I am having a little difficulty with your having to buy the car as well when not getting full compensation for the damages. I really have no love for the legal proffession but something seems very wrong here.

Yes the other person did destroy property and to me at least that falls under his liability. Pro rated the destruction does not sound like 25k would go very far at all divided amoungst all parties. You may just be being manipulated. All I am really sure of is this form of logic to reduce a valid claim would not work here at all. To me it has simularities to saying that since you were sitting still on a park bench when I ran into your person our liability is reduced over if you were walking. Also call your states insurance regulator to get better definitions if you have not already. Make sure that the regulator is a state employee. Here the insurance companies have convinced the government that they can do this themselves. So you get insurance company paid people still when dealing at that level..

Property damage falls under another catagory in my mind. There is almost always property damage to items or persons in a liability claim as far as I can remember.Thats what it is for.

Costs almost nothing to take the insurance company to small claims court. I suspect the insurance company owe you it all and they know it. In small claims court they would have to convince a judge that it is not their liability. I do not think that will fly in reality.

A lawyer can guide you in your state or the information you want may be on the internet. Insurance companies have become far too creative. . Almost sounds like they have you convinced at this point. I wonder what they have told the lexus owner as pro rating twenty five K will not touch his issue if totalled. He would have gotten a lawyer by now I suspect. Have a talk with him. The police accident report will give you the contact information if you do not already have it.

It also almost sounds like they are trying to define the meaning of liability. Since you almost always have to sign a form of confidentiality not to discuss the settlement with anyone in these flakey arrangements. Perhaps if you contacted the other claimant as well you might find out what they are doing with them in reality. Do not count on equal treatment unless there is indeed some form of crazy law on the books in your state.

It would not be unusual to find out the insurance company may be playing many games. Of course I could be wrong as they may have also purchased the lawmakers of your state in some fashion. Best of luck anyways.

I remember that Houston car on eBay. I have a soft spot in heart for brown wagons...

Shame, that was a sweet looking 124 wagon...

__________________
'85 300TD "Puff The Magic Wagon" - Rolling Resto
'19 Mazda CX-9 Signature - Wife's sled
'21 Morgan 3-Wheeler P101 Edition
'95 E300d - SOLD
'84 300TD "Brown Betty" - Miss this one
'81 240D "China Baby" - Farm grocery getter

I almost cried when I read this -- I looked at that wagon for a month straight just about every day as I am always on the hunt for amazing examples to replace my rusty affair. Brown is my fav. color, and the interior was unbelievable. There will always be a special place in my heart for that lovely wagon. <3 =)

__________________
'87 300TD Estate (Panzer Wagon, Sold)
'95 E320 Estate (Sabertooth, Sold)
'94 E500 (Stark 1, For Sale)
'04 VW GTI (Rhino, Sold)
'12 VW GTI Autobahn (Shadow)

I am so sorry, I understand your pain.

That was hard to read! I was in a similar situation many years ago. Watched my new car get smashed right in front of me. Hard to put into words.... That feeling...

I hope you are able to at least get something out of it. This forum is the right place and has the right people to make things happen, if you are up to it.

Those HOA's are a PITA...

__________________
AJ

1985 300D (SOLD)

I like Barry's idea of taking the insurance company to small claim's court. Look at what that woman won against Honda in small claim's court a few weeks ago. If the other people who had damage don't take the company to court, I'm thinking you'll be the first in line for the $25k. In fact, simply giving the insurance company the court summons may get you the money.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

That sucks. I remember when I bought my first Mercedes. A 1982 300sd. I wanted it so bad because it was diesel and I wanted a diesel. I went to go pick it up at night and I was driving and not even being in it for 10 minutes I almost ran into a whole herd of deer!! Close one. Of course three months later an older gentleman pulled out in front of me while I was driving and I T-boned him. I wasnt so lucky that time.

