$2,000+ repair rock chip in front intercooler/heat exchanger?
01-10-2019, 09:36 AM
#26
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
And your rates will go up more than the cost of the intercooler damage (over time). ANY claim for ANY insurance you better make sure it's worth it!
Zunsport Grills installed for my E63S I took the risk for a couple hundred miles until I was convinced performance from air intake from another forum member was not affected using them.
Zunsport Grills installed for my E63S I took the risk for a couple hundred miles until I was convinced performance from air intake from another forum member was not affected using them.
I mean, aren't pebbles common things on the road? I feel like this is the same as the car melting if it sees snow...
01-10-2019, 09:39 AM
#27
You're not kind of mad that Mercedes sells you a car that is known susceptible to pebbles puncturing holes in radiators and causing multi-thousands of dollars in repairs, then not covering the damage?
I mean, aren't pebbles common things on the road? I feel like this is the same as the car melting if it sees snow...
I mean, aren't pebbles common things on the road? I feel like this is the same as the car melting if it sees snow...
01-10-2019, 10:02 AM
#28
You're not kind of mad that Mercedes sells you a car that is known susceptible to pebbles puncturing holes in radiators and causing multi-thousands of dollars in repairs, then not covering the damage?
I mean, aren't pebbles common things on the road? I feel like this is the same as the car melting if it sees snow...
I mean, aren't pebbles common things on the road? I feel like this is the same as the car melting if it sees snow...
Back to the topic I no longer fall in love with cars I lust them and "use" them I know I want out in 3 yrs or 30 months if there's a pull ahead. MB is the best about this MBFS is good MB reps with dealers can make customers happy. I didn't even tint my windows because I didn't want to spend money on the car but I did pay the $320-$340 whatever it was to get the Zunsport to avoid the headache took me way longer to install than most people because I use painters tape to make sure I didn't scratch the paint. While the grills look good it annoys me the S65 has the proper stock protective grills.
TL;DR I'm annoyed but not angry glad I did my research, also glad I read this forum to make sure I was able to get the best lease deal and find the best dealership to work with which made me have to ship it in. I'm in SFL and dealing with Autonation (Mafia) is unacceptable will never ever get a vehicle from them.
01-10-2019, 10:04 AM
#29
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
A member on the M5 boards hit a piece of wood that punctured his engine oil cooler... he drove for 90 seconds and that was probably 85 seconds too long. His engine was toast and BMW obviously denied any warranty coverage even though the oil cooler is so poorly locate underneath the front of the car. His auto insurance covered it like the OPs here. Road damage is comprehensive in nature even when the damage is due to poor engineering.
They were trying to argue that I “collided” with a pebble off of the freeway... come on lol
When insurance meets physics...
01-10-2019, 12:12 PM
#31
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,652
Received 569 Likes
on
392 Posts
2018 E63S AMG
My wife confirmed what I posted earlier, it’s a comprehensive claim (not collision) and added that there should be no rate hike for a comprehensive claim. There’s no at faultness like in the case of collision claims.
Again CA insurance laws my be different than other states. Also some insurance companies or their claims people may be better than others about correctly classifying and paying the claims.
Not really any different than a windshield claim. In fact, it takes more energy to get a pebble higher up to strike a windshield so you’d think radiator strikes would be more common than windshield strikes, though radiators may be more forgiving than glass when hit.
Again CA insurance laws my be different than other states. Also some insurance companies or their claims people may be better than others about correctly classifying and paying the claims.
Not really any different than a windshield claim. In fact, it takes more energy to get a pebble higher up to strike a windshield so you’d think radiator strikes would be more common than windshield strikes, though radiators may be more forgiving than glass when hit.
01-10-2019, 05:11 PM
#32
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
01-10-2019, 05:57 PM
#34
01-10-2019, 06:36 PM
#35
Listen to this if you want to scratch the paint during installation. Says right in the instructions to use painter's tape also there are screws that must be applied in the center grille that go through the plastic. 10 minutes is nonsense until you just throw them in there with no regard to scratching.
