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  #1  
Old 11-07-2010, 02:53 PM
Jeremy5848's Avatar
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Hit a deer!

My wife, driving the '96 E300D, hit a deer Thursday night. Wife is OK, deer is dead, car is damaged but remains drivable. We both feel badly for the doe, which suffered for a few minutes before it died. Animal collisions are covered under "comprehensive" (the doe was uninsured) and are considered "non-chargeable" accidents so we are lucky in that regard - the damage will be repaired at no cost to us. This is our first claim in many years. The written appraisal that I had done a couple of years ago, a copy of which is in my insurance agent's office, has now paid for itself.

The damage will require replacement of the left headlight assembly, left fender, and hood, plus a bunch of little things and painting the entire front to blend in the new paint with the (original) old paint. The body shop will talk directly to State Farm and I shouldn't have to get involved at all. An additional "win" for us is that all of the front-end rock dings from 14 years, 273,000 miles, and four owners will be gone.

Insurance companies these days "encourage" body shops to use "pre-owned" parts (hood & fender) whenever possible; this was something of a scandal some years ago because owners weren't being told about it. I don't see a problem but would like to hear from others who have been through this route.

I have one question for the forum. Upon additional inspection of the car, I discovered that the upper right plastic mounting tab snapped off of the radiator. Has anyone had experience trying to glue this tab back onto the radiator? The tab doesn't have to take any weight, it just keeps the radiator in place. If I leave it to the body shop, they will replace the radiator. New radiators are about $400 plus labor, adding $500-1000 to the total bill. I hate to have the car taken apart any more than necessary and I don't want to run the bill up so high that State Farm digs in its corporate heels. The hood, fender, and headlight will be bad enough (not to mention the headlight washer, air cleaner box, and all of the little trim pieces). OTOH, I don't want to have a Mickey Mouse repair that fails after a few years. Advice?

Jeremy

Attached Thumbnails
Hit a deer!-crash_7686.jpg   Hit a deer!-radiator_4524.jpg  
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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #2  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:00 PM
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new rad, don't mess, check the replacement is NOT a valeo.
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  #3  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:00 PM
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Location: Blue Point, NY
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I believe that you can successfully weld plastic using JB Weld or the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Permatex-84115-PermaPoxy-minute-Plastic/dp/B000ALBZK8

For what you're looking to do, either would be a fine alternative to replacing the radiator.
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  #4  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:06 PM
Stretch's Avatar
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Whilst obviously it was unlucky to happen your wife is lucky it wasn't worse - those spindly legs and all that high up weight tends to glide up those beautiful pedestrian friendly front ends.

I'd go for the glue and keep an eye on it.
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Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!
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  #5  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:15 PM
cirrusman's Avatar
Just add Diesel.
 
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I've had so many incidents with those darned deer... I'm teaching my kids that Bambi's the bad guy in the movie.
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1983 Mercedes Benz 300SD - Wife calls him "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang"
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  #6  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:26 PM
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Thats why both my Benz's have loud exhaust,they hear me coming.
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  #7  
Old 11-07-2010, 03:30 PM
Craig
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I would let the body shop include the new radiator in the estimate. You can always back off is the insurance company gives you flack. JB Weld is pretty impressive stuff if you end up keeping the radiator.
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  #8  
Old 11-07-2010, 05:01 PM
scottmcphee's Avatar
1987 w124 300D
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Edmonton, Canada
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I don't let body shop deal directly with insurance, other than to send the bill there. Once I tell them who it is.

Got the appraisal, good, now get an accident report from the police.

Get the damage assessed at whatever shop the insurance company wants.
Get a firm understanding of what your deductible is, some fixed amount usually, like $500.

Then, go to wherever you want the car fixed, a reputable / registered shop.
Show them the appraisal, and the accident report, and the damage estimate.
Pay them your deductible as the down payment if they want something to start.

Get the car fixed to your satisfaction, using new MB parts, parts you source, or tell them where used is OK.

Tell the body shop to send the invoice to the insurance company.
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  #9  
Old 11-08-2010, 10:06 AM
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I have seen semi trucks with straight-pipes, rattling tire chains and loudly flapping tarps and straps, with deer guts wrapped around their roo-bars. I don't think that noise helps.

Quote:
Originally Posted by oldsinner111 View Post
Thats why both my Benz's have loud exhaust,they hear me coming.
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  #10  
Old 11-08-2010, 11:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldsinner111 View Post
Thats why both my Benz's have loud exhaust,they hear me coming.
Ever hear the phrase, "Like a deer in headlights" ?

