Need some Euro help on a 300CE

As some of you may remember, I recently purchased a 91 300 CE. Typical of the Naples Italy area, somebody tried to borrow it last night.

They were obviously amateurs because they did not succeed.

They did however:

1. Destroy the transmission shift linkage
2. Rip most of the wiring from under the dash
3. Destroy both of the door handles and the ignition switch
4. Break the rear right window
5. Pulled several wires out of the fuse box under the hood
6. Removed the alarm box
7. Destroyed all the trim around the dash and center console
8. Broke the drivers side mirror adjust lever
9. Damaged the Driver’s seat (May not need to be replaced)
10. Questionable Climate Control, some damage
(This is only what I can see so far)

For all their work, they were rewarded with a $200 Kenwood radio without the face plate.

My question is: The Insurance company told me to have it towed to the MB dealer and that they would have the adjuster meet with the dealer for the estimates.

I don't know which book the insurance company is going to use to determine the value of the car. My quick guess is if I use the dealer for the repair, the bill is going to be over 7,000 USD.

If I use a reputable mechanic and have them buy parts from the dealer, the bill may be less, but they may miss some of the finer tuning issues. (Non MB Mechanic)

Any thoughts on the typical value in Europe for this car and where the repairs should be done?

Chris

[Larry Smith]

I have a 91 300CE-24v And the book value in the UK for a good car with FSH is about UK£7000.00 or US$10000.00

[MBenzNL]

The average Dutch/German 1991 300CE-24 should be worth between 7000-10.000US$ (depends on the state of the car). Do you have a 12 or 24 valve?

If the insurance company pays you the damage that is estimated by the MB dealer and you get paid without a bill of that MB dealer, I would let the damage be repaired by somebody independent or I would do it myself.
In the Netherlands we have insurance companies who pay for damage after it is repaired and they get the bill and we have insurance companies that pay the damage that is estimated without seeing the repair bill at all.
So to determine where to repair the car, you would need to know under what conditions the insurance company pays...

greetingz,

I should have a better idea of what the insurance company wants to do today. I'll post more this afternoon.

BTW it is a 300-24V

Thanks again

Chris

The adjuster in Italy valued the car at about 12,000,000 Lira or 6,000 USD. 91 300 CE-24 Good condition 149,000 km

This value came directly from a book used at the dealership for trade-ins.

Bottom line is if the car does not cost more that 8,000,000 lira to repair, I'll get it fixed. Above that and it will be considered a total loss.

The main concern is the condition of the transmission. If it needs to be rebuilt, the cost could run quite high.

The estimate should be finished near the 8th of May.

Chris