That being said it isn't "difficult" at all very easy to do just do it carefully. The side grilles for the intercoolers those clip on but be careful I had bent them a little so they would grab and ended up little scratches on the inner plastic when pushing them in. Not on the paint though.
That being said it isn't "difficult" at all very easy to do just do it carefully. The side grilles for the intercoolers those clip on but be careful I had bent them a little so they would grab and ended up little scratches on the inner plastic when pushing them in. Not on the paint though.
01-10-2019, 06:41 PM
#36
My wife confirmed what I posted earlier, it’s a comprehensive claim (not collision) and added that there should be no rate hike for a comprehensive claim. There’s no at faultness like in the case of collision claims.
Again CA insurance laws my be different than other states. Also some insurance companies or their claims people may be better than others about correctly classifying and paying the claims.
Not really any different than a windshield claim. In fact, it takes more energy to get a pebble higher up to strike a windshield so you’d think radiator strikes would be more common than windshield strikes, though radiators may be more forgiving than glass when hit.
Again CA insurance laws my be different than other states. Also some insurance companies or their claims people may be better than others about correctly classifying and paying the claims.
Not really any different than a windshield claim. In fact, it takes more energy to get a pebble higher up to strike a windshield so you’d think radiator strikes would be more common than windshield strikes, though radiators may be more forgiving than glass when hit.
01-10-2019, 07:01 PM
#37
Listen to this if you want to scratch the paint during installation. Says right in the instructions to use painter's tape also there are screws that must be applied in the center grille that go through the plastic. 10 minutes is nonsense until you just throw them in there with no regard to scratching.
That being said it isn't "difficult" at all very easy to do just do it carefully. The side grilles for the intercoolers those clip on but be careful I had bent them a little so they would grab and ended up little scratches on the inner plastic when pushing them in. Not on the paint though.
That being said it isn't "difficult" at all very easy to do just do it carefully. The side grilles for the intercoolers those clip on but be careful I had bent them a little so they would grab and ended up little scratches on the inner plastic when pushing them in. Not on the paint though.
But sure use painters tape as a precaution
01-10-2019, 08:11 PM
#38
Junior Member
Just take your time and be patient. The center grill was a little tricky because of its length and how it fits into that space.
01-13-2019, 01:41 PM
#39
Junior Member
01-13-2019, 01:50 PM
#40
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Toronto, Ont, Canda
Posts: 2,426
Received 701 Likes
on
534 Posts
go fast grocery getter wagon
unlikely due to the design of it. you may as well buy some wire mesh yourself and cut into the shape and then zip-tie it, of course, you will have to remove the bumper first.
01-13-2019, 03:12 PM
#41
Junior Member
01-13-2019, 06:03 PM
#42
Junior Member
Much better without the editing but for me, I like how the horizontal slats in the lower air ducts tie in with the vertical and horizontal lines of the grill. I'm sure I'd be singing a different song if I lost one of the coolers to a rock...
01-14-2019, 01:59 PM
#43
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
01-15-2019, 05:45 PM
#45
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
Update: the Geico adjuster went initially and issued a $1,900 estimate for the part + labor. I don't know if the dealer is trying to milk the insurance (probably) but they are requesting another $900 in labor because they had to take out the radiator or something?... Probably going to be close to a $3k repair bill when it is all said and done. My adjuster said he's going to go to the dealer and try to "negotiate", but... if I was stuck $3k on this repair, I'd be afraid to drive my Mercedes anywhere. I was under the impression that pebbles kind of fly around on the road/highway. I haven't had my car for over a week now lol.
Driving along the highway, hit a pebble, week long, $3k inconvenience.
King of bad luck/karma or something.
Driving along the highway, hit a pebble, week long, $3k inconvenience.
King of bad luck/karma or something.
