Cost for this body repair?
 

My young son was hit from behind in the '90 300E. Insurance is not available to repair this.

I haven't taken it anywhere to get estimates since I really can't legally drive it.

What do you guys guess it might take to repair this? I hate to give up a great car with a new evaporator and everything!

hate to say it but that looks to be totaled.Short of cutting the car and half and grafting it to a good back half its going to cost a lot. Inspect the entire unit body and look for other kinks from the accident.

Technically any damage will total the car, since it has essentially no book value.

I had a '95 that had similar damage, and it cost about $6K repaired from Houston's most expensive dealer in '99. If you find an independent shop, they can certainly do it for less, but you'll have to accept some quality risk, and it will be a few thou.

I would repair it only if I was in love with the car and going to keep it for at least a few years more. Otherwise, I'd spend the few thou on a good used model, maybe a newer W210, since they also have no book value to speak of.

Time to walk,,,, it's a goner.:(

Unfortunately that's accurate.

Wife's 92 300E, was totalled, with about 135K miles when hit from behind too. With exactly same type of damage as your car only not as severe.

I kept the car and have swapped out a lot of parts from the wrecked car to my 92 300 TE, including the engine and the transmission.

There are so many variables, and I am no authority, but as a guess:

On the far low end: 4K
On the high end : 8K

Hello!

This is a situation that I have thought about many times.
I absolutely love my 89' 300E. If it were to get damaged to a point beyond reasonable repair. I would keep my damaged 300E, purchase a "new" 300E and swap/extract all remaining useful parts from the damaged car.

Make the logical decision. I know that my way of going about things takes more time and effort, but in the end it would probably be the less damaging on the wallet and give you a new car to love!

Why not sue the person who rear-ended you, and recover the value of the repair or the bluebook value of the car (whichever is less)? It wouldn't be difficult, since most every state automatically places fault on the colliding driver in rear-end collisions, regardless of the circumstances.

If you can get $3k or $4k from the other driver, then you're already most of the way to your repair cost, or to buying another vehicle. If they have insurance, then their insurance company will pay you immediately. And if they are uninsured, like what happened to me, then trust me...nobody is really "judgment proof". I've been down that road. Once they start whining about being unable to pay, just file a motion for contempt and have the judge issue a writ of bodily attachment, or file to garnish their income directly with their employer. You'd be surprised at how much blood you can quickly squeeze out of a turnip.

This is what I have had to do in the past. Central/North Florida is the uninsured redneck driving capital of the world, and I've been through this three times with different cars I've had. I actually filed a lien on one lady's house to get my money the last time, and boy was she pi$$ed when she had to pay me out of her funds at closing. Hopefully she learns the lesson and next time will have insurance.

Anyway, the point it, you don't have to just let these people off who have no insurance, no money, and run into your car. That's my $0.02 anyway.

And oh ya, one more thing, from the pictures it isn't going to make any sense to fix that car. The car's worth $3k, and the damage is easily twice that. You will wind up better off just getting another one, even though it's sad.

And even if you did press ahead with fixing it, it's never going to be the way it was. Once something's been damaged that severely, you'll have perpetual squeaks and rattles, etc.

That damage would be $6-7K at a good shop, so sadly that car is totaled. It's really too bad because it looks like a very nice car otherwise...

-GH

I don't know about AL, but many states are "no fault" states, you cannot sue the other driver.

Besides, if you were able to sue, you are usually due actual damages, which would be at most the value of the car (far short of repair costs IMO).

Bad things happen to good people, you've lost a nice car.

That's not what No-Fault is, and not what it does. "No fault" simply means that, in certain circumstances, the insurance carriers for drivers involved in a collision are required to pay the claim regardless of who is at fault.

It certainly doesn't (and constitutionally cannot) prevent one driver from suing another, when he hasn't been paid for the losses he incurred due to the fault of another driver.

Additionally, it doesn't apply when the at-fault driver is uninsured, or when the at-fault driver's insurance carrier wrongly denies coverage. The OP in this situation doesn't seem to have received payment for the damage to his car, and so one of these scenarios is bound to be the case.

I hope you don't really think that there is ANY law out that will prevent you from suing someone else who runs into your car and won't pay you. That is not the case. Florida is a No-Fault state, and I've still had to haul 3 different drivers into court who ran into me and had no insurance, or where their carrier refused to pay for one ridiculous reason or another.

Lastly, if you reread my original post, you will note that I clearly said he was entitled to either the repair cost or the bluebook value of the car, whichever is less. It's right there in the first sentence. But $3k-$4k is still a whole heck of a lot better than the $0 he will get if he does nothing and pays for repair himself. Bad things may happen to nice people, but that doesn't mean the person at fault doesn't have to pay to make it right.

Actually I've had two rear-enders repaired, and both were no problem at all, as far as squeaks ratlles etc. There's not much back there - you need good sheet metal work, corrosion proofing, watertight sealing, bumper cover of course, and paint. It's more the the knowledge that you don't have a pristine baby anymore, but for a daily driver it's fine.

I don't know how FL's no-fault goes, although I do carry FL insurance on my motorcoach, ... but I do know from experience that Michigan has legal hurdles in place to prevent suing for coverage of one's vehicle. An uninsured motorist simply doesn't hav insurance on his own vehicle, and other than a "mini-tort" which I believe is capped at $400, you have no recourse for damage to your vehicle. I've been through this with attornies and such when we were hit by an drunk driver in Michigan (a no-fault state). Damage to a vehicle is not recoverable, although other losses such as property damage or personal injury is a loss that the courts will allow you to recover through the courts.

AL might be different, neither of us apparently has direct experience there.

I guess attending law school and having made three separate trips to small claims court for this exact same issue, in a No-Fault state, must not constitute "direct experience" in your book?

Trust me on this one, not only can he sue, but he will most certainly win. A rear-ender is presumed to be the colliding driver's fault in virtually every state, including his. I mean no offense, but you are really giving him terrible advice. He should go to court and get his money back, rather than worry about eating the cost himself.

And far as michigan, I would love to see a copy of any statute or case law that limits the total recovery in car accidents to $400.