Thanks for explaining, Brian.

I've heard good things about USAA, but I'm not their insured. Their insured is the guy who squashed my car. After USAA used an SEC and two 300Ds for comparables (one of which was in Katrina!) to my 300SD, while ignoring over $8k of restoration invoices in the previous 7 months, they sent me a check for $2,494. I gave it to my lawyer, who returned it immediately. They're still not returning his calls, so it's about to get ugly, 'cause a) it's been weeks, and b) he's my friend and thus not too patient with this treatment.

NADA says $8,700 for average, $12+ for top, and my car came up with a 77 rating when the average for this car is 55. She was WAY better than average -- the folks that saw her at our fall tech session where we rebuilt the front end will vouch for that! Good grief, she still has the original car cover in it's original bag!! [Which reminds me, I need to get that out of the car...]

Thanks very much! If you can give me an estimate, I'd be very grateful.

Have a look at whunter's posts 9, 10, & 11 to this thread, where he posted all the pics I have of the car. The pics I tried to take of the differential are black, but I described what I saw in post # 28 (also this thread). As you'll see, the trunk cannot be opened without a can opener. If there's something else you need after you look at those, let me know and I'll try to get it.

I can't help but agree about the insurance weasels. I had a rental for a week, and a check (which we also returned) for another week that shoulda happened, but Enterprise couldn't find me a car (!). USAA made their offer, I refused, they said tough, terminated the rental, sent their insulting check, and paid off the storage through that date. They were unhappy that I had two towing bills -- one to get her off the road in Dallas and one to get her the 100 miles home -- and they didn't pay the first, smaller of the bills. They tried to move my car to their storage (which woulda been 70 miles away!), but I told them to stuff that, since they hadn't even made an offer at that point. My car = my location, which is pretty cheap.

The shop where she's stored is friendly, so they'll carry her for a while as we're trying to work through this mess. The owner knows I'm having to cover medical bills, so he's very cool, 'specially since USAA paid him for a 100-mile tow and two or three weeks of storage.

You can PM me, or e-mail me through the Shop Forum. Thanks again, so much.

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

for a customer debating repair after a slightly more serious impact.

Was the settlement for the car portion settled yet? As far as I am concerned the various descriptions of the insurance companies lack of ethics on your thread are understated. I fully realise that on average they usually profit greatly from their methology. Needless to say their approach hindered your recovery to some extent. Just the aggrivation factor alone.

for another customer debating repair after a similar serious impact.



.

I received almost 3k for my 85SD that needed paint and had ~ 240,000 mi showing. I'm still driving it but haven't repaired because my bodyshop friend says that the base coat is cracking and that it would need to be stripped for the paint to hold.

I may fix it but really, the trans could use freshening & there is some other stuff that might keep it a short distance DD.

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

Just letting everyone who followed this series of unfortunate events where things are now, and what you need to know to protect yourself. I'm going to give you the last, first, so you can gather the good without having to sort out the gory details if you'd like to skip them.

1) Unless you are willing to accept whatever the insurance company is willing to offer you, DO NOT let them take possession of your car. Not for storage, not for anything. You cannot negotiate with someone who already has possession of your car -- they put it in a remote lot and let it get damaged further while you negotiate, they can charge you storage while they delay, and if your car was repairable, it likely won't be when/if you get it back from their storage lot. Even if it's totaled, hold on to it as long as you can and/or until you get an acceptable settlement.

2) Take lots of pictures AT THE ACCIDENT SITE if you can, ASAP if you can't do it immediately. NOT just your car, but the other guy's. ALL the other guys, if there's more than one.

3) Make SURE you get your own estimate for repair AND a NADA valuation for your car. Those are actual "market value" numbers that can be documented in court.

3)a) BEWARE the insurance carrier's valuation. Ask -- no, DEMAND -- copies of their comparables ("comps"). THere is a valuation service owned by and operated for the exclusive benefit of auto insurance carriers called CCC Valuscope. Most states required something like "fair market" valuations. That means valuations that would be used by car dealers, banks, other lenders, etc. ONLY insurance companies may use CCC Valuescope. For my restored 300SD, the comps used by CCC Valuescope were a 300SEC, and two 300Ds. One of those 300Ds was for sale near me for less than $1k. It had a record of having been flooded in Katrina -- looked awful and smelled worse! NOT exactly comparables, nor was USAA's offer, provided by these folks as a "fair market" value. Less than a third of the fair market value, and that's per NADA AND Texas' Motor Vehicle Taxation code.