"Like a deer in the headlights"
Is basicly described as,
Someone or something, stunned and awed by a sight so much, that this thing is paralyzed or stunned in a sort of way.

I think some deer are paralyzed by either the sight, sound, or model of car. I think we are all lucky that deer don't take a special interest in old diesel Mercedes.
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Sold last car --- 05/2012 1984 300D Light Ivory, Red interior
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Past:
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  #11  
Old 11-08-2010, 11:32 AM
Jeremy5848's Avatar
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Thanks

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas and suggestions.

This type of accident is covered by "comprehensive," which is typically much lower in cost than "collision." Consequently, comprehensive coverage usually has a lower deductible. Ours is zero.

We didn't get a "police report" because there was nothing to report -- no damage to a person and no damage to public or private property (other than the deer and our car). Additionally, in California, the major rural roads are patrolled by the California Highway Patrol, an over-worked, under-staffed organization. We would have had to call them and wait in the dark on the narrow shoulder of a 2-lane, 55 MPH road hoping that our emergency flashers wouldn't attract a drunk like a moth to a candle. Uh-uh. Safer to go home. We have the appraisal to show that the car was in good shape before the accident.

The body shop was recommended by a trusted mechanic. His previous recommendations have been good. No reason not to trust this one. I do intend to stay in touch, however, and watch over their shoulders.

Army, you're right. Deer often slide into the windshield. I suppose it's possible to total a car, given the right set of circumstances. Fortunately, this was a member of the California subspecies of black-tailed mule deer, a relatively small deer. It was also lucky that my wife didn't see the deer in time to hit the brakes, so the nose of the car didn't dive.

I like Craig's idea of seeing what the entire estimate looks like, including the radiator. Never having had this level of body repair done before, I don't know how much it will cost. The radiator may actually be only a small amount of the total. If the radiator is replaced, I'll specify Behr or Nissens. The shop may find additional damage requiring pulling the radiator anyway. In that case, might as well replace it.

More as it occurs.

Jeremy
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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #12  
Old 11-13-2010, 01:52 AM
Jeremy5848's Avatar
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Location: Sonoma Wine Country
Posts: 8,402
W210 fender removal DIY?

I had a message from the insurance company today. They got pictures from the body shop and want to do their own appraisal to see if the car is worth repairing. This is worrisome on a number of levels.

(1) It sounds like they've gotten a high repair estimate from the body shop and think that the repair may be more than the car is worth.
(2) The body shop promised to keep me informed, email pictures being sent to the insurance company, etc. In fact, I've heard nothing from them since dropping off the car Monday morning.
(3) The used-car valuation web sites (NADA, Edmunds, and Kelly) are all over the map when it comes to their valuations -- the numbers range from $3000 to $8000.

My wife and I both want to keep the car and get it fixed but don't want to have it totaled and buy it back from the insurance company since we would end up with a salvage title. I may try to negotiate something with the insurance company wherein I would do most of the work myself. I won't know until Monday whether this will be necessary.

In the meantime, I have one question for the forum: in the W210 chassis, how are front fenders attached? Are they bolted on or otherwise attached so that I can replace the fender myself or does it require welding?

Jeremy
__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970
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  #13  
Old 11-13-2010, 02:03 AM
Registered Hack
 
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Posts: 4,642
Jeremy,

I had a really nice, informative adjuster take care of me once. He gave me quite a bit of insight as to the process.

Instead of looking at the typical, generic values... NADA, Kelley... you should be looking at the asking or recent sale prices for that vehicle in your area.

That might be a state varying procedure.. but I'm just a bit north and over a line or two.
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  #14  
Old 11-13-2010, 04:56 AM
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Off topic, but your paint look immaculate for a 96 W210, no rust? How do you manage that? This is nice.
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  #15  
Old 11-13-2010, 09:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog View Post
I have seen semi trucks with straight-pipes, rattling tire chains and loudly flapping tarps and straps, with deer guts wrapped around their roo-bars. I don't think that noise helps.
I've had success with my horn. The few times I have spotted them coming I held the horn and it scared the $@# out of them and they went running. Maybe I was just lucky and had wimpy ones.

I swerved across 3 lanes @ 75mph once outside lansing around midnight to avoid a HERD (3 of them) running onto the highway. In any other car I'd probably have crashed. Truly amazing how the MB suspension reacts in such a refined way.

I was able to stop before hitting one in the W124 last year. Learned the true power of the brakes on that car.

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