B-O-L: thankfully there was no frame damage. Bit in the 300TE a number of components are right up front and they took the brunt of the damage. The radiator, the shroud, the fan, the fan clutch, the A/C dryer, the upper and lower radiator hoses, the headlight assemblies, the wiper motors (both side), even the two horns (high and low tones) were replaced. It takes a lot of man-hours (or person-hours to be politically correct) to remove and replace these items. Then there was the hood, the hood pad, the radiator grille, the plastic inserts, etc. Finally paint..so you can imagine. I had first estimated $5k, based upon my own previous experience (I used to do insurance-defense work).
In order to keep the car from beig declared a toal, I agreed to have certain used items incorporated in the repairs, so for instance, the hood and the grille are used. I inspected these items, to make sure that they were up to my own standards...
The car is back and my kid is happy...a happy teenager is a happy Dad...
