the repairs or trade it now and take an immediate hit in value? Not an easy choice! I've been in both situations before and usually I elect the latter. Often, there's an insurance allowance for "decreased value" on top of whatever repairs are necessary, but in reality, it's just a token amount and never enough to offset the decrease in true market valuie of your car.

Whatever your choice, best wishes for a positive outcome!

04E55 AMG

Did they tell you how much they sold it for?

hllatif

Sorry about your accident.. Glad its only minor... More glad that no one was hurt

M5KILLR

uggggghhh, my stomach hurts just looking at it. good luck my friend!

xraymd

Aggghhh!! You guys are freaking me out. These E55's seem like magnets for stupid drivers to cut off, T-bone or otherwise injure. When my baby arrives, I'm going to be afraid to take her out of the garage.

zdkdeeier493

Thanks for all the helpful input guys. I'm still yet to make a final decision but the insurance company has decided that I am 0% at fault - thank God. Anyway, the guy who is doing my body work did my lights and painted my diffuser. Most of the work he's done for me so far has been free of charge and I've never seen better work by any other body shop. The guy is brilliant. Hopefully, since I have no fault charge, I will actually be able to order a brand new fender, bumper, and headlight direct from the dealer (I'm not payin', so why use the damaged parts!). I believe that VelocitE55 was able to recieve compensation for "decreased value", so here is my plan:
Hopefully I will be able to recieve compensation for decreased value, and then get a quote from the dealer. I will run the numbers and if, in fact, the compensation evens out the net loss in resale, I will trade the car for a new (low/similar mileage) '04. If not, I will keep her.
I will not, under no circumstances, accept repairs that leave any trace whatsoever however I highly doubt that will happen due to the quality of past work that my body shop has done for me.
Thanks again for all your help everybody. This has been a pretty tough time as that I love this car more than any of my other posessions and I appreciate all of your concern.

naadp

I would recommend against ordering a body panel. There is a very good chance that if you do that your car will show up as being wrecked on carfax. The damage to the metal seems minor, and a good body guy should be able to fix it good as new.
No report on carfax means you can go "huh?" and pretend like you didn't hear when you trade it in and they ask you questions.

"Being in an accident" is very subjective. I had a kid hit my hood with a baseball, and it needed to be repainted. Does that mean my car was in an "accident" ?

zdkdeeier493

Thats a very valid point. I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one though. You see, if I order a new body panel, then I can claim a depreciation in value, and recieve compensation for it. Then I can sell my car combined with that compensation money and get an '04 E55 with low miles for relatively cheap. Or, I can use the existing panel, (my bodywork guy will make it look good as new) and just take a long-term hit in value. I wouldn't mind a new car, but that's such a hard path to take...

BenzoBoi

Well at least no one was hurt...I mean metals can always be replaced but lives can't. Glad to see you're alright buddy...

MBH

Very sorry to hear about this. Hope you get it fixed soon and everything works out for you.

Best Wishes,
MBH
2005 E55 Silver/Charcoal