seeking opinion -
pulling into my driveway (from close lane on a speed limit 40 road) I was rear-ended by a cavalier at nearly full speed -- was raining, she couldn't stop, ...
since I was already well into my turn, my car took the blow right rear corner, which pushed the car forwards and sideways, off the edge of my driveway (about 6-8" drop) which caught the left rocker and pushed it into the left rear wheel. thus from in the car I felt two impacts. visible damage: bumper scuffed/scraped, dent below tail light about the size of 2 business cards, and the left rocker buckled and split. cavalier? completely obliterated.
Later when I drove the car to the shop, sounded loud, felt vibration through the whole car and a rubbing sound coming from the front. almost three weeks later the shop was done with the bodywork, took the car to the dealer at my request to investigate. they said the motor mounts collapsed from wear (implied - not the accident) and the engine is sitting on the axle. repair quote $2000. Even if I don't fix it they say I am responsible for the $62 diagnosis charge since they can't say it is accident related.
Last service was around 4000 miles ago, my indie mechanic did complete inspection and mounts were fine. he also quotes me closer to $500 to replace the mounts. mechanic thinks they broke from the impact because they are hydraulic, which let the fluid out and they collapsed. however I have to prove it for the insurance to cover it. the adjuster says "must have been quite an impact for a rear accident to break the mounts."
reading other posts it looks like motor and trans mounts can be damaged in a wreck even in the rear.
1. was it more likely from the first impact or shear forces since it was a strong but glancing blow, or from bottoming out on the edge of the driveway?
2. besides documenting that they were fine a few months ago how can I prove this is from the accident?
3. anything else I should have my mechanic check for possible damage before I say all clear to the insurance company?
sorry for the long post, any comments appreciated.
What is the dealership doing for $2000? If it's *only* replacing the motor mounts, I'd say they were taking you for a ride. $500 is closer to what my local indie would charge for a job like that, and he actually charged me significantly less because I supplied the part (I was feeling lazy and it was the dead of winter). As much as I hate to say it, it could very well have just been wear and tear that caused the faillure rather than the impact of the accident. As for other things to check, in my fully unqualified opinion, I'd suggest having the mechanic check out any components with moving parts that have fluids regularly moving through them (water pump, transmission, etc.). Years ago I got into a minor accident in a W124 and a few months later the water pump went. The mechanic commented that it failed in an odd way, leaking differently than most waterpumps he'd seen. To this day I'm convinced it was a secondary effect of the accident that didn't rear it's head until later.
Good luck! You might want to consider getting an attorney to make sure the insurance company doesn't try to duck its responsibility; body & mechanical work on MB's adds up very very quickly.
Hydraulic motor mounts? Not something I have seen in my life. For some reason the expensive ($80) mounts on E class are prone to failure, while the same engine in ML has $25 mounts lasting for the life. My wife was rear ended in ML320 by X5 going full 35-40 mph, while the driver was checking baby on rear seat. Her truck pushed 3 more cars up front. After replacing collapsed rear bumper and straighting other body parts, the tuck does not have any secondary damages. Still on original, 10-years old mounts.
Saying that I would definitely include all mounts in the insurance claim.
while anything is possible I suppose, I firmly believe the failure was due somehow to the impact, since the car was fine before the accident and immediately afterward it felt screwy. I know the mounts weren't new, but I wouldn't expect them all to fail at the same time. I searched for posts regarding this type of damage, and found several rear end impacts that broke the mounts. unfortunately when the dealer saw the car all other damage had been fixed so all they could say was the mounts looked worn (b/c they weren't new, after all) and had failed.
I'm taking the car this afternoon to my indie who did the service recently. will update -
Mounts are indeed oil filled. I think that the impact could easily have caused the failure of your mounts IF they were already old and worn. That's the key I think - perhaps your mounts were on their last legs already? I don't see newer mounts in good condition failing from an impact - they are pretty sturdy.
I would just have your indie replace them for the $500...trying to prove otherwise could just be a waste of time. Good luck!
Last edited by Benzboy210 : 08-07-2008 at 11:18 AM.
update 1: got the car from the body shop, work looks good, car drives horribly -- grinds, shakes, etc. my records show my service was only 1100 miles ago, and the mounts looked ok by inspection - no suggestion made to replace them. I will not claim that they were perfect -- they may have been original for all I know (I am not original owner, don't know for sure) -- but the bottom line for me is they were ok before the accident (by mechanic inspection and by absence of symptoms while driving) and are faulty since the accident. the car is at the indie and the adjuster is supposed to go over it with him. we'll see what they say. maybe leniency since I didn't get a rental car for the three weeks the car was in the shop?
If you are at all unhappy with how the adjuster sees things, get your own insurance company involved. If they pay for anything, you can be sure that they will sue the other company and you will get your deductible back.
are 60 bucks and you can diy in a few hours if they keep being a problem.Pay a lawyer 50 bucks to fire off a letter claiming aggravated defect and push them to return it to oe condition.It did not exist before their client rammed into you.Also have them pay for the align job which it will surely need.
i have a question a year ago i was driving and i came to this turn cause i needed gas and before i turned this idiot came flying and hit me head on from the front i called my insurance agent progressive and they expected the car and told me they will pay for the 6000 dollar damage fees well when they where fhinished my car shakes i think it is the motor mounts can i get my insurance to cover it since they broke cause of the accident
update 2 - adjuster and mechanic inspected the car and have agreed to call it accident related. The smoking gun was that the grease leaking from the mounts had hardly any dust or gravel in it, indicating it was fresh and the car had not been driven much since it happened. as he put it, "maybe it happened 5 miles before the accident or maybe with the accident, you tell me what's more likely." and the mechanic got them to include the transmission mount also. still don't know why the dealer wanted $2000 to fix it or why they charged me $66 diagnosis and then called it normal wear and not from the accident. If they had said it was from the accident insurance would have picked up the tab for their outrageous price and they could've laughed all the way to the bank. Other than giving me grey hair and a peptic ulcer I think this has been for the best.
rear end accident 
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