PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post - C43 -- Disaster

yhliem · #5 06-25-2002, 10:46 PM

is to try to get them to get you a new car. Or, give you a cheque equal to the devaluation and then sell the car ASAP.

I really don't care what any body/frame shop claims, or how much their frame table cost , or how many lasers they put on it; once metal is bent, it's BENT.

Even if the affected pieces are replaced with new components, it will not be the same as before the accident. Cosmetically it may look fine, but with the level of damage you describe, you WILL find things wrong with the car down the road.

Some of these could be:
- leaking trunk seal no matter how many times it's replaced
- uneven tirewear on the left rear tire no matter how many times you have it checked.
- trunk lid not closing entirely properly
- etc. etc. etc.

These are things that may or may not happen. You could be VERY lucky and not suffer any of these after-effects, but if you do notice something not quite right, chances are that it will be something relatively small but nagging and it will grow in its ability to annoy you.

With the amount of damage you describes, one does not need a frame rack to know that it's been bent. as for your question re: the tranny, it's almost certainly damaged. Think about it this way, all that force was enough to move the drive axle. what it is connected too besides the rear subframe? the diff, the driveshaft, the tranny, and the engine. not to mention to the chassis at all of the mounting points.

A great deal of the force involved in the impact has been absorbed by the crumple zone. That's its purpose, but alot of residual energy has been transferred to all of these parts of the car. It's diminishing as you move further forward but nevertheless, it's still there.

Now, it may not have affected the engine negatively, but what about the motor mounts? or the transmission mount? the tranny is almost certainly damaged since the rear subframe, and hence the differential, moved forward somewhat. this would have pushed the driveshaft forward and into the tranny.

I'm going to re-interate my advice to you: get what you can out of the insurance comapny and sell the car.

If they truly could get a car 100% guaranteeable to factory specs and not have aftereffects, why do you think that cars that have been in accidents, never mind serious ones, are worth less?

Good luck, my friend.