That is what I'm doing on my silver E300. So far I have all the new (used) sheet metal that I was able to pick up for $600. I figure I am going to have ~$1500 in it when I finish.

In regards to insurance I was of the opinion that if someone is driving your car and they have a wreck and they are NOT listed on the policy then insurane will not cover repairs.

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Jim

Wrong. No one forces you to buy insurance. You do it by choice. If you don't like the carrier you chose, go somewhere else. Most carriers settle claims according to their contract. Read the contract so you know what you have agreed to.

Carriers take total claims, divide by units, add admin charge & come up with a rate. If claims increase, so do premiums. If you are in a category that statistically has higher claims, guess what...your premiums are higher.

They make a profit. So what? So do many other businesses. Would you really want an unprofitable company to indemnify you against huge liabilities? How about we let the government provide insurance? The gubmt insures people for cheap that live in a flood plain & can't afford market based rates. How about the people are forced to move to higher ground? Seems logical.

Insurance generally goes with the car. If the car owner doesn't have insurance and the driver of said car does, usually, the insured driver's policy will cover. Again, read the policy &/or call the carrier to confirm. Document any important carrier conversations. Ask for where it is in writing or have them send you an email.

I have coverage for a sail boat that only covers when underway if I or another listed user are on board. Again, read the contract.

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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.

I had almost identical damage to the same side of my 92 w124, but the hit was lower and got the bumper.Your car is even the same color as mine. It ended up buckleing the quarter and pushed the trunk floor in. They totaled it with out much of thought, and the buy back was going to be $950 which just wasnt worth it. Hopefully you get the good end of the deal considering yours has lower miles, mine had 201,xxx which resulted in not much of a payout from insurance company.

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1987 300D(Erma)- #14 head, 193k
2003 TDI Beetle sold
1985 300sd sold
1987 300D(Ursala)- #14 head, 157k when sold
1987 300D(Wilbur)- #14head, 356,000+miles, sold after 7 days of owning it.
1992mercedes 300d- totaled and in a junk yard somewhere..
1983 mercedes 300sd- scrapped
1980 mercedes 300sd first mercedes diesel-sold

After sleeping on it, I agree that there is a possibility it might be totaled. But I hope not, especially given the extinuating circumstances. Here in NC, the insurance goes with the car, not the driver. So it matters not who was driving it, although the BF obviously had permission from the owner.

A few other things I've found out: Driver has a long list of DUI's (driving while impaired), has a "restricted" license (which means he can only drive to & from work), & is well know by the local cops. He was cited for DUI, no driver license & failure to reduce speed. He is currently in the Dare County hoosegow under $5,000 bond. The arresting officer, who is a really nice guy, said he threw the book at him for being a repeat offender. The magistrate (whom I know personally) ordered the bond set high. Who knows what the judge will do to him, we have a few conservative judges out here that just might lock him up for a while.

Other than the drunk driving thing, it was an unfortunate accident. Knowing the "intersection" just past where it happened, I'm surprised more bangups haven't happened. I almost smacked a car in the same location myself. The "intersection" doesn't have good sight lines to the left when waiting to get into traffic. No traffic light, either. Not that I'm trying to lift the blame from this guy, but there is a good reason it would happen even if he hadn't been drinking. It's a piss-poor hiway design. Way to go, NCDOT!!!

I did a little research this morning & found that NADA values the car from a low of $3,900 to a high of $7,775. Average is at $4,625. Of course, this is all retail. I think I would be happy receiving a check for the average value. I'm sure, however, the insurance co. will offer less.

Will post results of the estimate from the body shop on Monday. Stay tuned if you are interested...

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

Depending on how many--He would be doing time in the pen here in Texas--is his girlfriend hot?

NO!!! Overweight big time...

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

It's not worthless to you, but its resale value is a fraction what it would be without a salvage title. Personally, I pass up cars with salvage titles -- you just don't know how well the work was done and what problems will come up down the road. They're also harder to insure, I hear.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

He does have a point, though, in that the market incentive here is to pay out as little as possible. Nearly everyone I know who has been involved in an accident has had the insurer lowball them and stretch out the claims process in the hopes they'd give up and go away. There is no incentive for the insurer to work with you, especially if it's someone else's policy paying the damage.

