Ouch

[AlexM]

Ouch indeed

My wife hit a large piece of lorry tyre debris on the m25, which went under the car after hitting the lower grille.

She phoned me, saying 'I've crashed your car!', which luckily turned out to be a bit of an exaggeration. She said that she had limped off the motorway into a BP garage near Chessington, and had noticed that there appeared to be fluid dripping from the underside of the car. I told her to call Mercedes to recover the car to a nearby dealer and set off to meet her.

On arrival, the damage appeared to be quite superficial, but a closer inspection showed the lower lip of the bumper had been ripped off, the lower grill was broken, a big chunk was missing from the the front splash guard, and the lower edge of the oil cooler was slightly bent upwards as the tyre forced its way under the car. Not good, but at least the leaking fluid turned out to just be a/c condensate draining from the rear of the engine bay, and no oil leaks were apparent.

Mercedes mobile life sent an RAC unit, who inspected the car and pronounced the car as safe to drive, so I took it home.

I've had a closer look and the main bumper casing is OK, just some sundry decorative mouldings broken or missing, punctured lower grill, lots of rubber scuffs and of course the oil cooler damage. I've been pricing the bits and I'm up to around €1000, with a big contribution from the oil radiator at €450.

To remove the bumper, refit parts, spray, and reassemble I guess I'm looking at £1800-2000, so I guess it is going to be a 'fault' claim and loss of two years NCB on top.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Did the insurance try to recover anything from the third party? I forgot to mention earlier that the lorry that had shed the tyre was stopped by the side of the road and was being attended to by the highways agency. It might be possible to get evidence or details of the driver and pursue a third party claim?.

I feel quite sorry for my wife - she was turning off from the m25 onto an exit slip and couldn't take evasive action as the debris in the road appeared from under the vehicle in front.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow, but it is sobering how quickly the costs of repairing even very minor accident damage mounts up. God only knows what it would come to if you actually damaged the radiator packs, engine and gearbox coolers etc. There is a hell of a lot of vulnerable stuff behind the nose.

Any advice on dealing with Admiral, private repairs options, claims mitigation etc would be very gratefully received.

Regards,
Alex

 

[Deleted member 37751]

As long as the bumper isn't badly damaged the remove-repair-paint-refit price will be half what you've allowed for, even allowing for the London tax.

 

[AlexM]

Right, here is my best guess at bits I'll need so far from Merc pricelist. It's a short but expensive list (for what it is).

Part Number Description Euro Qty Subtotal
A 212 885 35 74 ORNAMENTAL MOLDING 45.60 1 45.60
A 212 885 04 24 COVER BUMPER AREA 37.14 1 74.28
A 212 885 45 74 9999 ORNAMENTAL MOLDING 148.23 1 148.23
A 212 885 36 74 9999 ORNAMENTAL MOLDING 215.28 1 215.28
A 099 500 10 00 OIL COOLER 406.72 1 406.72 1
A 012 997 56 48 SEAL RING.INJCT PMP.VLRUB 1.90 1 3.80
A 212 524 09 01 COVER F ENGINE COMP. BM 88.63 1 88.63


For the oil cooler, that's parts 750, 825, 855 and bumper parts 208, 207 (possibly), 204 (repair maybe), 200 and 203. I'll probably find more broken bits tomorrow. Certainly it will need paint.

Alex

 

[oldguy57]

Must have been quite nerve wracking for your wife - hope she's recovered. I have had no experience with Admiral but suspect that they will be the same as most, will get you to use their repairers etc. Remember of course that Admiral etc are only on line agents not Insurance companies as such. I doubt that you or the Insurer will have any joy recovering from the third party. Some form of negligence would have to be proved and unless the wagon was a total shed and you could prove it , there is unlikely to be any case against the owner. Loss of NCB etc will have to be balanced against the cost of bearing the cost yourself.

 

[AlexM]

Must have been quite nerve wracking for your wife - hope she's recovered. I have had no experience with Admiral but suspect that they will be the same as most, will get you to use their repairers etc. Remember of course that Admiral etc are only on line agents not Insurance companies as such. I doubt that you or the Insurer will have any joy recovering from the third party. Some form of negligence would have to be proved and unless the wagon was a total shed and you could prove it , there is unlikely to be any case against the owner. Loss of NCB etc will have to be balanced against the cost of bearing the cost yourself.

