Hello wonderful people of this forum!
Happy Valentine's Day!

This morning a car tried to give mine an unwanted kiss and...


My car fared much better:



She is totally driveable, although the rear right door doesn't....quite close right, the hood doesn't.... quite work right, and the whole rear right of my car is about two to three inches taller than the left side now...

He was driving a company car, and honestly, I don't have a clue what to do at this point. I love that car, but I can deal with the ... bent frame considering I only paid $1600 for her. I am afraid my insurance is going to go up... that isn't good for a 24 year old male. Any thoughts?

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84 300D
84 300SD

1. Your insurance should not go up. The other driver is at fault, company insurance should cover you.

2. It is very possible the insurance company may decide to total the car. In the meanwhile, go to a good body shop and get an estimate (they're free). That will also tell you what is broken, etc. You can also ask the shop if it is safe to drive (it's possible you have a broken suspension link or have a damaged flex disc or carrier bearing, too, things you cannot see from a walk-around).

3. If you can work on it and the items on the estimate aren't too bad, if the insurance company totals it you should have the option of buying the car back from them at salvage value and fixing the critical non-cosmetic items.

Good luck. It's always bad when a good car gets taken out. But at the least, it fulfilled its highest and best calling: it protected you.

Judging by the high up damage on the Japanese thing it looks like he burrowed his way right under your rear end. It wouldn't surprise me if the sub frame has been moved some what - although it seems safe to drive I'd make absolutely sure that the rear suspension is actually OK.

If you are not sure how the under side of the vehicle should be - take some more pictures and post them up.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

WOW .. amazing and its great that nothing bad happened.

BTW.. I dont think that thing is Japanese.. Korean

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1972 W108 280SE 4.5
1977 W116 450SEL
1981 E12 528i BMW

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Hyundai South Korea

.

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w126 500SEC gen II euro, powered by OM617 turbo stolen from 84 300SD 2.88 diff,EGR blinded
next wish/project: w114 coupe OM603 powered

That Hyundai was likely made in SW Georgia. They have a massive facility on I-85 just before you get into Alabama that makes most of the Hyundais and Kias seen here. Not to stir the American/Foreign pot but just sayin'.

The SD took quite a hit and mostly stayed together. That confirms why we love these cars so much!

If the Hyundai rear ended you, that is 100% attributable to the driver in the rear, in almost every jurisdiction and under nearly every circumstance. Your accident report from the police should list who is at fault.

The other driver, and their insurance company, has 100% responsibility to make your car whole again, or compensate you fairly. Howver you should still notify your agent, as it is required by many state laws and likely the rules of your insurance company. They should not hold it against you.

I would not drive the car until it is thoroughly inspected. From your description of the damage (hood doesn't work right, one side 4 inches higher) that sounds significant. The other car's insurance should provide you a rental. Contact the other party's insurance and insist on a rental.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

I'm sorry, yes that's a Hyundai ...
So just to be sure, my insurance company is NOT going to raise my rates for any reason because they are at fault? I have heard otherwise as I'd think any excuse is a good excuse for them to raise my rates but... ok I will go get an estimate done (basically, I'm assuming that my car is totalled) which if that means I get a new car I'm happy! am I?

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84 300D
84 300SD

Your rates will not go up, unless for some odd ball reason it was your fault and there is a witness stating ie missed the driveway so slammed on the brakes and turned....just call your insurance company, tell them you were rear ended, give them the other persons info and let your insurance company do all the work. They will either send out an adjuster to photo and appraiser or have you go to an appointed shop for a quote. If they car is low mileage and interior is as nice as the body it may not be totaled but it appears there may be frame damage and that will cost wayyyy more then the value of the car....settle for what they want to give you and then either resale the car or part it out....they were willing to give me 30$ for my 1978 after a fender dent.....

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If everything up to your hood is affected, it definitely sounds like frame damage. That stinks. It cost us $1800 (paid by the insurance, of course) to repair some body damage and straighten out the frame after the Corolla was hit on the rear wheel by a Honda Civic running a stop sign at 20-25 MPH.

Unless the accident was somehow your fault -- and if you were rear-ended, I don't see how it could be -- your premium will not be affected at all. I am a 17-year-old male who has already been a driver in two accidents where the other guy was at fault (two too many -- concussions and back pain aren't fun...), and my insurance rates were never affected.

Also, please have yourself checked out by a competent doctor. You look to have been hit harder than I was, and I'm still struggling with various medical issues. It'll be much easier to have medical issues covered now than three years from now.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

i get so so pizzed off that so many flippin people assume the laws of physics do not apply to them. KEEP A SAFE FOLLOWING DISTANCE. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

anyway, your sd is totaled. sorry.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

If my car were hit like that. I would take or bargain for what the other company owes me and then pull/drive it onto my property and have a parts car.

It doesn't make economic sense to carry collision insurance. What are they going to pay, 1800-4000 and keep your car. Almost any collision, even a fender and trim can be 2 thousand.

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85 Merc 300D - Unwinding 31 years of wear
86 VW TD
Mahindra Diesel
Iseki Diesel

In 2007 I didn't own a diesel.

replacement is the best bet, and in S. Fl you should have no difficulty finding another one. I 100% agree, get to the doctor and have yourself checked out, the tank absorbed a lot of the impact, but your body did as well. and medical damages do not affect the vehicular damage total... I'm just sayin...
likely you could fix the car and have it drivable again with some simple mount replacements, but it's not worth it really. get several estimates of the damages, and get one from MERCEDES BENZ dealer. then get several priced vehicles of similar age and condition to counter their pitiful first offer. what you paid for the vehicle is of no importance, what matters is finding another one in the same condition yours was in.
don't take their $50 offer...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I totally disagree with parting or scrapping this thing. Get an estimate on the damage. If insurance totals, buy it back. If they agree to fix, repair it economically. At the very least, have it checked for safety (rear suspension) and drive it another 100K miles.

It makes me sad to see cars like this in the junk yard.

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1982 300D-T (sold)
1988 300E (sold)
1994 E320 Wagon (sold)
1995 E320
1998 E300D-T
1999 E3204M Wagon
2001 E320
2005 E320 CDI

Hi there!
I appreciate all your great wisdom thanks!
I am also very sad as I just bought all the parts to do an entire front end rebuild as well as some other goodies $1,000 worth of parts basically, and was in the process of repairing everything on her.

So my question is... the appraiser is going to look at my car. Beside being bent, it is not in ... presentable condition. Because I have been fixing the locks windows etc, there aren't any door panels on, as well as I have have some clearcoat issues which I just sanded down so I could have my neighbor who does bodywork spray on some new clearcoat.
Essentially, she looks like crap.
Should I try to make her look her best before the appraiser looks at her tomorrow? Does it even matter with these cars?
I'm guessing the car is probably totaled given that the frame does look bent, as well as the body being ripped in open by the bumper etc.

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84 300D
84 300SD

I would personally put all the panels back on and tell the adjuster you where just taking it for paint..hints the sanding....you want them to give you high blue book for it. My car probably would have been fixed if I had a macco pant job put on it before the I was hit....they wanted to total out my 71 dart because my seats were torn....I would put some wax on before morning to cover up the missing clear coat too...

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