Got hit today... :(

[cbjukraine]

I had hoped this would never happen, but fate intervened...

what do you guys think? can this be fixed and fixed well?

the unibody "frame" at the B column is definitely bent inwards.

any opinions welcome...

[bsmuwk]

some time on a jig to bring out the pillar and get some new doors.

easy.

but it will be totaled by insurance.

[Junkman]

You will need a competent body man not, simple parts changer.

[cbjukraine]

should I avoid driving it? is it possible the damage messed up the alignment of the rear wheel?

[BWhitmore]

Probably best not to drive until the car can be assessed by a good body shop.

[BillGrissom]

I would keep driving it. If it goes straight, the only concern with rear alignment would be excessive tire wear (say 30K miles instead of 40K).

Insurance can total it, but you can still keep the car and fix it. My 65 Newport has been totaled 3 times. That just means the repair estimate is more than the vehicle is worth. Once they decide that, it then becomes "just a question of price", as an old nasty joke goes. Last time was a simple "deer into side door". Their body shop said "can't fix", they paid me $3500 less $700 to keep the car, I bought a used door for $150 and painted it myself.

A competent body shop can straighten the post "good enough". An expert may be able to tell it was in an accident, but who cares if it looks OK. I would have no problem finding doors at PickNPull here with a few months. Painting is the bigger expense, so if you have time wait for a junkyard car in the right color, with decent paint. I bent back the front end of our minivan that was shoved over 3" from a side impact. I secured it in the doorway of our concrete garage and used a porta-power to push it back. Drove perfectly straight w/ hands off wheel, after I replaced the bent strut and set toe-in. With a new front fender ($70), you couldn't even tell.

[charmalu]

Being 1900 miles away, by the pictures doesn`t look like it got into the Rocker Panel.
You say it got the "B" pillar bent some. As mentioned, find a good competent body man to check on the body for alignment.

Save everything out of your damaged doors before scraping them, glass, regulators,
door checks, vac actuators, lock assy, handles, weather strop if good etc...
Find some used doors, strip them of everything and then have them painted, inside and out.

Looks like you have black interior? My 85 300D has black, sort of rare to find.

Charlie

[97 SL320]

There is also the gauntlet of insurance to run through. See other threads on this site.

Adjusters don't want to deal with older cars due to part sourcing issues and difficulty in valuing an older car so they tend to throw a $ at the owner hoping they will take a total loss settlement.

[cbjukraine]

It definitely did damage the rocker panel. I assume that's worse...

I'm taking it in this morning to a reputable shop for an estimate.

I've got the blue MB Tex interior....fairly common from my junkyard trips.

Originally Posted by charmalu

Being 1900 miles away, by the pictures doesn`t look like it got into the Rocker Panel.
You say it got the "B" pillar bent some. As mentioned, find a good competent body man to check on the body for alignment.

Save everything out of your damaged doors before scraping them, glass, regulators,
door checks, vac actuators, lock assy, handles, weather strop if good etc...
Find some used doors, strip them of everything and then have them painted, inside and out.

Looks like you have black interior? My 85 300D has black, sort of rare to find.

Charlie

[t walgamuth]

Since you already have all the best serious advice....."That'll buff out!"

[barry12345]

You probably cannot do the job yourself. I probably would get two good doors and take them and the car into a body shop. Or at least let them see the damage and suggest this. Basically they tell you what parts are needed and you supply them.

You still should be able to get cheap doors. Run a straightedge along the rocker panel to see if the bad side rocker has been pushed in. There is a chance the post might still be okay.

If the rocker is pushed in and the post damaged as well it may need a new post. Another part to find cheap but the labor starts to grow to fix the car.

Yes insurance is almost certain to write the car off unfortunately.

Actually if you can open and still close the doors the damage looks bad but you might just need doors.
I had another look and the rocker at a quick glance looks okay.

[jay_bob]

Now that the case is settled and I am back on the road I can share my story.