4) Check contract law in your state. It doesn't likely differ much from Texas', but be sure. Generally, a contract requires action by both parties to be in effect. If you don't act, there's no contract (of course, if you're dealing with your own carrier, you already have a contract, so this won't apply). To purchase your car, or to pay a claim on your car (if you're keeping the car) a payment must be accepted by you. You don't accept it, it's NOT PAID. The insurance payment is an OFFER (often called a tender, as in "to tender an offer"). You don't have to accept that offer. If you're being low-balled, and can afford to hold out, you can prevent the insurance carrier from taking further action, like taking possession of your car, or having your state lift your title, by refusing the offer.

5) As soon as it looks like going up the chain of command from your contact at the insurance carrier isn't going to get you anywhere, find an attorney. There are some who will take a case like this on contingency -- find one. With just a little luck, there'll be some very nice case law here in Texas to support you! There actually is, right now, since our ruling on appeal stands for the time being, and there are a LOT of bits and pieces in it that are very supportive of the consumer in it. I'll keep this updated as to what, if anything, our Supreme Court does with it, but, for the moment, as I understand it, others can quote the ruling we got on appeal as case law. It's the Dallas Court of Appeals, if you're looking -- Letot v. USAA ought to get you there.

We lost in our original court. Our initial judge (he later recused himself) tried to get a jury to set a value on the car. The jury declined to do so.

The judge who replaced him erroneously ruled in USAA's favor in September of 2014.

We appealed. USAA offered $20k in early 2016 while we waited for a ruling from the Dallas Appeals Court. My attorneys and I agreed to tell USAA to keep it -- too many years of stonewall, stall, hinder, and delay, along with outright lies. I want to hurt them, so they'll have to look to their pocketbook before they decide to damage someone else.

A note on me -- at the end of 2016, I had two quite invasive spinal surgeries. Really GREAT surgeon in Dallas (James Stanley -- if you need back surgery, look him up) so I'm WAY out ahead in my recovery compared to other people who had even one of those surgeries. But the cervical surgery was a result of a 40 mph rear-ender I suffered in July of 2002 (in a borrowed Ford Escort, may they rot!), aggravated by this 2009 60 mph rear-ender. Thank goodness for that one year of incredibly good insurance -- we had allowed USAA to settle my injuries for less than $14k, much of which was spent on treatment at the time, and the cervical surgery alone was something like $38k. We're not even going to talk about the lumbar surgery, which is often referred to as "a 360" or "an anterior".

We got our ruling -- in our favor -- in August of 2016. USAA asked to be reheard, saying, among other things, that the Appeals Court had used the wrong dictionary when defining "to pay." The Court did not take kindly to that, and rewrote their original opinion to further clarify their intent and our win last fall (2017).

USAA has asked the Texas Supreme Court to hear their appeal. We should know whether they will sometime this fall, perhaps before. If they don't, or if they do and we win again, the case goes back to the lower court judge with instructions from the Dallas Appeals Court as to what he did wrong and what he must correct.

At that point, other things will happen. And I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the good wishes and the concern over these years. And no, you cannot part me from these old Benzes. One saved my life....

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

How much have you paid in legal fees, in total so far?

Hey, Joe, good to see you! Hope you're doing well.

Sorry, but because this is a public forum, and those fees will be a factor in any award or settlement we reach -- damages plus attorney's fees -- I don't dare estimate that. Because those fees and costs have been spread out over so many years, I couldn't possibly be accurate.

Understand that, in the beginning, neither I nor my attorney EVER thought we'd still be dealing with this more than 9 years later, nor did we have any idea how very many people USAA had ripped off in the same way. Consequently, DH John & I decided back in 2009 to just pay for my attorney's time, since we all thought it'd be relatively quick and simple. Yeah, right!

That said, though, people need to know this is the kind of case that many attorneys will take for a percentage of the settlement, much like a personal injury suit. Most folks wouldn't have to pay until/unless they win. And if case law holds (i.e., we prevail), that becomes TONS easier for anyone who's faced with a similar situation.

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

Sunny ;

I just discovered this thread, glad to hear you're O.K., I've seen several W126's with similar collision damage and have been impressed .

Imagine having been in an old VW Beetle or Datsun B210 .

You're correct about the work necessary in physical therapy, I had to have cervical fusion in my neck after a cab ran me over in 2007, my life will never bent the same again, good thing I'm old I guess, I finally gave up and had to retire after 32 years on a job I'd planned to die doing, not fun .