__________________
1984 300SD Orient Red/ Palomino
1989 560SEC
2016 Mazda 6 6 speed manual
1995 Ford F-150 reg cab 4.9 5speed manual

Well here are some photos. It doesn't look like too much damage in pictures, but it is definitely very bad. Up close you can see that the roof is buckled over the rear doors. The radiator got pressed back enough to make contact with the fan. And the left motor mount has cracked. You can see the interesting interior here which is so unique.

And when it rains, it pours. My '93 300D stranded me for the first time ever tonight. Started running rough and then plumes of gray smoke billowed out of the tailpipe. My first thought was a turbo seal on the exhaust side let loose, but after doing a bit of searching on this forum, it sounds more like this OM602 has just blown a head gasket at the #1 cylinder into the chain case. Of course this is off-topic and I will post another thread when I start tearing into this over the weekend.

Attached Thumbnails

         

Ouch! I remember when that car came up..I had thought of bidding..

So sorry to hear she met such an untimely end. Perhaps a 603 swap is in order into your 93...;-)

jono

__________________
Blue Ridge Mercedes
Jonathan Hodgman
http://www.blueridgemb.com/
Enthusiast Service, Restoration & Tuning.
Follow Us on Facebook!
Located in the Atlanta area
Specializing in all pre and post merger AMG's including Hammers and DOHC M117 engines.
Mercedes Repair Atlanta

Man that stinks.

I have the same style interior in my 87 SDL though yours is in better shape and mine is a blue/grey.

__________________
Joe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1980 300SD - 495k miles - 'The Ambassador'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Former Family Members
95 C280
73 280SEL
90 300D
87 300SDL (X2)
86 560SEL
84 300D
80 300SD

So sorry to hear this!

This is exactly why I carry uninsured, underinsured insurance on my policy. State min is 15/30k out here, I carry higher limits to make sure I am protected in case someone with state min hits me or hits me and a few other people.

__________________
1985 300D (CA, 173K)

Dynamite Biodiesel Co-op, Phoenix,AZ

Heart breaking. I remember when my corvette was totalled due to a flood- and still haven't gotten over the loss. (All the time and energy to make the repairs and restore it- incidentally I found it in Houston too...)

I was given a piece of advice from an insurance adjuster friend though- never, ever take the first offer on a totalled vehicle, and you should probably disregard the second offer too if you can't replace the car with the amount offered. And if the insurance company won't give you enough to replace it- contact an attorney to send them a letter indicating your intention to bring a suit against them for the damages.

Oh- and I don't know about your state, but the idea that liability coverage DROPS when the driver hits a parked vehicle sounds like serious BS to me. Very sorry to hear this. Best of luck to you and keep us posted.

It's almost Impossible to get P+S [Pain and Suffering]
(Unless you're a mother who sees her child killed before her eyes)

BUT, I'd sure use THOSE TERMS with the Insurer...

You've been Traumatized.

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

Here's my understanding. The "kid" who caused a multi-car accident has a policy with only $25K of liability.

What I don't understand, is how much coverage YOU have ?

If anything, it seems to me, that YOUR insurance company, is screwing you, because it knows if it has to make you whole; and YOUR insurance company would be left holding the bag, because it also knows that the "kid" has limited assets, and coverage.

Hence the reason they want to "total" your baby.

If you have the time, are willing to do limited legwork, and don't need the money right away, I assure you can get a settlement that will make you whole again.

Please PM with your contact info to talk.

Some quick tips:

1) don't SIGN, or ACCEPT, ANYTHING for your or the other party's insurere right now;

2) DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. DATES, TIMES, PERSONS, ETC. Email is best, but if you do have a phone call, document IMMEDIATELY everything you said, and heard.

3) Call an appraiser that knows the older market of cars, what's needed to properly maintain them, and a long track record. This appraiser is independent, and should not be the appraiser or an adjuster provided by any insurance company. My appraiser has 30-years of Mercedes and German car experience, and his valuation process and conclusions hold-up in court. He does this NATIONWIDE, so PM me.

4) Assuming you don't the need a settlement quickly, TIME is on your side.

5) Did I say, PM me ?

:-) neil

Pull the 603 out and repower a W123.

__________________
83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.