Thank you - she's fine although even minor incidents can be quite traumatic. It's a horrible feeling when you know you can't avoid what is about to happen. She is fine though. The poor thing was already completely afraid of driving the car in case something happened to it while it was in her care - I've always told her that it's only a car and I want her to feel comfortable using it and that if something happens, it happens. She freaked after kerbing a wheel, so I imagine she was worried that I'd hit the roof!.

I drove the car yesterday and all is well - the damage is really quite minor. The bent oil cooler isn't leaking at all and the car drives normally with no issues. Actually I'm pleasantly surprised that the car stood up to it quite well - a yard-long piece of lorry tyre tread is a pretty heavy thing to hit at motorway speeds.

When I spoke to Admiral, they wanted me to use an admiral-approved repairer, and requested that I get two quotes if I used Mercedes for any repair work. A big part of the repair bill is going to be parts that can only be sourced from Mercedes anyway, and I don't have an objection in principle to getting someone else to fit and spray parts if I have a comparative quote and parts list. Spraying the bumper is going to be difficult to match to the rest of the car being a three-part paint finish, but I presume a good body shop should be able to do that ok.

Should I be pushing for the work to be done by an MB-approved body shop?

 

[oldguy57]

.

Should I be pushing for the work to be done by an MB-approved body shop?

Difficult to answer that. An MB approved shop is no guarantee of the best quality work. Admirals repairer may very well be good but if things go wrong you will be shunted between Admiral , the Insurer and the body shop. Maybe someone on here knows a good bodyshop in your area? Alternatively perhaps an MB dealer with its own bodyshop. Costs will come into it I'm sure when Admiral look at the claim. Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.

 

[st13phil]

Should I be pushing for the work to be done by an MB-approved body shop?

Regrettably, MB approval of a body shop doesn’t seem to be a reliable indicator that they will do a good job. Insurer approval generally (although there are exceptions) indicates that they’ll do the job as cheaply as possible, so quality of work may not be their #1 priority.

My advice would be to try to find either an Insurer Approved or MB Approved body shop that has a good reputation for quality work and go with that.


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[AlexM]

I've got a quote from MB Retail bodyshop in Brentwood, after an inspection. Parts: £1340 (a long list of part, including a new bumper skin), Labour £436, Paint £253 for a total of £2043+vat

At least I have a full statement of work and MB parts list to compare quotes and their view as to what bits need to be replaced. I'll see what Admiral want to propose in terms of getting another repair quote. My preference would probably to get MB to do the work given that there is no possibility of anyone sourcing 3rd party spares.

 

[st13phil]

Brentwood body shop don’t have the best of reputations I’m afraid.


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[AlexM]

Hmmm.. that's concerning.

does anyone have any recommendations for a body shop in SW London?. It's only a bumper, but I guess it's got to be blended in over the wings and bonnet. I'm dithering badly now but definitely would prefer to get a top notch job even if it requires a bit of out of area travel

 

[AlexM]

I've decided to get my car repaired by Fastlane Paint and Body in Guildford. They talked to me in detail about the process of painting a pearlescent paint finish and making it blend in seamlessly. They are MB approved and have lots of good testimonials, as well as being approved by my insurer. Their approach builds confidence, and they've been very good to deal with so far, so fingers crossed for a good result..

 

[st13phil]

Please let us know what the job's like when it's finished. It's worth knowing about good body shops!

 

[Riceman66]

Im in Brentwood but have used Motorcare in Aylesford twice (once for my daughters car when a deer decided to run out in front of her and for a minor scuff when some numpty decided to drive into me) and found their work faultless - a pretty good sign is when you go into the bodyshop the Merc is the cheapest car there as its full of Ferrari, McLaren, Bentleys etc

 

[AlexM]

The repair is underway. My car was collected yesterday and a very reasonable Jag XE left in it's place. All parts have been ordered and the car is being disassembled to assess if any further damage was caused during the incident. The collection and delivery of the loan car was very professional and left a good impression. I'm hopeful that Fast Lane paint and body will come up trumps.

 

[AlexM]

the beast is back!. Car was delivered today, and I have to say that it's looking pretty good. Here are a few pictures - you can see the originals in hi-res on my Flickr page.

The bumper seems match the wings and bonnet well, and it appears to be well blended in into the surrounding panels.

Very pleased with the service from Fastlane body and paint - would recommend them to you if you're in the area.

IMG_20171030_135240 by alexmastersuk, on Flickr

IMG_20171030_135745 by alexmastersuk, on Flickr

IMG_20171030_135751 by alexmastersuk, on Flickr