Good to hear you have a good attorney, sad to hear this ins. company is so dishonest .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Welcome to the party, Nate! Sorry to hear about your cervical problems - honestly, finally having the cervical surgery was just about the best thing I ever did for my body going into my 61st year on the planet. The cervical only tops the list because the damage was so very bad after over almost 15 years of neglect and re-injury, and it was SO much easier than the lumbar surgery! Don't give up on finding a really good spinal surgeon to look at doing a little "bodywork" for you -- better to go into our elder years with as many things fixed as possible, you'll never heal any faster than you will today, and the sooner done, the sooner healed!!

I was driving an Escort the first time my neck was injured (another rear-ender while I was sitting still -- bloody amazing!), and believe me, I know the difference between that POS and my lovely Benz. Cops and all agreed the Benz likely saved my life. That accident in the Escort, where I found the back seat up around my ears, and the front seat broken was one of the things that got us into these old Benzes. They've been amazingly good to us.

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

Thanx Sunny ;

I was rready to check out when I finally got Kaiser to operate on my neck, indeed the many ours Dr. Williams spent in there were the very best thing ever .

He said he'd never seen an ambulatory patient with this much damage before .

Plate and eight screws later, I can walk and ride my Motocycle etc.

I still have to sleep in a chair more often than not but that's life non ? .

Being all busted up isn't any fun but I manage .

I see you're keeping W123's and letting go your other W126......

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I'm glad you've got a good doc working with you! It's good you're staying active - it's the only way to go.

My surgeon, who's a sports orthopedic guy (his whole practice is about getting you "back in the game," not looking to "warehouse" a patient who's older), calls me his model patient, as does my neurologist, because I'm proactive about my health care, I do the work, I don't whine (I've never seen the point of it), and because I do, I heal faster than lots of the people he sees. My friends and family joke that I don't get sick, I get broken, and it's true. All those injuries invite arthritis well beyond the general age-related stuff, which really sucks, so I do understand where you are.

I have my monthly appt w/my pain mgt doc tomorrow for nerve ablations (injections) in my neck and scrip refills. I've already had nerve ablations in my thoracic spine, and they're definitely helping. He tells me that the neck ablations are the ones that generally show the most dramatic results in pain relief, so I'm looking forward to that -- you might want to ask your doc about them for yourself since you're still having pain there. I'll probably be seeing this good doc every month for as long as insurance will cover it. I'm grateful I'm alive, moving, and mostly functioning. We just keep on keepin' on, and if it shocks our docs, that's just more fun for us, isn't it?

About the 123s v the 126s, you're mostly right. I'm less able to work on our cars -- can't twist or hold odd positions as long as I used to, and I've lost some hand strength and sensation. That part's crummy, since I have very long slender hands that make it easy for me to get into places a lot of guys have to bleed to reach! On the 123s, I can reach almost everything under the hood, sit on the ground outside an open door and reach past the center console, etc., so they've always been easier for me to care for. Going foreward, easier is going to be best, so that was the foundation of our decision.

The 126s aren't nearly so easy, and not just because they're bigger. There's just more stuff to go weird. So we decided to keep the simpler cars, put three in really good condition, and keep a couple of parts cars for them. We started with 123s, so probably 2/3 of the spare parts I acquired "just-in-case" when I was regularly roaming the boneyards are for 123s.

There are a couple of 126s that are just a hair shy of being good drivers at this point, so I'm hoping to get them in good shape in the next few weeks. We may even hang onto them as drivers while we inprove the three 123s -- the126s are a sweet ride. But there are several 126s (not all are listed in my signature) that need more than I can give them in the foreseeable future -- it's straightforward work, but it will take more time, energy, and hand strength/sensitivity than I can manage. All the parts they need are with them, I just can't do the work -- so they will go. We'll also sell a project 126 with COLD ac, a really great engine, good every-darned-thing except the interior and a desperate need for a paint job! We upgraded the interior with a leather one from a '93 350SD rod bender, and everything worked great except the front seats! Roy (whunter) couldn't get the new seat motors to work with the old wiring in the short time he was here, so the front seats are not mounted in. Someone who's good with the electrical stuff (definitely not MY strong suit!) is gonna get a peach of a car.

Back before all the owies cascaded and messed me up, I was working and making good money, so I could pay to have the heavier and/or more difficult stuff done, even the easy-but-fiddly stuff when I didn't have time for it. Not so now, more's the pity. These great cars were actually good investments for us -- mostly because we only bought solid "sunbelt" cars, and only at dirt prices (amazing the number of cars that get dumped because they won't start, when all they need is a valve adjustment!!) -- when one or both of us could do the work or pay for it to be done. These days, not so much! But you won't find us looking for some other kind of car, even if we won the lottery. These cast iron-&-steel beasts have served us so well for these last 15 years, we really wouldn't have anything else! (Except for the pick-up, of course -- how else do you haul parts & stuff from here to there and back? Well, yeah, we could put a trailer hitch on one of the 123s...been thinking about that for YEARS! I've seen it done well, and it seems a good idea.)

