Is it possible??
 

OK, I have a claim at work from a guy who claims his son kicked his tranmission into reverse, The car lifted in the air and shattered the rear casing, This is a 2000 Mercedes SL500. A/T. Now I have seen Nascars slammed into reverse but I know they are built for it. What do you think?

Can you do a neutral drop in one of those cars? Any teenage drivers doing neutral drops?

I don't think it will physically go into reverse while going forward.....but I could be wrong!!

I'll have to borrow my dads and try it!!! Well, I guess not since his is newer....wouldn't be the same "test"!!! LOL

NO way

Highly doubt it.

I would think an electronic trans would have something to prevent that from happening, but I am not positive.

Sounds like a grenaded neutral drop.

X2.



When I was very young and slightly more stupid than I am now, I let a date drive my car. She had seen me pop it up in neutral and rev the engine at passing buddies so she thought she would do it... went to reverse and luckily it just quit and didnt destroy anything...


Jeff-

I believe there is a solenoid at the shifter that mechanically locks the shifter unless the brakes are applied. (as well as the electronics not allowing it) Ask him if he was coming to a stop when it happened or just cruising down the highway.

Most modern cars won't allow a neutral drop of any kind and certainly have a reverse lock out when speed is sensed. I may have tried it in a rental car. :lol:

Wow that sucks, that was fun.

I think you could find a way to grenade one:unibrow: :unibrow:

About 40 years ago, my first car was a 67 Impala with a powerglide. It went from first to reverse at wide open throttle once at about 50mph. It was a column shift and I was 16, what can I say. It boiled the tires in reverse until I let off. No harm done and it lasted another 100k miles. I would be surprised if a modern car would let you do it, but if it did, I could see it destroying a rear end.

It didn't happen that way.... deny the claim.

I think most modern cars have a brake pedal lock out that keeps you from doing such. You have to have your foot on the brake to get it out of park and neutral I think.

I've purposely tried this on my 2010 Toyota Sequoia while driving 30mph, all it did was make a buzzing sound like the gear teeth slightly grinding, but no engagement. No damage at all, and yes I was able to shift into reverse just like if I was going from park.

That took some balls:unibrow: :unibrow:

Was there alcohol involved in that experiment?

Have you asked....the manufacturer?

Maybe the system that is supposed to prevent this from being possible, did not do it's job (software glitch?)

Mark I'm sure you won't base your decision on some informal internet polling...

I agree, this would be a question for the manufacturer! However, in any case I would consider it to be an operator error.

No balls needed, just a quick reaction to keep my daughter from crashing LOL (I was teaching her to drive).

Well that makes more sense, lol!

I always wondered how you guys made your decisions on claims like this. :lol:

What did you end up doing Mark? I would try it in my Benz to see if it can be done but want to make sure the claim will be approved if I tell them the same story.

D

I'm not going there!

No not at all. I just know that some how they do it NASCAR to try and control a spin out

On a 2000 Benz it would depend on how fast they were going and what RPM the engine was when it occured. Most electronic transmissions won't do anything till the TC and speed sensor gets to a certain rpm.
I would question the claim if they were travelling forward at all or if it was even an accident. Don't you guys have inspectors? I'd ask for more details. Was this car sitting still? How fast did it go into reverse? How high did it jump in the air. Also what caused the car to lift in the air?

Are you with an insurance company or work for Mercedes?
Hey if we're gonna help you with work can you get our rates lowered? :P