Another one gone........ - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

gcinque · #1 08-28-2008, 09:39 AM

I was involved in an accident last night, a young lady hit us from behind. Traffic was stopped and all of a sudden my wife and I hear "BAMMMM" and we went forward a few feet luckily I hit the brakes and did not hit the car in front of us.

We came out with sore shoulders and neck pain but no cuts or bruises. I think we went forward with such a force that when the seat belt locked we were thrown back into our seat.

After reading a few other post like this one I believe that "Aunt Irene" will be declared "totaled" and I will probably not get much from the Insurance Co.

Now comes the fun part dealing with the insurance companies...

rrgrassi · #2 08-28-2008, 09:42 AM

Sorry for your loss man! I hope you can get it back from the ins co and find another coupe. You have parts there that many people would want to buy from you.

mobetta · #3 08-28-2008, 09:50 AM

Bummer- A coupe, too.

but it appears the car did exactly what it was designed to do. Glad you are safe and sound.

well- I have seen worse looking cars being driven around.

the doors still work fine??
but really, you can always find a donor body and do a heart transplant.

at the least you should find out how much $ to buy it back, and see if any local members are interested.

the best way to get your money from an insurance co is to have your asset appraised and insured for that value.

charmalu · #4 08-28-2008, 10:13 AM

I feel for you with your loss and pain. glad to hear you wern`t injured too bad, you will be sore or a couple weeks. that was a pretty good hit the coupe took.

Hopefully the insurance adjuster will be a MB nut also and have some compasion for you and understand the value of these old classics. they will probably total it, see if you can buy it back. If not fixable, part it out, or sell to another forum member. not a lot of these coups around in good shape.

Charlie

Dee8go · #5 08-28-2008, 10:19 AM

That really sucks. There's only so much you can do to defend yourself against other drivers. Was her cell phone damaged in the accident?

gcinque · #6 08-28-2008, 10:39 AM

Do you guys think that the frame is bent?

The tow truck driver said that the car would not shut off so he had to use the "STOP" lever. I saw a puddle of something this morning under the car not sure what it was but I'm going back to the shop tomorrow and will find out what is could be. The tow truck driver commentented on how nice the car was and what shame this happened.

I told my wife that "Aunt Irene" protected us and like MOBETTA said she did what she was designed to do in this case.

I still can't believe this, she only had 112k miles.

charmalu · #7 08-28-2008, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dee8go

That really sucks. There's only so much you can do to defend yourself against other drivers. Was her cell phone damaged in the accident?

Dang, I almost said that too

.
We now have a law here in Ca. that we have to have hands free devices to talk on the phone while driving.
some haven`t read this law yet, still see it going on.

even with the thing straped to the side of their heads, they still have a hard time seeing with their head up their a__. dark in there

.

the law is only for hands free driving, doesn`t cover all the other electronic distractions.

there is some good info on this thread also
www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?t=231535

Charlie

rcounts · #8 08-28-2008, 10:48 AM

Man that really SUX! And at only 122k she was just getting broke in really well...

Like others have said, when they total it - and they almost certainly will - buy her back for salvage value - lots of good parts there - especially since it was low mileage. If the color code is 930 (which it appears to be), then I'd be interested in the front fenders.

bgkast · #9 08-28-2008, 10:54 AM

I'm sorry to see this. These cars have a unibody structure so there is no frame to bend. You should be able to still have it appraised. If the insurance co tries to lowball you clean it up as best you can and have an appraiser out to look at it. That should be a $5K plus car.

You could aways keep it and make it into a hatch back.

123Guy · #10 08-28-2008, 10:56 AM

Tell her insurance company you want the car fixed - it's a classic and not replaceable/repairable for what they want to give - tell them to shove the Blue Book and for them , go on eBay and find you another one just like what you have with the same incredibally low mileage. If they insist that it's totalled, then tell them you need to go to the doctor because you (and all your passengers) have terrible back and neck pains and how do they plan to pay for that? Should you have the doctor bill them directly? When they ask if you have medical insurance with your employer, tell them that's irrelevant, their insured is responsible for your medical bills, not your employer - it wasn't your employer, jabbering away on a cell phone, that ran into the back of your car so hard that they want to total it and injured you to a currently unkown extent.
When there's medical involved, they get friendly in a hurry.
I went through the same thing with Elvira about 5 or 6 years ago, a guy made an illegal left turn in front of me, I was moving about 25mph and t-boned him - it took an entire front end, radiator, fan, hoses, lines, etc to fix Elvira - they of course wanted to total her, but she's back on the road good as new.

DieselClack · #11 08-28-2008, 10:57 AM

Too bad! You know though, I'll bet I could weld a bracket onto the rear bumper bracket and chain it to a tree and drop it in gear and floor it going forward a couple of times and pull that sucker back out!

If all the trim was stripped off with the plastic, bumper and such it'd do it. Have to remove the fuel tank though and rig something for fuel to drive it. Hmmm..........

Eric Eliel · #12 08-28-2008, 12:15 PM

Bummer and a coupe too. Glad you are OK. Some sore shoulders, and aching body will likely start to show in a few days.

I don't think that car is reasonably repairable within the vehicle value guidelines. It looks repairable at a trade tech autobody shop, but they need a pretty decent frame alignment machine.

Your vaccum line to the rear trunk or fuel cap was probably severed and therefore the system lost its vaccum and was unable to shut-off the engine.

You might also have some driveshaft/transmission damage if the driveshaft was driven into the rear of the trans.

This will become an interesting insurance claim and won't be easy. Good luck.

asnowsquall · #13 08-28-2008, 01:02 PM

Glad you are OK. So sad. To me it looks like the drivetrain would be fine. This is where that engine should go to someone in this forum who needs a good engine. Must be worth at least $1,000 if its i really nice shape and has been taken care off. May the whole process be short, and as little pain as possible.

LUVMBDiesels · #14 08-28-2008, 01:10 PM

Just be thankful that the car was killed and not you!

I don't know about pulling out that much damage. The car will never be the same again. What happened to idiot who hit you? Was she in an SUV?

Did you and your wife go to the hospital and get chacked out?

I would be feeling all sorts of neck and back pain by now if I were you

I was in an accident where the driver (Vicky) nd I got pushed into the dashboard and the guy sitting in the back seat got a very small cut on the top of his head from hitting the roof. Vicky and I refused treatment but Art (guy in the back) did not.

He walked away $20k richer and now my knees are shot!

I will always insist on going to the hospital if I ever get into another car accident.

mrdjsk · #15 08-28-2008, 01:18 PM

Sorry to read about your loss.

I couldn't help but notice how perfect the door gaps still are. Amazing. The thing truly is a tank.

Now more than ever, I'm a believer in these old cars.