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

Glad you finally settled it and I know how tedious it is to get any justice.

Some insurance companies should be banned. My wife's minivan was hit in the front side at a stoplight in Atlanta in 2000. Both cars had Geico insurance. After several months, Geico ruled both drivers were 50% at fault so they didn't have to pay either party under GA law. The vehicles were travelling perpendicular so somebody ran a red light. They claimed she was turning right, when the SUV had a green light. I responded, "our house is straight ahead, she was knocked around 70 deg". Took a lawyer and a year to get $2500 from them, much less than the damage. Slimy, lizardly company. In contrast, when I had Liberty Mutual, they paid right away both times for uninsured motorists (usually who runs into our cars). We have Farmers in CA now.

__________________
1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

NO, Bill, my case is NOT settled! We're waiting to see if the Texas Supreme Court will hear USAA's appeal. We hope not, of course, but we won't know until the end of summer. And if they don't, it'll still take another 8 - 14 months to get back into the lower court that messed it up the first time, and he'll have to re-hear the motions and rule in accordance with the findings of the Dallas Appeals Court, who ruled in my favor. Then we get a full trial, and only after that, we try to get class certification. I'm guessing I've got another 2 years, conservatively.

Re. your situation -- yep, I DO understand, and I'm sorry you got ripped off that way.

Another not-too-cool insurance carrier practice is when insurers "mediate" your case with each other without your knowledge or input, so beware of that -- I think it's allowed in all states. They ALL do it, they say, to "try to avoid anyone having to sue." BS! Sucks for the insured who is an actual victim -- their claim likely gets paid, BUT their premium goes up because they are found at least partially at fault, even when they're not. Unless, of course, just being there is cause for fault. "No fault" insurance is a joke!

Except for that super-triple-secret mediation, most insurance companies are pretty good to their insureds -- your wife's situation excepted! -- but, as in my case, are completely wretched to the third party their insured runs into or over. I know lots of people, especially retired and active duty officers in the military, who as USAA customers, are shocked at how this has gone down for me.

My husband had State Farm for decades, so I was added to his policy when we married. When I was badly injured by a seriously crazy driver, John called to report the accident. His agent's response was to ask when he planned to deliver the police report, doctor's diagnosis, medical reports, and photos of the accident scene to her, because she wouldn't be able to accept his "report" without all that. After he calmed down, he went to her office and fired her. We've been with Farm Bureau since 2002, and we've been delighted with them. Though John's learned we really do have to get everything for them these days, but they actually make a report when we call. I don't mind getting everything together so much because 1) s/he who controls the paper is most likely to control -- or at least, influence -- the outcome (that's a lawyer's rule I learned from the best 40 years ago, and it's been true in so many applications!), 2) I have a copy of everything they have, 3) their rates are great, and 4) we've had no trouble getting anything worked out, ever.

Stay safe out there!

__________________
Anthracite 1980 300D -- 64k original miles with a new engine, on the road again!
Silver 300D -- second owner, Sunny's old baby, Ilse, 210 miles,
Having to thin the herd….
Silver 1983 300SD -- second owner, 325k miles
Gold 1981 300D -- well-traveled, solid little car
Beige 1984 300D -- 292k miles, grease machine, parting out
Seafoam green 1981 300SD -- 250k, windshield frame damage
too many assorted w123 & w126 cars, parts cars, and extras

for the record, I've been life & health licensed for upwards of 30 years. Do not assume that your agent is competent until you know that is the case. I've had other agents and especially their secretary or whatever person mis-speak regarding some technical issue or law and give completely incorrect information. Always, always, always have them email or otherwise document what they are saying. Be aware that what someone says frequently does not bind the insurance company even though the person calls themselves by the title of "agent".

Carriers generally settle according to the contract and few insureds or agents actually read and fewer still understand the contract. Just because you think something "should" be covered doesn't mean that it is. As my programmer friend says RTFM - and DOCUMENT (to the point of recording phone calls if necessary).

Be aware that the person at the insurance company is typing what they think you say when you call them into a database associated with your account. Ask them to read what they have typed and make corrections if (more likely when) the record disagrees with what you intended to communicate. Ask them to read you the correction and repeat the process until you agree. Ask for a copy if it is important. Ask for a reference number if you can't get a copy.

__________________
85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.