Welcome to the forum! Your neighbor is correct about being able to fix the car yourself--all the issues are well documented on this forum and some FB groups too. Great cars, great engines that will last many hundreds of thousands of miles.

Seems like a good deal on the car if the damage was mild. It does not take much for an insurance company to total these cars. I think what I would want to do if I was going to buy this car, would be to take it to an independent Mercedes garage and have them go over everything related to the crash with a fine-tooth comb to see if there are any questionable repairs or structural damage.

Let us know what you decide!