#### happens!

[Martin280s]

On the way home on Thursday night/Friday Morning I had a slight incident on the motorway. I was in my W124 and hit a dark green plastic crate which had fallen from a truck, the bottom left corner of the front skirt was broken off but everything else was ok.

I've already lodged a complaint with the concessionaire that takes care of the motorway in my region. In fact, the attendant who arrived to photograph the damage had the remains of the crate in the back of his pick-up.

I've also made a statement at the motorway police. Hopefully, AutoBan (The concessionaire) will pay for the damage as I was astute enough to lodge the complaint on the same day and they had found the proof that it was a real situation.

However, as you can imagine I'm a bit pissed off. Thank fully it wasn't any worse or that I wasn't in Lady Geneviève, my W116.

Any way, I need to present three estimates to AutoBan, I've already got two and I'm gobsmacked! The bumper will have to be changed at R$5,520!!!!!! The whole work is going to cost about R$8,000

If they refuse to pay, off to the small claims court I go!

But, I'm trying to

 

[Des]

Dear Martin
I myself suffered at the hand of a soft and fragile front end recently in my TT,
they just don't make cars like they did back in the "good old days" W116's, W123's
you run over something and the front of your car would just push it out of the way.

I live near the tip here and there is always crap falling off the back of trucks on the road, its like a minefield with a low slung Audi TT

in my old W123, I just don't care, just keep driving and you squash or push anything out of the way.

 

[116Benz]

What happened to the TT Des? The biggest thing I have run over is a dead kangaroo in the middle of the road and that was in the Mazda, the worst part was it smelt like cooked flesh for about 3 days, no damage to the car except for 2 plastic clips were dislodged and the undertray was split. On 2 of the Benzes I cracked 2 sumps (w123 and w124 wagon).

 

[Styria]

Hi Martin, good to hear from you. All I can say is good luck to you to get this claim settled. In Oz country, I have my doubts if any such claim would be successful - to get money out of a local council or the Road authority, would be like getting blood out of a stone.

I see that your mishap occurred driving your 124 model. Is this your everyday driver, with the 280S being molycuddled and treated as a weekend cruiser ? I have reason to believe that the W116 series is pretty rare in your country and I would be interested to know why you bought your car. From your avatar, it apprears to be Magnetite Blue which is a really nice colour, with the interior normally being palomino (light beige colour). Anyway, if you have time, and the inclination, would be nice to see some pics. Regards, Styria

 

[Des]

What happened to the TT Des?

Was a stupid low driveway, that dipped down and back up again

 

[SELfor50]

I'm with Styria.

In Australia you can't be so anal about that ish - it sucks for sure, but there's no way a council would pay for it. They'd claim no knowledge of the debris being there...blah blah blah.

....Spoonfull of cement.

 

[Martin280s]

Over here, the main highways are NEARLY ALL toll roads, so the operators are obliged to keep them in good condition and that does include removing any kind of debris.

My W124 is the daily driver and, despite being really pissed off at the situation, I'm thankful it didn't happen in my W116. Which I will post photos later.

I bought her about 5 years ago, I saw the same car about 3 years previous and fell in love with the shape and style. When I first saw her I hadn't a clue about the W116 or MB's so started to investigate and in 2003 I bought her, very low mileage +/- 97,500kms and unused for almost 10 years. That was the begining of a love affair.


I thought buying a carby classic car would be better than fuel injection...little did I know! Anyway, I eventually got the car purring on the carb (much work and some mods needed). I know some think the 280S and SEs are underpowered but, in Brazil, the bigger models are 'white elephants' as the price of maintainence is quite high. I only know of two 6.9s which are actually roadworthy, the others have suspension issues and parts are very limited. However, most of the the M110-engined cars are still going strong due to their bulletproofness (all models not just W116s).

Like in other countries, the W116 is a bit unloved in Brazil, low resale prices and a bit of yukkiness about them. The W108 are true classics so the market is heating up, the W126 are luxury barges. What's the w116??? Neither classic nor luxury barge! However, their are some folks 'in-the-know' who would never change the w116 for anything else and especially their 280S/SE.

Anyway, must dash as I have to start work now..it's 08:00hs for me, and I now you lot are settling down for the evening!

Catch you later! Um abraço do Brasil!

 

[Martin280s]

So I got my three estimates to repair lady Augusta, a staggering R$7,7** was the lowest and R$8,077 the highest. In fact that was from a garage which repairs Toyota, and their estimate was about R$250 more than an MB stealership.

I sent everything of to Autoban yesterday and I should get a reply within 30 days. I just need to wait. If they refuse, Plan B will come into play which may get nasty as I shall go to the small claims court (free) and then try to replicate an AMG bumper using a reputable bodyshop.