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  #1  
Old 11-27-2004, 10:38 PM
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Location: Columbia, MO
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240D totaled! story+pics

Hello everyone,
I have been a reader for years now and have used this forums knowledge to save countless $$ and keep my 123's on the road. I wanted to thank everyone for the help and also to show some pics of the recent wreck of my first diesel. I know I for one am always curious as to how these cars would hold up in an accident.

The story:

My brother was driving alone on Kingshighway in St. Louis late night. As he was going through an intersection, a full size GMC van tried to make a left in front of him and smashed right into him. Apparently, he was standing next to the car dazed when the crews arrived to take him to the hospital. He actually told the emt he was o.k. not realizing he had broken several ribs, had a partially collapsed lung, messed up his hand, broken his nose and cut his chin. He was realeased after a night in the hospital. Thankfully, he is much better now despite some aches and pains. It took over a week before we were able to get the police report to find out what happened! The other driver was found to be at fault thanks to a wittness driving behind my brother. And it turns out he did have at least some kind of insurance. It looks like it will be a while before we get it all sorted out.

Note: My brothers speed was estimated to be around 35 mph and the other vehicles unknown. He apparently was wearing his seatbelt but the cracked windshield suggests that maybe hit it? We aren't sure what happened there. I really think the car did a great job protecting him. The center console was bulged out and the dash was distorted but the interior pretty much kept its dimension. The doors were able to open but will not close again. And we belive the other driver was taken to the emergency room and released as well.


Here are some pictures several days later:
The car was a 1977 240D with a 300D engine.
(sorry if they are small, I was having trouble posting with the originals)

Attached Thumbnails
240D totaled! story+pics-dcp_1569.jpg   240D totaled! story+pics-dcp_1574.jpg  
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Ben

----------
82' 240D 4-speed
85' 300D (cali)
85' 300D (cali) waiting for B2 repair
87' 190D Turbo
87' 300D
2000 VW Passat Wagon 1.8t
99' RAM 2500 5-speed 24V Cummins
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  #2  
Old 11-27-2004, 10:49 PM
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Boonville Indiana
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Transmission

Was the transmission a manual or a automatic?????Hope your brother has a very fast recovery. I have some interest in his car. Will you pass on to him my email address h16671836@yahoo.com thank you Jim
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  #3  
Old 11-27-2004, 11:14 PM
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Jim's in there like a vulture.

Good to hear your bro is OK. That's one thing I like about these cars is that they can take a beating for you.
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  #4  
Old 11-27-2004, 11:17 PM
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jim wasn't first

i just e-mailed direct to him to not be a public vulture.
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currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem
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  #5  
Old 11-27-2004, 11:30 PM
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Location: Columbia, MO
Posts: 15
The cars fate...

Sorry guys. The car is already spoken for. I'll keep you guys informed if plans change.
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Ben

----------
82' 240D 4-speed
85' 300D (cali)
85' 300D (cali) waiting for B2 repair
87' 190D Turbo
87' 300D
2000 VW Passat Wagon 1.8t
99' RAM 2500 5-speed 24V Cummins
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  #6  
Old 11-28-2004, 01:09 AM
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Thanks for the pictures. Looks like a hard hit to me. Some other crash pictures have been posted here that had similar type of damage, passenger compartment nearly intact.

Hope your brother is ok, a knock to the head is very, very serious thing.

Did the car have any noticeable rust in it?
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  #7  
Old 11-28-2004, 01:13 AM
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Hope your brother is ok.

Sorry about your car. I have a 240D, and am always interested in seeing how well similar cars hold up in accidents.

Good luck.

- Patrick
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  #8  
Old 11-28-2004, 02:24 AM
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Location: St. Louis, MO
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Good luck with your brother's health, wish him well for us!

And you damn vultures eyein' the body parts, GEEZ! I'll be the first diggin' in all your graves for your jewelry if you keep that up. A moment of silence for the 240D, and then start with your beggaring.

Anyway, I'm really sorry to hear what happened, but I'm glad your brother made it out OK. The car looks like it really took one for the team.. Airbags would have been nice, it seems, but the car's other safety features really did their job.

Sounds like things happened just a few blocks away from me. If you need any 'local' errands run or want me to check up on anything here in St. Louis since you are out of town, just let me know, OK?

Peace,
Sam
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  #9  
Old 11-28-2004, 02:54 AM
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Reminds me of the St.Louis bridge..... easily the most accident prone little stretch of highway in the USA with both right and left hand exits.

Meanwhile if that's just a few cracks in the windshield that run to the edge, then it probably occurred from stress on the unibody construction. These cars are designed to absorb impact, you understand.

