PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - My car got smashed :(

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My car got smashed :(

my lovely W124 E300D got rear ended on the highway yesterday evening. The person who hit my car from behind (doing about 40 I think) caved it in, launched it ahead and made my car the meat of the sandwich in a 3 car incident. The Tahoe infront did not even get scratched as my car softly contacted the tow receiver.

the car in the rear smacked it hard with me sitting with brakes on during rush (jam) hour - I usually keep a 15 to 20 ft distance from the front vehicle. My car was pushed into the front which caused the bumper and grille shell and LHS headlamp to break and also buckle the hood slightly.

Lets see what the insurance comes out like, most likely they will want to total it. I dont know if miles matter or anything becuase my car has 134,000 miles on it.

The worst part is that I use the car to get to and from work which is about 60 miles away and the fuel economy really makes a difference.

That's horrible....make sure to battle for a big payout so you can find another equally good car. Still lots of good parts on the car though, that engine and trans are worth some $$ with low miles like that.

Once again being estatic about how some adjusters and insurance companies lowball almost every situation. You should have some pain present in your neck and shoulders and get it checked out by a doctor.

I my opinion as a guy that is basically honest I found you have to fight fire with fire. If the settlement is decent and equitable you forget the neck injury. If not and you are jerked around you have some ammunition to use.

I hope the insurance company treats you well. You need a rental until it is settled to apply pressure for settlement as well of course.

Yikes! Glad you are okay and I agree with the others you should go to the doctor to make sure you are okay.

Im planning to go to a doctor just to be safe. The good bit is that you can see the MB quality shine through in this impact. I did not feel as hard a jolt as I have felt in a toyota when it was similarly impacted. The bad bit is that I really liked the car. Trusty, reliable and low fuel cost.

If the insurance totals it Im thinking of buying it back then think of repairing or parting it. The engine is perfect - no problems at all, no leaks, sounds sweet, the transmission shifts very nice. the interior is good, no cracks in dash, A/C with no leaks since Ive owned it (evap replaced). Suspension redone.

by my own estimate, I need to find a car that I can take a sawzall to for the rear clip and find a shop that it is willing to weld it back for reasonable money.

A replacement hood, grille shell, one grille strip, both bumpers, one headlamp glass, both tail lights and the rear exhaust muffler.

The Mrs unit of myself is asking to find a later E320 W210 body or a W210 turbodiesel.

btw - speaking of this - my toolkit is locked in the trunk and I cant open the trunk, anyone know how I can extract it from a W124

I'd wait for the insurance before jumping the gun with sawzalls - sorry to hear about the troubles though...

I agree with Barry.

My neck / back would be hurt until I received the fair settlement on my property loss. Insurance companies are well known for putting it to the individuals. A potential physical injury is about the only ammunition one has to fight back.

Sorry to hear about that. Where in TX are you? Might have a lead on an E300D for you.

Sorry to hear that your car got wrecked. That really stinks.

Think about finding a comparable replacement and keeping the old one for parts or selling it for parts. Sounds like the frame could have been bent.

Im in Houston.

I found a 93 300E (M104 engine) near my house in pretty good condition with a bad A/C (most probably evap)

still looking for an E300D. - My phone battery died about 10 minutes before the incident - could not take any pictures for myself. I wanted to throttle the guy - he said "I did not notice it" hmm - you did not notice the entire 5 lane highway traffic was stopped for a good minute with their brake lights glowing bright RED.

speaking of bent frame, The spare wheel tub is bent in. that tire was flat as I had changed one a day before.

Here's one in Fort Worth that might be worth looking at:

1995 Mercedes-Benz E-Class - Used Sedan Fort Worth TX | European Motor Cars LTD

I had the same problem about two months ago. The car's currently in the shop.

Sorry to hear this, but glad you walked away.

Re: your tools, the trunk is already a loss, right?

Big pry bars. Cheap enough at Harbor Freight. And you only need to use them once. ;)

Good luck, Zulfigar.

If you need a car to get back and forth....just use this one, pop out the tail light frames enough to grab a new pair of lenses and drive it....that is if your radiator hasn't seen any damage, you wouldn't believe the number of cars driving around that have been smashed...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zulfiqar (Post 3166071)

Good luck with the wrecked E300D getting it squared with the ins company. Freeway traffic in Houston is a mad race - I was there three weeks ago for almost a week.

My '99 E300TD 129K miles was for sale in Dallas until a couple months ago. After taking possession of an '06 E320 CDI a couple weeks ago - there's no comparison to how much nicer it is than my W210. The cars don't seem to have much in common besides both using diesel fuel. If you can swing it, consider going with a W211 turbodiesel sedan. They should be plentiful anywhere in Texas. I found mine in San Antonio. Good luck again.