Crashed Car (pics added)

[Deany1986]

Hi, cars going to Steve Walkers this afternoon. Managed to get it so the insurance company would deliver it there and before the recovery company delivered it to Arnold Clarks. Went in there this morning to see if the car was at Arnold Clarks and to take some bits out it. Wasnt there yet, women seemed to take offence to the fact i wasnt wanting arnolds to repair the car and said she would be relaying this to her manager and that they didnt want the car then. Tried to explain it was due to the type of car.

Took some pics of the damage earlier on as went in to have a lok over the car at the recovery place and can see what a few of you think.

Cheers, Kevin.

[Jacobite]

Mabye Arnold Clark should read the list of thousands of complaints of shoddy work and service and they would know why you didnt take it there, get everything you want out of the car before leaving it at Steve Walkers ~I found mine left unlocked in the yard at the side when it was in there although in all fairness every panel was dammaged wasn't much left for anyone to nick

[roadboy]

I think it will be pretty close to being written off. