Desperately need all merc owners help - you will understand

[mbenz250]

Thank goodness I have found this site

It is a very sad way to join but I need your help

My brother in law gave me a white R reg merc c250 td estate classic three weeks ago He had used it for business and has bought a new one (Mercedes estate again, he wouldn’t drive anything else) wonderful, fantastic it was a dream.
Bearing in mind I am a careful driver and rather proud of the fact I have been driving for 30 years and never been an accident. I have never been in a position to own a decent car and always had to own rubbish cars, (have driven new company cars) but never owned anything worth having. This was an absolute dream come true.

Now I don’t want to sound too sorry for myself but on Sunday I had something smash into the side of me. After the initial, thank god we are all ok I feel very angry and hurt by what is happening. I am totally innocent and it was the fault of the thing that smashed into me.

My beautiful car is an R reg and was in good condition and a wonderful runner with no problems.
But
My insurance company will not pay for it to be repaired as they say it will cost more than its market value and because it has done 250000 miles my insurance company will use this as an excuse to give me as little as possible for it.

Please can anyone help me?
Can everyone search for adverts so I can dispute any offers made me.

I am gutted, I want my car back, now I have joined the merc drivers I want to stay one, I have never driven anything as nice and do not want to change (and why should I?)

I really really need your help with this please.

I do not want to not be able to have a merc and be the one who loses out when I did nothing wrong.
Ideally I would have my car back but that is not going to happen as I cannot afford the extra to get it repaired. You see I trust it, it saved me and my family from being badly hurt or worse as we might have been in a less solid sturdy car.

I hope you all understand where I an coming from and are willing to help me by giving me links to adverts and newspaper ads so that I can collect evidence of market value when they try to diddle me.
Thank you so much every one
Janbury2000@yahoo.co.uk

 

[Uncle Benz]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/196797.htm

Just off to bed, but found this one. Will keep my eyes peeled for others...

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/ww...category=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200731292475732

http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/ww...category=CARS&channel=CARS&id=200731292512031

 

[television]

OK you can ask your insurance company to find you one as good.

Always be nice to them and you can ask for more

If the car is not too bad you can buy back the wreck and fix it your self

You have Exchange and Mart on line and others

Do ask them nicely they have more money than you, it always works

 

[philharve]

Hi mbenz250

Have you any pictures of the wreck that you can share with members? It maybe simpler to fix than you might think. Many members are professionals and work in the trade. They may be able to offer you an assessment as to the likely repair costs.

I take it that you Mercedes was involved in a hit & run whilst parked up and you've no idea whoever or whatever it was that damaged your vehicle? This is a very common scenario but it's not the end of the World.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[C250TDSportAuto]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-MERCEDES...oryZ9855QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think market value should be around £2500 to £3000, although it's not that often you see one with that sort of mileage. The estates do cost quite a bit more than the saloon. Is the claim not going through the other parties insurers? I think most insurers will use http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/used-prices/, or http://www.glass.co.uk/uk/en/index.php?prtid=uk44b8ucen&gclid=CNfUhoX9540CFQESEgodfn2Szg, where you can, for a small fee value the car yourself with adjustments for mileage and options. (our insurers used parkers when our car was written off)

 

[MarkF]

So sorry to hear your bad news, I will have a look around to see what I can find.

Regards

Mark

 

[mbenz250]

Just had insurance value in!!!!!

Hi

Thank you everyone - please please keep looking

The insurance have just valued my beautiful white R reg c250 td classic estate at £2,000! Its an insult surely.

She has done 211000 miles (got it wrong earlier thought it was 250000) so even thats not as much! she has a couple of little rust spots (very little, nothing serious), but I think this is quite a common thing with c250s
has been looked after well - didnt have any problems at all and has been serviced regularly.
Where am I supposed find one the same for £2,000?

