I would probably cry myself to sleep.....

Or murder someone.

Autoblog said: A mechanic recently destroyed a Mercedes-Benz 300SL during a test drive near Pleidelsheim in Baden-Wütterburg, Germany. The owner brought the car to Mechatronics, a shop specializing in high-end and vintage Mercedes-Benz vehicles, for some work. After the job was done, a 26-year-old technician hopped behind the wheel and brought a 19-year-old apprentice with him for the ride. As you can see, the car did come back in one piece, but that piece didn't quite look like it used to. Police say – surprise! – speed was a factor when the vintage Gullwing left the road and rolled. Neither the driver nor the passenger were seriously injured. All told, the damage is estimated 650,000 euros, or $830,000 at current conversion rates. Both the car and the garage are sufficiently insured to cover the damages, and Spiegel Online says the owner took the news about his destroyed classic in stride. At this point, it's unclear whether their driver will pay to have this particular car repaired.

I wonder if they were able to open the doors.

"Have you ever been from a job for any fault of your own?"

"Um.. err.. noooo."

aussiesmg wrote: "Have you ever been from a job for any fault of your own?" "Um.. err.. noooo."

If they use shared HR blacklisting in Germany this guy won't see an interview again in his life...and he can't work as a getaway driver either so his criminal options are limited too.

Woody wrote: I wonder if they were able to open the doors.

I would guess they just went through the big hole where the windshield used to be.

Looks like the side windows blew out anyway.

those cars were widowmakers when new and with professional drivers. I could not imagine the fear a 26 year old tech felt as the rear snapped around without warning

Just think of all the other owners now... Their cars value rose significantly.

It will be fixed for sure, it is worth way more than what fixing the damage would cost.

GameboyRMH wrote: shared HR blacklisting

Tell me more about this...?

locally a Service Writer did that with a customers NSX

stroker wrote:

GameboyRMH wrote: shared HR blacklisting

Tell me more about this...?

Read and despair:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20322_6-ways-companies-are-secretly-screwing-job-applicants.html

Young glasshoppa now familiar with the intimate details of swing axles at the limit. Just a shame he couldn't have learned that in a beetle instead.

oldtin wrote: Young glasshoppa now familiar with the intimate details of swing axles at the limit. Just a shame he couldn't have learned that in a beetle instead.

I learned it in a Spitfire. It wasn't mine, either.

The real argument is whose insurance is going to pay. That will be fixed especially if it is an alloy body one. tough to tell for sure but it looks like mostly sheet metal damage. The real fight is that it will no longer be original and there for what will the difference in value of the repaired car be versus an original/restored one be. I bet the lawyers are the only ones that win in this one.

I,learned about the evils of swing axles on a beetle...

That my friend is why I get mad when I see ultra wide burnout marks in front of a shop that had one of my cars. I called a guy out on it once and he denied it. I parked my car on top of the black marks and I said, really somebody else is running 12.5 in wide BFG radial 2's with the exact same backspaces wheels as me? Never let him touch another vehicle of mine and steer others away from him.

In reply to FranktheTank:

We have some donut bunout marks behind our shop. I thought it may have been one of the techs from a while back. Then someone showed me a video of the customer that owned it trying to show off to the techs.

I would never do some E36 M3 like that to someone's car.

Tell me more of the bad stuff a swing axle does

I always hear how bad swing axles are, on beetles in particular, and it sort of makes me want to get one and try to autocross it just so I can personally have that frame of reference.

I'm going autocrossing in a Beetle this weekend.

(its not a swing axle car though)

FranktheTank wrote: That my friend is why I get mad when I see ultra wide burnout marks in front of a shop that had one of my cars. I called a guy out on it once and he denied it. I parked my car on top of the black marks and I said, really somebody else is running 12.5 in wide BFG radial 2's with the exact same backspaces wheels as me? Never let him touch another vehicle of mine and steer others away from him.

How about waiting in the parking lot after the tech took the car for a test drive after an alignment only to see him pull back in followed by a cop car and a lady screaming on top of her lungs at the guy.

Got some free c/c plates out of the deal though.

dean1484 wrote: The real argument is whose insurance is going to pay. That will be fixed especially if it is an alloy body one. tough to tell for sure but it looks like mostly sheet metal damage. The real fight is that it will no longer be original and there for what will the difference in value of the repaired car be versus an original/restored one be. I bet the lawyers are the only ones that win in this one.

The German version of the article mentioned that both the shop and the owner carry enough insurance to cover the loss. Given that the shop seems to be specializing in high-end Mercedes restorations they pretty much have to, as "stuff happens". I bet their insurance company is less than pleased with them, though.

In general the procedure for determining diminished value is very well defined in Germany, but yes, there might be the odd lawyer involved.

icaneat50eggs wrote: Tell me more of the bad stuff a swing axle does

Basically, it's the camber change. The rears don't stay perpendicular to the road, the traction patches get smaller as the weight transfers, and grip is reduced.

EDIT: The original intention was to give a vehicle a smoother ride, since some independent wheel travel was available.