E300 damaged from tow
 

Fellas,
The SOV on my E300 failed a little while ago and I had my car towed to my mechanic. As the tow truck driver was "winching" my car up onto the flatbed, the metal coupling from the winch line caught my front bumper valance. This resulted in the metal coupling ripping out a big chunk of plastic from the valance. Nothing else was damaged.
I have some questions regarding this:
-Are tow truck drivers personally responsible? Or, do they have insurance to cover this? I'm asking because I sent the damage estimate to the tow company and the driver called me back explaining that he was personally responsible. He also asked me to have my vehicle repaired at their body shop instead of where I normally get my car fixed. I don't want to put a financial hurting on anyone so I agreed to let his guys fix the valance. Should I get the work they propose to do in writing prior to delivery?
-I was quoted a total of $595.17 from my own body shop to replace the front valance, color match the paint to the body of the car, and installation. Does that sound high?
I'd appreciate any comments or follow up questions that I should consider. Thanks,

MB bumpers are expensive - your quote seems very reasonable if its a genuine replacement part. Last I checked the genuine replacement part for my W124 was in the category of 500 bones. So I promptly swiped one from the yard.

So what if he is personally responsible?

He's the operator, he caused the damage he or the company should fix it properly.

I would take it to your preferred shop and not his, unless you know something of their work or credentials. For all we know they could be horrible at color matching..

What if he dropped the car and cracked the oil pan or something along those lines and wanted to take it to a general repair shop that had no experience with Mercedes? They "fix" whatever he broke and some time later you find out it was a shoddy repair...

I agree with jamesdean, you're the victim, I understand not wanting to jam it to the guy, but that doesn't mean you have accept a substandard repair. I would ask to go look at the shop they suggest and look at some of their work, its possible they are a good shop with a relationship with the tow company. You get good work, they get a favorable rate.

OR, its the owners cousin Jessup who has a damp home garage and a can of duplicolor.

Send it to your shop and send them the bill.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to research the body shop and get a formal quotation from them. Hopefully they are good.

The tow company offered to tow my car from my mechanic, to their body shop, then tow it to my house once they're done. So, that's also a nice benefit because each drive is about 45 minutes depending upon traffic.

So, the tow company gets two more chances to bust up your car?? I personally wouldn't let them touch my car again.

I don't know what an "SOV" (the failed part that led to the tow in the first place) is, but did the car make it to the mechanic for that repair? If so, can the dangling valance just be torn off so that the car can be driven to and from whichever body shop does the work?

I don't know much about towing, but I've watched it done a few times, and I can see how things can go wrong. I think there's a risk each time it occurs, which would outweigh the risk of driving the vehicle under its own power. I'd make this car driveable first, if it isn't already, and avoid towing.

MB's look sad on flatbeds, anyway.

I don't like the way it's being handled, by them. As a matter of fact, I'd like to have their insurance carrier's name and the insured's policy number.

I would turn it over to your insurance company if they gave me any resistance to taking it to the shop of my choice. I'd call my insurance company anyway, to be totally honest with you.

Good luck.

If we're talking about the same tow company that damaged your car? PASS!

I swapped out my front bumper in about 30 minutes, with one same color from boneyard. 10mm and 14mm and phillips for the temp sensor is all you need. Paid under $70 for whole bumper from salvage yard back around November.

I'm getting good at this, because I hit something (dog, coyote, hog) at about 35 mph and cracked this bumper in like 10 places. And head light and grille. So just did bumper again last week.

I was rear-ended, with a tiny crack in rear bumper of a 93, it was $1051 from his insurance for new bumper and paint. Adjuster said any old Mercedes plastic bumper should be replaced and not spot repaired, due to the brittle nature.

With all this fun, I've about decided to change the name of my silver cabrio from the "Silver Bullet" to "Snakebit".....

All good points fellas. Luckily the tow was done through AAA, and they are aware of the problem which is a benefit for me meaning the tow company doesn't want to screw up their contract with AAA.
I don't think I'm going to allow them to tow my vehicle anywhere. I'll just pick it up and drive it to the body shop they work with.
I did research how much the front valance costs, and my current shop seems a little high on the repair bill. I found some new valances for around $50. Installation and paint should be no more than $250. I may try to talk my current shop down so that I can just get it all done by them.

Tow company is showing good faith owning up to it and all. ***** happens, give them a break.