07-10-2019, 08:47 PM
#46
Super Member
This happened to me a couple of months ago. It was $1900 for a new radiator (or whatever cooler is in the middle). I had pink coolant leak out onto my floor. It was not covered under warranty of course, but my SA was able to get MBrace to pay for half of it since the car was so new. They also threw in a free 2K differential fluid change, but it still cost me $900. I have the Zunsports grilles now, but have yet to install it.
Last edited by CALBenzo; 07-11-2019 at 11:51 AM. Reason: Grammar
The following 4 users liked this post by CALBenzo:
07-10-2019, 09:11 PM
#47
Member
These cars are designed with clean smooth German Autobahn in mind it seems. They neglect to consider the pot hole filled crappy roads we have here.
07-10-2019, 09:18 PM
#48
MBWorld Fanatic!
Update: the Geico adjuster went initially and issued a $1,900 estimate for the part + labor. I don't know if the dealer is trying to milk the insurance (probably) but they are requesting another $900 in labor because they had to take out the radiator or something?... Probably going to be close to a $3k repair bill when it is all said and done. .
07-11-2019, 02:01 PM
#49
MBWorld Fanatic!
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,652
Received 569 Likes
on
392 Posts
2018 E63S AMG
That was one thing that I triple checked and verified, that my extended warranty is Mercedes not some third party.
Now that's not to say that a Mercedes dealer won't try to milk some $$ from Mercedes corporate here and there, but if they make a practice of it I would imagine it puts their dealership or service department in jeopardy.
Finally, as I've noted before, the repair for a rock striking and penetrating the radiator should be covered by insurance under the comprehensive portion of the policy, same as a windshield. It is a no-fault claim and should not affect rates.
If you it a stationary object on the road, that can be a collision claim and could result in an at-fault finding and rate increase. But moving objects are treated differently.
You can't strike a stationary rock and have it pierce the radiator unless it is a really big rock, and then you'll have other issues to deal with. A small pebble sized rock has to be moving in order to strike your radiator, same as a windshield. My wife is an insurance agent in California. She's explained this to me enough times now that I hope I have relayed it correctly.
07-11-2019, 03:30 PM
#50
MBWorld Fanatic!
Thread Starter
?? Your extended warranty is not through Mercedes?
That was one thing that I triple checked and verified, that my extended warranty is Mercedes not some third party.
Now that's not to say that a Mercedes dealer won't try to milk some $$ from Mercedes corporate here and there, but if they make a practice of it I would imagine it puts their dealership or service department in jeopardy.
Finally, as I've noted before, the repair for a rock striking and penetrating the radiator should be covered by insurance under the comprehensive portion of the policy, same as a windshield. It is a no-fault claim and should not affect rates.
If you it a stationary object on the road, that can be a collision claim and could result in an at-fault finding and rate increase. But moving objects are treated differently.
You can't strike a stationary rock and have it pierce the radiator unless it is a really big rock, and then you'll have other issues to deal with. A small pebble sized rock has to be moving in order to strike your radiator, same as a windshield. My wife is an insurance agent in California. She's explained this to me enough times now that I hope I have relayed it correctly.
That was one thing that I triple checked and verified, that my extended warranty is Mercedes not some third party.
Now that's not to say that a Mercedes dealer won't try to milk some $$ from Mercedes corporate here and there, but if they make a practice of it I would imagine it puts their dealership or service department in jeopardy.
Finally, as I've noted before, the repair for a rock striking and penetrating the radiator should be covered by insurance under the comprehensive portion of the policy, same as a windshield. It is a no-fault claim and should not affect rates.
If you it a stationary object on the road, that can be a collision claim and could result in an at-fault finding and rate increase. But moving objects are treated differently.
You can't strike a stationary rock and have it pierce the radiator unless it is a really big rock, and then you'll have other issues to deal with. A small pebble sized rock has to be moving in order to strike your radiator, same as a windshield. My wife is an insurance agent in California. She's explained this to me enough times now that I hope I have relayed it correctly.
