Is my CLA45 repairable? Advice on insurance needed
 

Still a bit shocked from what happened. Would really appreciate it if someone can give me some advice.

2 nights ago, in Seattle, I was rear ended by a (potentially) distracted driver who didn't see my brake lights or something as I was yielding to incoming traffic. She hit me full on at around 50-60 km/h while I was maybe moving at 10-20 km/h.

Even worse was that she fled the scene but fortunately I was able to take several pictures of the collision and her plates before she was able to drive away. I called and forwarded this info to the police immediately.

I'm not sure if the police was able to find her or not but in the meantime, I am trying to deal with insurance and everything to get my car sorted. They assured me that I am at 0% fault judging from the information and photos that I submitted.

Now the issue is because the police have not updated me on if they were able to find the driver who hit me, I will be on my own until then even though I'm at no fault.

Now my question is, I get my insurance through a private insurer, Intact. They have been extremely helpful so far in getting my car from Seattle all the way back to Vancouver. Now, my car is sitting at Mercedes Benz Collision in Richmond awaiting an inspection and appraisal. They haven't given me much information as of yet which is why I am reaching out to the Revscene family for advice. They told me that it could take up to a week before they have an update on if my car is repairable or if it will be written off. I think my brain will explode if I have to wait that long which is why I'm hoping that some of you would able to help me out by sharing your opinion/advice on what will happen to my car.

I have attached a couple pictures of my vehicle's condition, it is a 2017 Mercedes CLA45 AMG. I barely owned this car for 6 months and had a blast driving it. I'm like so lost right now, any advice to help me get through this would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

TL;DR: Judging from the photos, do you think my car can be repaired?

EDIT: Some additional info that could help:
-The back windshield completely shattered due to the impact
-It was raining really hard that night too so while I was waiting for a tow and everything, I think a ton of water got into my car through the broken windshield. Not sure if this heavily impacted my back seats/electronics back there or not.

Can't know for sure until you put it on a frame machine but probably more parts to be replaced than you could imagine once the adjuster start taking that apart. Looks like a heavy hit too.

Unless you have replacement vehicle insurance it looks like a repairable vehicle

Agreed. Looks like the door gap is still good and being a new car, it'll take quite a bit for them to write it off.

That's true. Do you have any experience with intact's total loss policy? Can't seem to find any info on it. I know that some companies calculate it as 70% of the car's value and some others do it as salvage + repair costs > market value.

There arn't many CLA45s for sale in Canada but from the few that are, I'm guessing with my options and mileage, mine would go for around 62-63k so if they use the 70% rule, the repair would need to be 43k+ to be a write off. Seems like quite a bit of room so I guess mine would probably get repaired going by that. If they use the other rule though, it might be write off since my front end is in near perfect condition so they might be able to fetch a good price at auction to someone who needs the parts.

In all honesty though, if this car gets repaired, it will mostly likely take more than a month and if it's a write off, I would probably get a pretty bad payout anyways since I was stupid enough to not buy replacement insurance. So seems like a lose-lose situation. Ugh, what a headache!

Can anyone else chime in with what they think? Just trying to gather as many opinions as possible so I can prepare for what to do.

If that same hit was on the engine, your total cost of damage would have been much higher. But since its in the rear, where its almost all just panels I doubt it'd be anywhere close to being totaled.

unless its something like ICBC replacement value where it says specifically over 50% is a write off then i dont see why they would use a percentage of value. they will just do the cheaper of either paying you out and recouping the salvage value or repairing it.

there is no point in stressing over this for a week, you have absolutely no control over it. most people here have no clue what theyre talking about and are just guessing so youre really not gaining anything.

Appreciate the advice. From previous experience, I know that there are a few people here who work at bodyshops/been through this before so I was hoping to receive some insight from them.

Curiosity and just the plain uncertainty of the future is a B though. This is kind of like when I use to check if my answers were correct after a test in high school, I already finished it and there was nothing I can do but I still wanted to figure out my marks before they actually come out. This thread is more for ease of mind than anything.

The trunk looks bad, but the cabin doesn't, so if I were to take a wild guess, I'd say that with the car being so new, it wouldn't get written off.

But here is the thing I am always uncomfortable with when it comes to rear end collision like this -- the trunk sealing won't be / can't be repaired properly. When the car is repaired, I'd pay some very careful attention on potential water leakage problems in the trunk, esp under heavy rain conditions. Water collecting in the trunk is a major PITA, and I personally can't stand the smell of a damp / musky trunk.

It's going to be a ton of work to get that end panel straight, but it likely won't hit total loss because of the value of the car. As posted above, the main concern here is sealing, but considering it's at an OEM body shop, the workmanship should be adequate.

Thanks for the advice/heads up guys. Correct me if I'm wrong but since I brought it to a certified Mercedes collision centre, if a leak were to happen. They should be responsible and will fix it right? Having water collecting in the trunk is definitely not acceptable especially because I put stuff in my trunk all the time that would be completely destroyed if water got in.

However, if they can't fix it, what then?

I can't say anything about the certified Mercedes shop since I've never had anything repaired there, but my ex-carpool buddy's Accord was taken to an ICBC-certified shop for repairs after a rear end collision, and for whatever reason it might have been, they just couldn't get the problem fixed for good. And the troublesome thing was (according to my buddy anyway), the shop couldn't reliably replicate the water leaking problem. They've taken in the car to check; they've replaced the trunk seal and likely attempted some other stuff. Eventually my friend gave up trying cuz it was just too troublesome, but nearing the end of that car's life, heavy rain or continual rain tends to cause water to find its way into the trunk. Water collects in the spare wheel well and seeps around the trunk lining, and the car smelled gross.

