so on my way through the snow - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

matthias08 · #1 01-23-2008, 04:41 PM

i managed to hit a curb w/ my front left wheel...
the rim is bent but is still holding air.

its going to have to do for a while... not a long while... but still... first thing i did was take it to my mechanic to make sure everythings alright
there is no vibration under 60 and very little over... and its not pulling either way... but i opened the hood today and where the previous owner apparently "patched" the wheel well... um... it looks like the welds... well... cracked!

what do I do!?!? i have little to no $$$ and i have way too much into it.

Lunchmeat · #2 01-23-2008, 04:50 PM

You said you have very little vibration over 60. Did you have any vibration before you hit the curb?

matthias08 · #3 01-23-2008, 04:52 PM

no...
but im going to guess that the vibration is from the very large lump in the tire...
the real issue here is...
will I hit a bump and end up w/ my nose in the ground?!?

kerry · #4 01-23-2008, 07:05 PM

I've seen a badly rusted 123 on which the inner fender/spring tower was so badly rusted the car was unsafe to drive 10yds. So, I think it depends on what was wrong with the inner wheel well before it was welded.

TylerH860 · #5 01-23-2008, 07:24 PM

yikes...

pictures?

matthias08 · #6 01-23-2008, 09:08 PM

okay, so i don't have any pictures at the very moment. but what happened was... i was coming down a moderate hill in a subdivision and i was coming to a corner that i needed to turn, i come around a tree and there's a stopped bus... hmmm... 240D + rear end of school bus... how about those bus recovery hooks... anywho. um. i attempted to slow the car down as much as possible... and durrr. it locked up on the snow/ice combo and very... bluntly slid into the curb. the hubcap went FLYING off into the yard of a friend of mine... and suprisingly the wheel so far has turned out better than planned... its still... there... although im thinking about putting my spare on for the time being.
i was looking @ both the inner fender & the spare tire... the rim in the spare looks good... some surface rust... and the inner fender has been decently taken care of considering its history... there's meh... I'd say somewhere around a 4 X 4 or 5 inch piece of sheet metal welded into the top of it where there was ovbiously rust. and then it was coated in some nasty black stuff. im seeing that things && that black stuff have shifted and there is some visable space... and im freaking out about it...
how hard is the inner fender to replace? and if i need to should i have my rather rusted frame boxed in w/ steel while im in there?!?
im soooo upset. like... um... the parents don't know yet...
and they wont let me drive anything else in this weather...

as for the spare...
it has seen some use...
and its definately worn on the inner side... clearly something was off at one point in time... do you guys think it would be "okay" to drive for maybe a month until i can come up with proper funds?
i had some... um... $$$ issues today... && I'll post something else about that in a minute.
oh oh oh. fyi. I paid 2K plus tax & title for my car and i now have 300 in brakes 900 in floors 100 in oilchanges, and about another 600 in exaust...
so i've got everything plus some in it...
i owe my parents meh... 1900 total..

should i just BEG them to cosign a loan so i can get this very sleek 03 C230 sport coupe w/ 71K miles????
dealership wants 16,400, but I know their sun. so automatically dropped to 14,5

t walgamuth · #7 01-23-2008, 10:07 PM

YOu need to take the spare and put a new or good used tire on that rim, then get a good used wheel and tire so you will have a spare. Once you get a good tire and rim on the car you will be able to evaluate how much damage if any is done to the suspension.

YOu cannot drive with a lump on the tire....it will blow out for sure.

If you need to borrow some $ for your spare etc. that will be an easier sell to your folks than the clk.

Tom W

P.E.Haiges · #8 01-23-2008, 10:12 PM

matthias,

Let me understand this better. U don't have enough money to buy another tire, but U want to buy a $15,000 car?

Are U out of your freaking mind? Get real.

I'd like to buy new Maybach too but I know I can't afford it.

