Re Daughter: She starts college this fall, but there's Law School after that..... so it could last a while!

Re Benz: I've now seen the car up on a hoist, there was no plastic sheild, the forward half of the pan did in fact shatter into at least a dozen pieces. However the engine will turnover by hand so it's not siezed. Body damage wasn't too bad, about $2200 (the book value is $4G). So it's going to be about another $600 for the tow bill and and installation of a used pan .... if I want to draw to the inside straight and get the chance to see if the engine is OK. Pending consultation with (permission from) my wife, that's what I intend to do.

Any bets, opinions or wild-ass guesses about how the engine will turn out?

FYI the 190E has 180,000 miles and has had no prior significant engine work done.