A family friend has also had his hatch hit, and the ICBC shop also couldn't successfully repair the problem after multiple attempts.

On the other hand, my old man have had 2 of his trunks hit, and the repairs have fortunately not resulted in any water leaks.

Still, batting 0.500 isn't exactly confidence-inspiring in my books, so you can see why I have grown quite leery of these trunks / rear end repairs.

That really sucks for your buddy and family friend especially living in Vancouver where rain is pretty much a guarantee for half the year.

On the bright side though, my car is leased so I won't have to deal with any of the depreciation and future maintenance nightmares if it ends up being repaired.

speaking from professional experience, it takes intact a couple days to approve an estimate after I submit it, and roughly the same amount of time to run a valuation on the car - so the shop quoting you a week is more than reasonable

as for whether or not it's a write off, I personally wouldn't want that repaired, but there likely isn't enough damage for a total loss (unless you have an NVR+ policy on your insurance). the hit looks high (essentially pushed the decklid through the window), which also means it looks like it missed the frame rails. from your account, it doesn't sound like she braked, if she had the damage likely wouldn't have looked as bad but would probably be more structural, being a more direct impact to the rails. as everyone else has mentioned, end panel work means ensuring seams are sealed fully, but Mercedes repair center techs should know what they're doing. that, and being an insurance repair, they'll be required to stand behind workmanship for the lifetime of the car as long as you're the owner (or leesee)

and speaking from personal experience.. get your back checked out

Yeah, I understand a week is definitely reasonable, no issues there.

Unfortunately, I didn't buy NVR (stupid me, couldn't justify the cost at the time and had a perfect record so I thought I didn't need it, didn't account for some reckless drivers...). Additionally, you seem to be right that it doesn't seem like there is enough damage to justify a write-off from the repairs alone but because the engine + front end are in immaculate condition and I went with some expensive options up front (performance seats, carbon mirrors), I feel like this car could fetch a nice salvage value to someone who is looking for those parts. If that's the case, the salvage value + repair costs might exceed the market value of this car. Do you think this might be the case?

you're absolutely right about high salvage value, but do also bear in mind that expensive options + trim packages translates to a higher ACV (actual cash value) amount. the nicer your car is, the more it's going to be worth. i'll guesstimate that you paid ~ 60k for the car, freight/PDI/taxes in. the absolute lowest I could see your ACV be at would be in the range of 40-50. I really don't see that amount in damage, but the thing that always throws me off are part prices. you could potentially have some type of sonar sensor sitting on the end panel worth $5k in itself. that's purely a guess though as i'm not too familiar with the newer CLA's, but irregardless of all that, I still can't see the repair cost in the 40k range. If I had to completely guess off the top of my head, i'm thinking absolute max is going to be in the range of 25-30k (part prices being > half)

The car was actually a lot more than 60k all in after all the options I selected but yeah, I agree with you. I don't see 40k in damages either but I'm thinking that the car might be able to fetch 20-25, maybe 30k in salvage value due to a 6 month old AMG engine, performance seats, carbon options, flawless navigation system, etc. Slap a 30k repair bill on top of that and you're in the 60k range which is write off territory. But then again, no one other than the insurance company knows how they will calculate it so I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

However, what are the chances that they will let me argue this point if they decide to repair it? After talking to one of the estimator's at the shop, seems like some parts might need to be ordered in from Germany, meaning its going to be a 2-3 month repair process if Intact decides to give the go. Would really prefer to avoid this if possible...

if the margin is small enough, they'll allow you to choose most times. if it's huge however then there really isn't any arguing (which is fair enough). the shop can also influence slightly, but that then comes down to morals - i've been asked for my opinion by insurance appraisers on estimates i've submitted, whether or not writing the car off is the better route. because the car was brand new and there was tons of damage, i've recommended total loss on a few occasions - however the bigger picture is the shop loses the job. and again, there is only ever influence to be had on a write off decision if the margin is small. if it's huge, you pretty much must settle for the repair route, and nothing you or the shop say can change that, for the most part

not trying to salt the wound at all, but it's simply one of those occasions where if you wanted something that insurance sells, you should have paid for it. just gotta accept that, and wait it out!

TBH I don't see the car in write-off territory unless there's something in the frame that pics don't show.

Friend had his then 2-years old BMW 5series crashed by a drunk driver. The trunk section was basically done (well, think it as instead of a rectangular shape, it's a triangle) with severe damage on one of the rear doors. But it wasn't a write-off. Good thing it was a lease, so he just returned it after the lease was up.

How the fuck she can even drive after hitting u so hard , I would have imagined all her fluids were leaking and bumper almost on the road. Fucking people..

Ask if they can give u repair cost and proceeds from the auctions if they salvage it. If it's close enuff, take it and run. (That's what I did for my tsx), also u can sue icbc for depreciation. If u have a good lawyer.

They're going to repair it. I've been rear ended twice by someone going 50+ and they fixed it both times. First time, my MR2 Turbo was rear ended by a SUV. The car couldn't have been worth more than $10k but they fixed it despite me trying to get them to write it off.

Second time was in my Sonata Turbo, was hit by a minivan. 3 year old car, no brainer they fixed it.

Both times, the damage was about $5k but I was hit square on, not on the corner. Frames still had to be pulled but it wasn't off by much.

Haven't been rear ended in my Genesis 5.0 (knock on wood) but I would imagine it would cost a lot more than $5k to repair in a similar accident because of all the sensors back there. They'll probably still repair it.

42k repair on M4, no write off. Repair approved up to 60k when my M4 is valued at 65. No idea how the f they calculated the SV and ACV and makes no sense whatsoever but ICBC being ICBC.