Do you '80-'85MB owners carry collision insurance on your cars? If so, wouldn't "XYZ Ins. Co" just cop out with a $1,500 "total wreck" book value on your $15,000 restoration? How is this situation handled before I find my project? Thanks, Harry. P.S. If you know of a good '85SD, I'd appreciate hearing about it!

tough call. can you afford to lose it?

on my cars in that age range that my kids drive i dont have collision but i do have comp.

on my cars i have 500 deductable and 100 deductable comp.

on the kids cars i usually have an extra one sitting around so i figure if it is wrecked too bad it is a good organ donor. i also have a stockpile of extra fenders hoods trunk lids and doors from cars i have parted out so fixing it is more reasonalble.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I can't stand the amount of money that I give insurance companies, so, I certainly don't carry it on the SD. I've been mulling it over for the SDL, but don't currently have it on that either.

A young man pulled out in front of this winter and I hit him after skidding on the wet road for half the distance between us when he pulled out. I had no chance to stop. His insurance company, Progressive, spent about $4500.00 repairing my car. I got a new hood, new front fenders, new Euro headlight, new turn signal/parking light, paint (I had entire car painted-I was planning on this anyway because of a few surface rust problems and a rusty panel under the license plate which we replaced), and other necessary parts. I showed the insurance company parts bills for upkeep that I had done on the car along with recent sales of similar cars on Ebay. They were very accommodating, but I think we were at the limit they would have paid to repair my car, a 1980 300 CD. By the way, it looks terrific now. Looked good before, but now the little blemishes are taken care of. In some states I would not have been able to get them to repair the car unless I carried full coverage. Investigate your states insurance laws, liability laws, etc., along with estimating the value of your car, before insuring. Instead of getting collision insurance it may be to your advantage to be self-insuring on that. Just investigate thoroughly.

Added with edit: You can also insure for value. You would need an appraisal and perhaps other information for your insurance carrier. I did this several years ago on a 1968 Austin Healy Mark. It was appraised at four times the book value. It was totaled by a drunk and I received very close to the appraised value after a small amount of hassle with her insurance carrier. My insurer went to bat for me.

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Mike

2000 SL500 22,000 miles
1981 300CD 188,000 miles
1979 450 SEL 266,000 miles
2005 Cadillac CTS 25,000 miles

in my experience it would be hard to get "agreed value" on a non collector car.

even with agreed value, they can be difficult. i have had them want a lower value than i thought was appropriate and i have had it the other way where they wanted the value higher than i wanted. in the end if there is a loss even with agreed value i believe that they would ignore the agreed value and try to start over with the settlement, so if you got them to agree to an inflated value it wouldnt matter in the end.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

A few(2003) years back I had a 1988 240 Volvo Wagon-not bad but no collectors piece for sure. I paid $1300 for it and 6 months later it was totaled in an accident not my fault. I had no Collison, only liability. The other person's insurance serached for a car in like condition and found one at the most Expensive Volvo dealer in South Miami selling for $3700. THAT is what they gave me which I happily accepted and ran to the Bank before the INK was dry on the Check. Worked in my favor-got almost 3 times the purchase price! Could have bought it back for $600 but passed on it

i have had a few good experiences with insurance settlements too. usually i have to fight and struggle with the adjuster, ... who's job it is to get us to settle for as little as possible.

here are a few rules i have learned the hard way:
1. you dont have to agree to anything. especially not the first offer.
2. as evidence you can show what you paid for the car, and what similar cars are being offered for sale for. you can garner evidence of the condition from the descriptions given and you can call and get additional info. provide documentation for their file.
3. most policies say "pay the value of the car, repair the car, or replace the car with one that is equal in value. the last option is not usually ever done but if you feel you are not being treated fairly you can insist on it (evenif only as a bargaining tool).
4. they are obligated to pay you for a rental car even if you used another car of your own, but they will never offer this, you have to ask.
5. whenever you get frustrated remember they will win if you allow them to wear you down.
6. when #5 starts happening, remember rul#1.

good luck.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I've been through this twice within the last 2 years on totals and one repair with my current Benz. At least in CA the law requires the insurance companies to pay equal amounts for equivalent cars. If the car is really a cream puff (liked our parked 740T Volvo), they need justification to increase the payout. Service records, and a complete set of pictures BEFORE the accident are really helpful. Having a set of really good pictures of the car as it was before an accident goes a long ways to helping the "total loss adjuster" determine the value of the car OR to justify the extra payout. The Volvo was side swiped while parked, so it wasn't too hard to wash it, polish it and completely clean the interior so it was spotless. The good side of the car was evidence enough of condition. If the car isn't driveable AFTER an accident, this isn't always possible.

Just got my 300D back out of the body shop. The body shop doing the work also repainted this car 5 years ago (previous owner) with a $5,000 (2 part) paint job. They were close totaling it. Got some justification on that one.

Pictures Pictures Pictures beforehand.

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84 300DT Puke Yellow. Totalled after 438,000
84 300DT Orient Red. 169,000 (actual mileage may vary)
2002 Explorer EB (wife's)

Agreed value policies are common, but not every insurer offers them. You just need to shop around if you've spent a lot on a non-collector restoration. Anything of value can be insured - at a price. But, it will be worth it especially with all the deer and idiots on the road.

By the way, I insure my older vehicles for collision. Always have and always will. I don't care if the vehicle is worth $1500 or $15000. I don't want to take a loss if a deer or idiot gets in my path. The property premiums on older cars aren't usually too bad.

My 88 Honda Accord was insured for collision and comp at an annual expense of about $200. It was totaled by a deer last year. State Farm paid me $1850 for it. Had I tried to sell it prior to the accident, I might have gotten $500. The property insurance on a vehicle is a good value, unless you can afford to loose it.

DS
87 300D
Northern Iowa

I carry full coverage, liability/comp./collision, on mine. Not only because I use it for business but because the difference in liability alone, maybe $200/yr. was not worth it. Full coverage at least gives me a possibility of return of $$'s.

Check the difference between full/partial coverage for your area and see if it is worth it.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

By buying only the minimum required compared to full coverage over 9 years, I figure I've saved several thousand dollars - most of what I'd ever get if I wrecked my car myself. If someone hits me, it'll probably be a SUV driver glued to their cellphone.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

At my age collison on my SDL would cost me about $4k a year and the book value of it can't be more then $5k.

I would love to get agreed value insurance for it, that would be the only time I would have collison for it.

From my experiance with insurance companies is they do not pay not matter who is at fault. Or they will offer you like $1k to fix $1,500 in damage. Next time some hits me if I don't get a check within a week I am sueing.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I spoke with my insurance co. before buying my '76 240D and they told me that I could carry comp and collision, and that if I had the receipts to show work, upgrades, etc., if the car were wrecked, they would consider "replacement value" of the car, instead of blue book value, which made sense to me. In other words, how much money would it take to get me a comparable car in comparable condition. Most insurance companies will now consider insuring for that value, but you may have to provide the receipts to have it added onto your comp & collision, so they can set the rates accordingly.