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1981 Mercedes 300TD, 1994 Honda Civic Del Sol
http://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/67195.pnghttp://mefi.us/images/fuelly/smallsig-us/103885.png

Same here in Ga with 3 (I think it is 3).

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Jim

In North Carolina, liability insurance is required if you want plates for your car. You even have to have it to get a driver license, unless they changed that...

On the other hand, which carrier you choose is up to you.

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1987 300DT
2002 Ford F-250 7.3 Crew Cab Short Bed

As others have said, I can almost guarantee that they will total it. Buy it back, fix it, and keep on driving. The damage doesn't look that bad, it's just that body work tends to be expensive. It could have been much worse-you could have been on a bike.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Yikes! Where is this? Is that legal?
Only one in 100? Your strong DUI laws are working. Where I live I'd estimate the percentage of DUI drivers on the road during that time period at more like 50%. Cops nail them all the time, but people keep doing it. OTOH, part of the high popularity of bicycles in my town comes from all the people riding them for transport since they lost their licenses.

I disagree with property forfeiture as a sanction in criminal cases. Imposing a fine that may result in the necessary sale of personal property doesn't bother me as much, but I've heard too many horror stories of forfeiture abuse by law enforcement in the course of the War on Some Drugs.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

They can't force you to have insurance because you have a license. The insurance goes with the car. If no car, no insurance. If YOU CHOOSE to have a car, then insurance follows. Still, it is your choice to purchase a vehicle that causes insurance to be required.

You have alternatives. For example' you could rent a car & use the rental company's insurance. You could set up your life to walk or ride a bike everywhere. You could also put up enough cash to cover your liability.

I have been dealing with insurance companies for a living for 25+ years & find that most have integrity. They will at least do what their contract says. They also don't give their best offer right out of the box as is the policy of most individuals. Perhaps this is because people run the insurance co.

In this case, take the position that the carrier's client caused damage. The injured party needs to be made whole. Hole means having their well kept fine example of an older well maintained car brought back to the condition it was in before the wreck. Alternatively the injured party will accept enough cash to buy another car in similar condition.

This is a business transaction and the carrier (adjuster) needs to be educated on how nice a vehicle this particular car was and can be with minimal expense and hassle. The adjuster has discretionary dollars. Get them him to spend some and avoid unnecessary hassle for small dollars.

I received extra money because I live in an old house located in a historic district. When my "wavy glass" was damaged in a storm and we couldn't find a comparable replacement, I sent an email similar to "Let's finish this thing up. The glass prices I've found are all over the place. Send me $xxx for the glass & we'll consider it done."

Theorem 1- 100: We can't hold the injured party accountable for someone else's screw up. The screw up could be the insured, an employee benefits manager or whatever. If we can document that the claim is legitimate, the carrier pays per the contract language.

In this case, the OP could sue the car owner but would probably wast time and $$. The best bet is to cut the best deal possible with the carrier & move on.

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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.

I was car-free for six years of my adult (driving-age) life. During that time I was nearly killed by an uninsured motorist. Thirty-seven stitches in my forehead. I could see my skull. Close to $10k in medical bills that I had to cover. Insurance SHOULD be administered by the government, and should be factored into the cost of license plates and/or fuel.

Jay.

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On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

I'd like to be car and engine free. Life is simpler with fewer combustion engines to keep running. 3 cars licensed, lawn mowers, weed eaters, chain saws, boat motors...on and on - it becomes consuming. I did manage to ditch my TVa bout 30 yrs ago. That also is a good thing.

Life has risks. Perhaps you should have had your own coverage for the 10 grand. It is called medical insurance.

I don't agree that the government should do the administration. Many can't or won't afford coverage. Since claims account for the major portion of claims, changing administrators won't change this. If we can't afford premiums now, how will we afford them when paying via taxes?

Now ... back to our regularly scheduled car talk.

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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.