Fender bender repair gets expensive..advice sought.

[Conor]

Hello all,

My dad has recently been involved in a collision where he rear-ended somebody.

We have taken the car to a reputable, local crash repairs business. The quote of repair has come back quite high, and the repair man reckons the car will get written off.

Car is a W212 facelift, 2014 plate E200 CDI.

Wondering what you guys thing? Sounds like the car will be written off with option to buy it back.

If you guys are curious, I have added pics of the damage and also the quite for paint + parts.

Below that is a summary of the quote for parts + paint. Total parts comes in around €9000.

 

[sl500amgsport]

Ouch!

You would need around £13.5k to replace it, if you were sourcing parts yourself around £2.5k saving, but if you buy back & repair you will end up with a declarable write off on resale lowering it's final value.....

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[ajlsl600]

Bldy crazy. Modern cxap 2k plus for headlights. I paid little over 3k for my w168 over 17yr ago and it's still running.
Buy it back and flog it to breaker. Buy a classic. None of that shxte. No tax no mot 90 quid insurance . Likely increase in value easy cheap to fix get away from being a lemming its just crazy

 

[DSK]

Holy moly! From the pictures I’d not have expected that! But, always goes to show the hidden damage that cannot be seen on face value and how quickly the costs begin to rack up.


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[sl500amgsport]

My mercedes clk320 was stolen, involved in a high speed chase with the Met police then returned to me.

Local police said "we have good news and bad news", "the good news is we recovered your car, the bad news is the Met like a good chase and they reported that your car goes like the clappers!"

When I got it delivered back to my local dealership it was filthy but cosmetically undamaged. The car was immaculate and well looked after before being stolen (guy was carrying a firearm apparently and did time)....

I said to dealership quote for everything that should be replaced if the car has been raced, quote came in over 9k and insurers wrote it off...

In a way I was glad as it probably would not have felt the same to me after and I was able to move on. My mistake was not buying it back from insurers and simply replacing the discs and pads and selling it for a huge profit!

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[Uncle Benz]

Have the headlamp lenses actually broken? If it’s just the brackets repair kits are available. Will save £3k at a stroke

 

[Uncle Benz]

For E Class W212 2014-2016 Car Headlight Repair Kit Bracket Repair Parts PY5 4711194532098 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for For E Class W212 2014-2016 Car Headlight Repair Kit Bracket Repair Parts PY5 at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

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Mercedes sell them too

 

[Conor]

Thanks guys.

Yea tis all a bit mad..

I reckon it's a write off and then buy back / repair.

I don't think my dad would be interested in changing down the road. Simply loves the car. Its pre AdBlue which is great tbh.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Bonnet actuators? I thought that they were resettable.
I think that some of that body work is salvageable. Many big repairers tend to replace new parts when they can be repaired. Bumpers are a case in point. Plastic can be welded and heated to stretch back into shape, it's only really the mounts that need replacing.
My wife once reversed into a lamp post. Insurance repairer quoted £1500, local garage repaired the bumper and boot lid for £250.

 

[Flyinspanner]

Explore other ‘independent’ body shops, tell them you are happy with s/h parts being used - could reduce parts cost?

query the lights- are they broken?

https://www.autocity.co.uk/ - I had some paint done here on the CL500, (bubbles on bottom of doors & roof/rear wing) and you couldn’t see any paint blend, it was perfect, very pleased with them.
I only found them as I was doing a training course a hundred yards away - and popped in, the guy in charge had an SL outside which I noticed.

Whitneys Body Shop

theres quite a few body shops around Park Royal.

The Romance of Rust is another place I’ve heard good things about.

 

[Naraic]

The car is in Ireland.

 

[brandwooddixon]

Going through the list of parts it makes me think that they're just going for everything. Bonnet badge bracket, bonnet emblem, front bonnet seal - really? Surely they can be reused.

I'd get a second quote from somewhere else and don't state that its insurance.

If the bonnet doesn't look out of shape then I suspect that the pedestrian safety hinges have just released on impact popping up the bonnet near the windscreen. These can be reset (I've a friend who had this safety feature triggered by a football hitting the front of his car as he drove down his street).

Some of the items listed you can't see until the bumper and bodywork is removed, but they will be included in the quote even if not replaced as its extra profit.

That said the decision is whether to get the car repaired or replace it with the insurance money. Have a check to see what it would be worth - find similar a similar specification and age vehicle or two to give you an idea.

 

[horatio]

I would want to see it with the bumper removed to see the actual extent of the damage. It sounds to me like they are giving a worst case scenario and running up a huge bill. For example the MB bills lists AC work, does it still work?

Taxi drivers must have minor bumps like that all the time and put the cars back on the road pronto.

This might be ridiculously simple to fix.