I asked how they valued it and the insurance engineer (working for the insurance company tried to assure me he was a fair valuer) told me the valuation came from Glass's guide yet when I looked at Glass's guide it said do not use for insurance purposes. Im a bit bemused by it all to be honest!

Please help a fellow merc lover to find ads so I can dispute it - if you possibly can -
i am so grateful to all those who have and can help me.
This is just awful

 

[television]

Do ask for a better settlement figure or ask them to find another car

 

[mbenz250]

Do ask for a better settlement figure or ask them to find another car

thank you I will.

I cannot find any for anywhere near that price!

 

[jberks]

we all think our cars are worth more than they are. It's natural. I doubt that in reality you'd get much more if you had tried to sell it. Sure people ask lots, but a) they tend to be traders, offering warranties finance and security and b) they rarely get the asking price advertised.

>200k would scare all but the most fervent enthusiast away. It may be great now, but after another 50k which is the minimum a new buyer is going to want, the maintenance costs could rise considerably and anyone spending £2k on a car won't be able to run to gearboxes or turbos (it's still a £28,000 car if you need to fix it!). Certainly not when there are lots of equivalents around with 100k or so less.

I recently sold our N reg C class. Again mint and ours only had 80k on the clock - still struggled to top £1600 and to be fair, we only got that because the buyer knew us and the car's history. Otherwise we'd have been looking at £1,200 ish.

Do follow the advice and push for more money but I suspect you'll be arguing over <£500. The best bet is to ask if you can have the £2k and keep the car, assuming the damage is primarily panel and cosmetic. A few used parts and a friendly (cash) bodyshop and you should be good to go with cash in the bank (fixed a couple of cars that way). Any structure damage (jigging etc) and forget it though. It will never be the same again.

 

[stats007]

Agreed.

Out of interest what did you think your car was worth?

You may benefit from a Classic insurance policy with an agreed value with your next car.

 

[mbenz250]

Agreed.

Out of interest what did you think your car was worth?

You may benefit from a Classic insurance policy with an agreed value with your next car.

Hi

Im not sure what its worth but it has been damaged in an accident and I have looked around trying to repalce itwith the same reg same model and they all cost more than the money they are offerring me for mine as market value.

 

[hawk20]

Hi

Im not sure what its worth but it has been damaged in an accident and I have looked around trying to repalce itwith the same reg same model and they all cost more than the money they are offerring me for mine as market value.

You need to think carefully here. Glass's Guide, the trade bible, only goes up to 9 years old. After that most cars are 'bangers' or scrap if they go wrong (not worth repairing). Mercs hold value after 9 years, but not an awful lot if they have been round the world a few times. If your car was a year younger -and had done half its present mileage- it would get a bit over two grand in part exchange at a dealer. In average condition. If you try to get a value for your miles, Glass's says can only value up to 150k miles.

Don't shoot the messenger, but IMO anything you get over £2k for ten years old and nearly a quarter of a million miles done, is pretty good.

You may see people ask more. But I don't think many get it. Good luck.

 

[television]

As with Hawks post above, you will have a pocket full of cash and be in a good position to buy another.

Have you tried asking nicely for a bit more, no harm in asking

 

[RaezoR]

Excellent advice from Jberks, you should take it.

 

[MotardMan]

We still do not know the extent of the damage, can you tell us? Or is there some reason you cannot tell us?

 

[mbenz250]

We still do not know the extent of the damage, can you tell us? Or is there some reason you cannot tell us?

I Thanks you for your message.

I dont know what the damage is. Can I ask for copy of the repair quote?

I know nothing about mending cars and do not have friends that know anything either - so im a bit out of my depth here!

 

[MotardMan]

I was wondering more about you giving us a synopsis like:

"The car hit me broadside smashing both the doors and the wing. Car was driveable though", or "He hit me head on smashing the off side of the car. The radiator was damaged and the car was not driveable."

Can you do something like that? At least then we can advise on whether the car is repairable or not.