Last December, Big Box parking lot, lady cuts across the empty spaces at 45 degrees, WHAM out of nowhere as I am hunting for a parking spot the correct way. She has "mayhem" insurance, they were great. (My insurance has a certain CSR named Jake who is wearing khakis.)

Just FYI in South Carolina, the laws state that if the accident occurs on private property, the police do not get involved...had to fill out a form that both party's insurance companies sign to certify the combatants were insured at the moment of the accident and they will work together to resolve the issue.

At first I thought oh no they are going to total it. I was actually researching the OM606/722.6 transplant into the wagon if they ended up totaling it. It was still drive able and there was no apparent damage to the rockers (hit too high), side airbag did not go off, but the b-pillar status was uncertain.

Took it in for an estimate at the drive in "Mayhem" company claim center. They wrote about a $3200 estimate. Got the list of their certified body shops, got home, went on Yelp and Angie's list and said no way to any of those. Ended up using Baker Collision in Irmo.

With the holidays it was not possible to get my car in the shop until after New Years. It took about a month but they got it back together and it looks better than before the accident now. I had lots of door dings down the right side that are now gone.

They used 2 doors from LKQ, stripped them down totally, had them painted, reassembled, reinstalled. Since the front door was so badly smashed they could not save the window glass they went ahead and re-tinted all the windows so they would match. New door gaskets ordered from Germany. Turns out the doors took all the abuse and the b-pillar was still totally straight.

I got a call from them when the car was almost ready, but that the door lock actuator in my door was crushed and the idiots at LKQ had busted the nipple off the one in the donor. Well it just so happened that my original actuator on the door was leaking before the accident, and the weekend before, I had gone to the JY to pull a replacement but had not had time to install it before I got hit. So I donated the spare I had to the cause and it worked great.

I got all the leftover parts back in a big box for spares. They used the original door controllers from my car since they were not damaged and we did not know if they were vin specific. I had also just replaced the right rear window actuator with an OE unit within the last year so I made sure they used that one on the rebuild.

Then they got the car into a collision in the body shop parking lot. Helper was backing another vehicle and he ran smack into my grill and hood. So the body shop had to eat a new hood and grill. This worked out great because there were several rock chips in the original hood that were starting to rust.

It ended up being about $5500 to repair the car. I think they crossed the line for total or not, but they were already committed by that point, and since it was totally not my fault, the other company went ahead and completed it.

[Rogviler]

Just curious, how come everyone is super gloomy about insurance totaling a car? When mine was hit a year ago I was happy to take the stack of cash and I'm still driving the car (after fixing it myself of course). Win-win for me. Scrap value at the time was practically nothing, so I saw no reason to let them take it and then I would have had to find another car with who knows what problems...

-Rog

[Sev]

I also have a silver blue metallic 300d, and mine got hit by my next door neighbor's sister who was renting an SUV of all things. I know how you feel. I feel your pain. Your pictures bring back memories of my accident. Please get the car fixed and don't take it to a junkyard. You will thank yourself in the future if you do. Trust me

[97 SL320]

Originally Posted by Rogviler

Just curious, how come everyone is super gloomy about insurance totaling a car?

Market value does not always reflect the effort someone put into the car that just got totaled. It also does not reflect lucking out and finding the "right car" ( condition / price )

The adjuster could put a low value on the car just to get it off their to do list as old cars are difficult to source parts for / set a market value. In some states the title gets branded as salvage after a insurance pay out. In order to get a reconstructed title, the state requires receipts for every single part used in the repair.

Have parts on the shelf? Can't use them unless you have a receipt for them.

Bought parts at a swap meet? A slip that the guy wrote out for you won't cut it either.

Once you get all of that taken care of the car must be inspected for compliance ( $ 500 ) By the way, in my state the car must be 100% repaired, as in any damage not related to the insurance loss must be repaired even if the damage would still pass state safety inspection.

I'm being told that some insurance companies won't write a policy for a reconstructed titled car or charge a high fee.