Broken nose and cut chin sounds like where your bro's head could have rapped the driver's door window frame. And it could have been seatbelts that crunched his chest in what amounts to a head-on collision.

Doctors are always over stating injuries - partially collapsed lung huh. That sounds like bull*****. I once played out a rugby match with 3 cracked ribs, no big deal there either. It's the floating ribs underneath that are most painful if broken, otherwise no problem.

So it's good to know your bro has no serious injuries at all!!

But if he's a golfer and feels so horribly injured at sucking up so much sympathy and pity that sissies want to pile onto him - then maybe he will never get out on the golf course again either. If so, then please ask him to send me an email and I would like to have his golf clubs, especially if they are cavity-backs that are much better than what I've got now....... *saarkasm*

This forum is about cars not people, no offense intended. So maybe Jim's question is not out of line. Unless of course, you posted this thread fishing for sympathy and pity instead of talking about cars.

I happen to know somebody who is working on an almost identical 240D with a gutted interior of the same color combo, if that makes any difference.

Hell, if my 240D got totalled and nobody started bidding on the remains of the car - I'd be god damned disappointed...... even if dead and looking down from heaven - assuming I could fake out St.Peter before the Devil knew I was dead.


Last edited by 300SDog; 11-28-2004 at 03:08 AM.
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  #10  
Old 11-28-2004, 07:38 AM
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Sorry to hear of the demise of another fine 123 diesel. And no Henna red interior on that beauty either. I must own the only W123 with Henna Red interior ever sold in the US.

Man all these 123 drivers in St Louis and we have never had a GTG (Get ToGather) before!!! I just had a good sized GTG here at the house in Poplar Bluff for VW diesel heads in Oct, maybe I should have advertized it more here for MB's to attend. Oct GTG
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  #11  
Old 11-28-2004, 08:10 AM
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Your brother in a lesser car would probably be dead right now.
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  #12  
Old 11-28-2004, 10:18 AM
Diesel Power
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PJG56
Your brother in a lesser car would probably be dead right now.
Not necessarily. I was in a similar collision in one of those 80's vintage Mitsubishi cargo vans, where the engine is under the drivers seat. The person that hit me, was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and she hit me right on the drivers side corner of the vehicle. I walked away with nothing more than a knot on my head. It's all a matter of how the impact is absorbed. Since the passenger side of the vehicle took the hit, I'd personally expect any vehicle to provide reasonable protection for the driver.
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  #13  
Old 11-28-2004, 10:48 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Diesel Power
I'd personally expect any vehicle to provide reasonable protection for the driver.
Don't expect anything good in an automobile accident. Prevention is your only protection. Too many variables to have any expectation of protection.

You hear about a few miraculous incidents where people walk away or were thrown clear. You hear a lot less about the tens of thousands that are killed or paralyzed yearly.

You are way more likely to die or suffer permanent damage in a car wreck than a terrorist attack or a plane crash.

I knew a guy that was paralyzed while driving across a parking lot going 10-15mph. He hit an open man hole. That was it, never walked again.
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  #14  
Old 11-28-2004, 02:07 PM
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35 mph head-on is the equivalent of hitting a bridge abutment at 70, so the car did it's job just fine. I've seen equivalent impacts on American cars where occupants were killed, so your brother did fine, too -- I'll trade a couple cracked ribs for dead any day!

Three point belts won't keep you from sliding sideways in a lateral impact, so I'd guess the door or steering column did him the damage.

Had to have hit very hard to do that much damage, the hood is folded up almost flat and I'll bet the driveshaft drags on the ground.

Peter
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  #15  
Old 11-28-2004, 02:37 PM
Diesel Power
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TwitchKitty
Don't expect anything good in an automobile accident. Prevention is your only protection. Too many variables to have any expectation of protection.

You hear about a few miraculous incidents where people walk away or were thrown clear. You hear a lot less about the tens of thousands that are killed or paralyzed yearly.

You are way more likely to die or suffer permanent damage in a car wreck than a terrorist attack or a plane crash.

I knew a guy that was paralyzed while driving across a parking lot going 10-15mph. He hit an open man hole. That was it, never walked again.
You are correct. However, I was referring to this accident. Where the impact did take place, the driver should have been well protected in any vehicle.

I don't like being in car wrecks. They hurt, and cause all matter of issues in getting the claims resolved. Thankfully, I have been involved in only two major collisions, where the vehicle was totalled. I've been in two other incidents as well, one being blown off of an icy road in Wyoming in a semi, and the most recent, getting tapped in the rear in the unmissed VUE. The damage to the big truck was minor, from the trailer pushing it into a jackknife in the median, and the rear ender didn't even put a scratch on the Saturn.

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