£15k to spend after accident...what would you recommend?

[njpumphrey]

Hi, my dad has had his car written off (3yr old Peugeot 406 diesel) by a Nissan Patrol who pulled out of a side road without looking.

He is now looking to replace it with a Merc, but isn't sure which one. As this price range is a tad more than my usual, I thought I would ask advice from you guys. My instinct would be a 4-5 year old E class - something refined but not too flashy. He is used to diesels, so maybe a E220/E300 CDI?? However, his favorite car was a Peugeot 205 GTi when they came out, so maybe an Mercedes- Benz E280 Avant-Garde. He also sometimes want to put big things in the boot - can the seats fold forward in these saloons, to join the boot to the cabin?

Another unrelated question - the peugeot airbags failed to go off in the impact. He bought the car from new and always dealer serviced. The airbags could have prevented/lessened the whiplash and bruising and cracked ribs. What can you do about this??

 

[altreed]

You might be able to get a C43 with that budget. They are refined and not too flashy. c36 is cheaper but more racy in appearance. They are quite spacious and still have that '205 GTi' sportiness!!

I love my c36. But I will ultimately replace it with an e320cdi (new shape) in a few years. They are astonishing when they have been 'chipped'.

 

[Bruce]

With regard to the air bags it all depends on where he was hit or what part of the cart he used to hit the Nissan. Side impacts won't make a steering wheel airbag go off and vice versa. Also low speeds or rolling shunts where there isn't a high enough jolt the air bags won't go off.

regards,

Bruce

 

[njpumphrey]

It was a 20mph+ head on collision - a classic situation where they should have gone off. I have since found out that they can be disabled with a key, so maybe this is what happened.

With regard to the C36/ C43 - for some reason I can't find out more about their prices etc on Parkers.co.uk. Are there any links to reviews anywhere?

 

[dieselman]

Airbags are designed to not go off unless there is a serious accident to save cost on repairs.

The deceleration was probably not high enough to trigger the airbag.

The key switch on a 406 will only de-activate the passenger airbag.

On W210 E class the rear seats don't fold down.

I would have thought a C270 CDi would be a realistic car to have after the 406.

 

[njpumphrey]

Thanks dieselman.

The deceleration was enough to shunt the engine into the passenger footwell, and write the car off, so I would have expected the airbags to go off!

At the moment he is looking into the 3.2L E class (either the CDi or the petrol). I will let him know about the seats, but I'm not sure that is too important really.