Accident! Front right quarter panel crumpled. [photos]
 

Someone cut in front of me in traffic and I clipped her bumper. Thankfully no one was hurt and I was not at fault. At first, the panel was rubbing on the tire but I had some tools and was able to make it drivable. The insurance adjuster is coming by tomorrow to look at it. vstech informs me that they will probably want to total it due to the age(1984) and mileage(299k). From a quick observation, I don't think the hood is messed up. The quarter panel, fender, headlight, and turn signal are all busted. This is my first time going through the insurance process with one of these cars. Any advice on course of action is appreciated. I would like to keep the car since I've had it less than a year and it's in good shape.

Sorry the pictures are a bit fuzzy, I must have had something on my lens.

you might luck out. If it is only body damage it is easily repairable. Good luck.

That's not too bad...
 

and it's a good looking car!

You need to take it to a body shop and have them inspect the damage for things you can't see.

From the pictures, it's hard to tell if the body is bent up behind the lights but a body shop (or removing the lights) would tell you.

If all it takes is a new fender and some lights, I would let them total it, pay you for it and buy it back. Fenders in that color should be pretty easy to come by and you could have that fixed in no time.

I had a handful of craigslist ads from around the country (spendy ones) that I handed the adjuster when my wagon got totaled. I noted the deficiencies in the cars for sale on the ads to further make my point as to it's value. It worked well;)

Good luck. I just had my '84 wagon totaled after a rear-ender.

PM or search my posts for the story and outcome. I think I did pretty well. And I do have a RF fender available, but it would be a ^&*( to ship.

Collect as much as possible from the at fault driver. Insurance is to indemnify the driver and has nothing to do with whether or not you sue for damages. (of course, getting lawyer involved is a waste of $$.) Buy a parts car & fix it. Even some frame damage can be pulled out. Hopefully underlying damage is as minor as it looks.

I would surely not total a nice wagon for that! That is easily repaired!

Oh yeah, I have no intentions of letting it go. I've got too much money, and sweat tied up in this thing.

I have a twin parts car for it, but it's an 80, and I don't know if the fenders once the glue is broken will swap or not.
we gots plans to fix the baby, I just wanted to urge him to get the best realistic quote for damages! when he called me from the accident site, I got him going to a good local body shop I've used. (the at fault driver has same insurance as I do!, he'll be treated well) they will totally inspect the damages, and give an estimate for repairs. I told him to insist on MERCEDES original fender and replacement lights parts in the quote.
have no fear! the wagon will roll again!
looking at the pictures, the bumper did take a lot of the impact, so inspection of the unibody frame rails is paramont. the fender line at the door, looks perfect, so I seriously doubt the structure got bent, but it's possible.

You're going to need a bumper too. Yours is bent. Look closely at the area where the bumper attaches to the frame. This would be the biggest area of concern. I'd doubt that you have any damage there based on the type of hit you took, but a body shop will be able to tell for sure. Is there a trim panel below the lights? There is on a 126, not sure for a 123. Your core support will probably be a little tweaked too but not to the point where it will need to be replaced.

Once you agree to a settlement, you get the check, not the body shop. You can go shopping for the parts yourself and work with the body shop on the repair. I'm not sure what you mean by "glue", I think these fenders are just bolted on (126 fenders came right off.) Are they glued on at the bottom rear by the door?

Yours should be a snap to repair once you have the parts in hand.

Well that sucks. too bad these people that really know how to drive had a little consideration for other people that get in their way.

Like I remember in the old cowboy movies when i was a kid, one of them would get grazed by a bullet, and he would just say " aw I just got winged".

So I guess in the battle out there you just got "Winged".

That`s too dang bad it had to happen, at least you wern`t hurt. that is a real nice TD you have, and you should be back on the road. doesn`t look like it is structural, but the adjuster will total it because of the age.

In England, they do call that a Wing, so you really were Winged. :rolleyes:.

Charlie

This is the time to use the stealer
 

Take your car to the bodyshop at the nearest dealer and tell them you want an estimate using actual Mercedes parts since the party at fault will be paying for it. Get a written estimate before you leave.

Now when the insurance adjuster calls the dealership to get a fair price for the car (the adjuster won't be able to figure out an oddball car himself) the dealership will refer to the estimate and quote a price that will allow them to get the repair work.

Did this once by accident with a Jetta I was selling. It was listed in the paper for $2300. I got rear-ended and I took it to show the VW dealer. Two days later the insurance adjuster called me and said he did his research and they would only pay me $3600 for the car. I took it minus $400 salvage to get the car back.

Later, I found out the dealer told the adjuster it was worth $3995 because they recognized the car.

First, make sure that you tell the body shop that you want MB OEM parts. also, you can even goe to a junk yard and you might get lucky -- here in S. Florida there are a couple of junk yards that have some 300D & 300SD and a few of course they don't have engines/transmissions but good body partas. Good luck!

I had a similar accident recently with my 81 240d; the other driver's insurance treated me better than I expected - the adjustor was impressed with my car and the age and high miles did not seem to matter too much because it was in very nice condition. These cars have a great reputation. They figured cost of repair to be about 2k and value of the car about 3k; your wagon should be worth more. I got a check for 2k and got another 240d 4sp (same color) with a bad motor for 650. It has a great body though, with no rust, almost too nice to tear apart. I am nervous about that glued-on fender; I hear it's a real "sunny beach" (to quote Cheech & Chong) to get off - I read on this forum to use acetone to soften the glue, I hear that stuff is pretty toxic though.

well, acetone is not good to eat, for sure, but it's the prime ingredient in fingernail polish remover, so it's not TOOO bad on your skin.
my brother successfully removed some glued on fenders from a 78 240, but there was a lot of rust under there...

I've recently removed the front wings on my W123 - I didn't find it as difficult as some have suggested. True, they are glued (sealed) in place but with patience and a sharp knife you can get 'em off.

Even if you are not planning to re-use the wing don't be fooled into thinking that you can be brutal - the inner wings are quite flexible and you don't want to have to fix those too.

To check for any further damage measure the distances between the front wings across the width of the bonnet (hood) to see if the distances are the same at all points.