Insurance vehicle repair advice
Discussion
Hello everyone, I'm just looking for some general advice if I may:
Unfortunately my Mercedes SLC was hit going over a roundabout last week. I have just dropped off the car to an approved body shop by my insurance.
They are doing a report/repair quote for my insurance company to decide whether to write off or not. I am unsure but I suspect it will be repaired.
(Will definitely need a new passenger door and repair to the panel behind the door and the back alloy that's pretty much is for the damage)
My worry is the body shop looked a little back street for my liking as my car was low milage and immaculate, would I be better off choosing a Mercedes approved body shop? My insurance informed me if I was to do this I would lose my repair warranty with them.
Any thoughts/advice kindly welcomed.
Thanks for reading
Unfortunately my Mercedes SLC was hit going over a roundabout last week. I have just dropped off the car to an approved body shop by my insurance.
They are doing a report/repair quote for my insurance company to decide whether to write off or not. I am unsure but I suspect it will be repaired.
(Will definitely need a new passenger door and repair to the panel behind the door and the back alloy that's pretty much is for the damage)
My worry is the body shop looked a little back street for my liking as my car was low milage and immaculate, would I be better off choosing a Mercedes approved body shop? My insurance informed me if I was to do this I would lose my repair warranty with them.
Any thoughts/advice kindly welcomed.
Thanks for reading
lord trumpton said:
Plenty of good bodyshops look less than pristine
This. Best restorer i've found in recent years for metal work and fabrications worked out of a formerly-derelict factory on a s
tty industrial estate, would never have given it a second look owing to no signage etc, but once inside there were >50 cars in varying states of restoration. Seeing people who knew what they were doing using huge English Wheels and their ilk to fabricate new panels for pre-war sports cars was awesome, envious of people with skillsets like that - sadly they're very much the exception rather than the rule nowadays 
This happened to me, it was many years ago but I`m sure you have a choice where YOUR car is repaired..
My immaculate SL320 R129 was rear ended, I demanded that it was repaired at a local body shop that specialises in Mercedes SL`s. My insurance agreed but I lost the use of a loan car and had to pay the full excess. That was not a problem for me. The body shop replaced everything on the rear end, almost half a respray, perfect job.
My immaculate SL320 R129 was rear ended, I demanded that it was repaired at a local body shop that specialises in Mercedes SL`s. My insurance agreed but I lost the use of a loan car and had to pay the full excess. That was not a problem for me. The body shop replaced everything on the rear end, almost half a respray, perfect job.
Thanks everyone for your replies it's most helpful. Today the latest from the body shop doing the report is that it could possibly be a write off, I didn't think it looked to have enough damage for the value of the car but who knows.
Completely understand that you cannot judge the quality of work by what the place looks like just my initial reaction was a strong preference for a Mercedes authorised body shop if I would still have a personal warranty with them for the work carried out on my car that would be a good peace of mind.
I will enquire about that, possibly just the insurance company scaring me off the idea on the telephone to keep any potential costs down.
Completely understand that you cannot judge the quality of work by what the place looks like just my initial reaction was a strong preference for a Mercedes authorised body shop if I would still have a personal warranty with them for the work carried out on my car that would be a good peace of mind.
I will enquire about that, possibly just the insurance company scaring me off the idea on the telephone to keep any potential costs down.
Semmelweiss said:
You mention that it's an SLC. This model year ran from about 1972-2020.
What year is your vehicle, since it might very well be categorised as not economically viable to repair?
Pretty sure it was called the SLK for most of that time. Iirc, it became the SLC around 2017. I only know this because you can use the rear wheels for winter tyres for an E63. What year is your vehicle, since it might very well be categorised as not economically viable to repair?
Definitely safely repairable although quite a punt. Economically could be borderline, no idea what one of these cars is currently worth. Very loosely £5k+ repair to give an order of magnitude.
You can insist it goes to Mercedes but be aware that many official service centres don’t have a body shop in-house and will sub the work out anyway, probably to a less glamorous-looking garage.
You can insist it goes to Mercedes but be aware that many official service centres don’t have a body shop in-house and will sub the work out anyway, probably to a less glamorous-looking garage.
HustleRussell said:
Definitely safely repairable although quite a punt. Economically could be borderline, no idea what one of these cars is currently worth. Very loosely £5k+ repair to give an order of magnitude.
You can insist it goes to Mercedes but be aware that many official service centres don’t have a body shop in-house and will sub the work out anyway, probably to a less glamorous-looking garage.
I contacted Mercedes, you are quite right my nearest one is actually a n Evans Halshaw body shop. You can insist it goes to Mercedes but be aware that many official service centres don’t have a body shop in-house and will sub the work out anyway, probably to a less glamorous-looking garage.
I have received an email this evening telling me it is uneconomical to repair and I will get a call in the coming days to discuss it. I bought the car last winter and it seems I can't get a like for like replacement anywhere near what I paid especially taking into account the extra's it had (heated seats, panoramic roof etc)...Gutted! Hopefully the insurance don't make it a long drawn out process, quite shocked at the current prices within the space of 8/9 months
vinnie07 said:
Why? Because the repair would never look quite like it did from factory?
Try bending a strip of metal and then straighten itIt may look OK but on a molecular level it will never be the same and always bend in same place if force applied
Any structural on a car that gets bent will always be a weakness in event of and accident and I wouldn't want to be driving it personally
You can negotiate the payout value upwards to some degree. If they send you a cheque, don’t cash it.
lord trumpton said:
Try bending a strip of metal and then straighten it
It may look OK but on a molecular level it will never be the same and always bend in same place if force applied
Any structural on a car that gets bent will always be a weakness in event of and accident and I wouldn't want to be driving it personally
There’s nothing structural there except perhaps the door, and a new door would be fitted if the damage to it is more than skin deep. The sill cover is damaged. The sill itself is very probably undamaged. It may look OK but on a molecular level it will never be the same and always bend in same place if force applied
Any structural on a car that gets bent will always be a weakness in event of and accident and I wouldn't want to be driving it personally
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