P E H

vstech · #9 01-23-2008, 10:13 PM

go price a spare for your 240, then price a replacement wheel for a clk... that 600 you spent on the exhaust will seem like chump change...
so, close to 4K in a 240 with rust repairs in it... wise purchase.

barry123400 · #10 01-23-2008, 10:39 PM

Any repair on the newer model you cannot handle might financially kill you even if you can stagger along on the payments. Plus you would still owe your parents for part of the 240d.
There is never a better time than now to sit down and think of a way to repair what scares you but not cost much if any money. Once a car has had or has extensive rust one has to use judgement on how much to spend on it. Thats especially true with certain types of rust and if it is wide spread.
Very difficult to make a car like that truly whole again and usually not worth the effort. The equation of an old car no money and a mechanic does not fly well to start with.
More self reliance also helps you through life in my opinion or at least you learn what is going on around you. The more you know the more you will find it almost unbelievable in my experience or at least a lot of it. Most important is you can usually also make money with that knowledge.

Mustang_man298 · #11 01-23-2008, 10:44 PM

You did sink quite a bit into a car that has rust, it'd have been better to find one cheap with no rust and spend on that, My 80 is rusty, was free, and I'm in it about $1k in mechanicals and DMV costs and going on 1.5 yrs and 10K miles on it now. Everything I spent on mechanicals can (and will be) reused in the 82, which is not rusty at all, and I paid $100 for that one. I'm only spending what's needed to keep the good things (like the engine) in good repair on the rustball, cosmetics I could care less about on it (maroon fender and white spray paint blotches on a puke beige car) since it's basically a driveable parts car/cheap commuter (which will soon be retired) for the 82. The 82 needs very little & will be restored. They're easy enough to find when you look around. 'Nuff said there....

If you think the body moved as you say, you will see it in the hood and fender lines/gaps. These are unibody cars, so if the body bends somewhere, things around the area won't fit right like they used to.

bustedbenz · #12 01-24-2008, 12:10 AM

There's no point going into the "should have" done this and "should have" done that at this point.

Main thing is that if affording to keep a 240d on the road is proving difficult, there's no easy justification for spending that kind of money on a new mercedes which will be even more expensive to maintain... especially when the "smart" alternative is a mid-90s Accord or Camry type car, if the bottom line really is the cheapest possible transportation.

I'd keep the 240d, if it's still servicable.

Point number one is that as Tom said, it's absolutely not safe to drive on a tire that has a "little bump" in it - it'll blow out at the worst possible time and you'll be back where you started.

Even if you have to borrow money for a tire, your first move from here is to get a safe wheel and a safe tire, even if it's used, on the car. Then, you can assess everything else from there. But the very first un-avoidable issue is that a lumpy tire should barely even be driven to the tire shop, and that trip should be made very cautiously.

TylerH860 · #13 01-24-2008, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matthias08

1979 240D 228,769

1991 300SL 140,000
1994 320E conv. 94,000
2001 SLK320 31,000
2005 E320CDI 33,800

2007 ML320CDI 27,800 TRADED IN
2008 GL320 CDI

Judging from your sig, your parents seem to be doing okay. You should tell them what happened. The longer you wait the worse it will get in the end; THEY WILL EVENTUALLY FIND OUT. Get it over with, perhaps get in the doghouse for a while, and then you can get your car fixed.

If your worried they will take your car away, don't. Parents get sick of driving their kids around, eventually...

My sister did this once. She speared a tire and continued to drive on the rim all the way home, carving out the driveway when she pulled in. She tried to tell my parents that she didn't know it was flat; didn't go over well.

kerry · #14 01-24-2008, 12:54 AM

Having seen a car with the inner fender rusted out, I'd be making sure the car is structurally sound before buying the new tire. If the weld cracked, this is prima facie evidence it isn't structurally sound.

TylerH860 · #15 01-24-2008, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kerry

Having seen a car with the inner fender rusted out, I'd be making sure the car is structurally sound before buying the new tire. If the weld cracked, this is prima facie evidence it isn't structurally sound.

agreed... hit another bump the wrong way and...