Take heart!

I hope anyone who has had to deal with an insurance company over the value of their vehicle after a collision will find some encouragement in this story. A month ago, 12/28 to be exact, I was minding my own business, driving on a through street, within the speed limit, yada yada yada, when a nice little old lady decided to pull into my path while she was looking the other way. I took evasive action but we met in the middle of the intersection. Her left front fender took out my right front quarter just ahead of the tire: bumper, fender, grill, hood, radiator........my '86 300E was finished, totalled!

That was Monday morning. Tuesday the adjuster for her insurance company called to get my version of the accident. I gave him details. He said he would have to verify my story with his insured. Twenty minutes later, he called back and said, paraphrased: "We will take full responsibility for the accident.". Great, but..... at this point I was dreading the confrontation with "them" on establishing the value of my '86 300E, my baby, a CPO owned by me since '89, now with 224,000 on the clock. She was not a garage queen, but definitely much better than the average MB of that vintage, having been the recipient of much TLC over the years.

On Wednesday, I received "the call" from her insurance company. Fearing an offer in the neighborhood of $1,500 ( you know how "they" are ) I steeled myself for what was to come. Her offer absolutely floored me. I said, "Are you sure this is on the '86 300E?" "Yes", she said. "It was a very nice car. That's why we're offering you high retail." I scurried to pick up the check in person on Thursday, the following day.

Now, fast forward two weeks. I had located a local, one owner, 2000 E320, Silver w/grey leather, with 69,000 miles that had been dealer serviced since new. Bottom line: I am now the owner of a 14 year newer Benz with 155,000 fewer miles.......at no out of pocket expense, even after paying the sales tax, license, etc. Thank you, insurance company. [name on request] I'm not sure why they were motivated to be so magnanimous but whether it was their perception of the value of my Benz, a desire to clear the accident slate at the end of the year, or possibly their wanting to settle quickly before personal injury ( there was none ) entered the picture.....whatever......I'm most definitely a happy camper. So, if any of you find yourselves in similar straits, I hope you are treated as well as I was

__________________
62 220sb
67 250S
72 280SE 4.5
74 280C
77 300D
82 240D
85 190E 2.3
86 300E RIP 12/28/09
85 300SD
92 300D 2.5
00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii

I thought of something else when I saw the title.

Cue Aklim in 3...2...1...

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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 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Congrats! I'm sure you'll love the car.

Another "happy ending"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3IVo8Q1jRw

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

Life is not all cartoon balloons and cotton candy.

They settled because they did NOT want YOU to claim personal injury when it was their fault and you might have claimed injury later.

They did it cause it was worth more to overpay on PD, and make the claim, you, and any BI , GO AWAY happy --- cheaper in the long run,for them, not because of the goodness in their hearts.


HOW do I know they did it for that reason?


Because *I* used to BE one of THEY. That's why.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

And the farmer fattens up his animals because he loves them so. Sure. It is just STFU money. I'll bet you signed some papers that makes them not liable for anything else. You do realize that I can come back a couple weeks later with some back issue, right?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Such as? 2 for 1 special at the local whorehouse?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Exactly

__________________
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 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

You guys are being to hard on the OP. He knows they didn't give him the money out of the goodness of their hearts...he is just thrilled he got a MUCH newer (and probably nicer) car at absolutely no cost to him and very little trouble.

I'm happy for you.

__________________
2009 ML320 Bluetec
1985 300CD
1981 300TD

Past Mercedes
1979 300TD
1982 300TD
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1998 E430
1984 300SD
1980 300SD

great story, by the way, what might be the name of the insurance company?

He wasn't sure. Just wanted him to know what the score was. Also, we wanted him to know what he was saying could be interpreted in a couple of other ways.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

In every state, property damage settlements have nothing to do with claims for personal injury, unless there's some "goodwill" effect that's being factored. That's why there are separate casualty adjusters for PD and PI.

My brother in law was rear ended a couple of months ago. 2001 Toyota Corolla CE - manual locks, manual windows, "low" retail at best - probably a sub $3,000 car.

He received nearly $10,000 from the other driver's insurance company. I was amazed and thought someone made a mistake...

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

But did he have to sign off on an agreement that there will be no further claims? No more claims that his back, neck, etc, etc was thrown out? Hell, I recall one case where someone sued the insurance company because the rear end incident (pun here) caused him to go back to live with Mom, TURN GAY and watch gay porn.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Good to know not every person's first instinct after an auto accident is to head straight to the personal injury lawyer when they're not injured.

Congrats on the new(er) ride!

__________________

1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Why bother? When I had my accidents where I was not at fault, THEY came to me soliciting. Yes, it might not be every person's first instinct but generally, it figures high up there which explains the more than generous settlement

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow