My vision was impeded by a 5 foot snow pile. I was nosing out of a parking lot on to the road, a little more, a little more, a little more, now I can clearly see what is going to hit me. Slow motion, as he locked -up on the ice. He's going to stop, no he's not, yes he is, Crunch, no he didn't. He punched in the rear of my driverside fender and the front door. A lot of plastic was cracked on his front end, but -20 temperatures tend to make things brittle.
His daughter was sleeping in the infant seat, never even woke-up.

The good news no injuries, everyone was able to drive away. Just bent sheet metal and the insurance companies will deal with that. My only worry is they will try to write it off for the sake of a new fender and door. I may be able to save the fender, but I would prefer to replace it, The door probably only needs a new skin, but having skinned doors before I think I 'll go for a whole new door.

The door locks don't work, and I've taken to shutting the engine down manually under the hood. So I've obviously developed a vaccuum leak in the drivers door. I'll try and remedy that once it gets above freezing about April up here. This could have been a lot worse, but the heavy steel and structural strength of the old girl kept me safe. Love that car.

Sorry to hear about the crash. To temporarily address the vacuum problem, you can disconnect the yellow line in the engine bay and plug the rubber connector with a golf tee.

__________________
Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Thanks a lot Rick, I will try it.

Scott Murray

Glad everyone is o.k. It really is a shame to see one of these cars damaged like that. At least yours wasn't completely destroyed as is sometimes the case.

Scott

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Scott
1982 Mercedes 240D, 4 speed, 275,000
1988 Porsche 944 Turbo S (70,000)
1987 Porsche 911 Coupe 109,000 (sold)
1998 Mercedes E300 TurboDiesel 147,000 (sold)
1985 Mercedes 300D 227,000 (totaled by inattentive driver with no insurance!)
1997 Mercedes E300 Diesel 236,000 (sold)
1995 Ducati 900SS (sold)
1987 VW Jetta GLI 157,000 (sold)
1986 Camaro 125,000 (sold - P.O.S.)
1977 Corvette L82 125,000 (sold)
1965 Pontiac GTO 15,000 restored (sold)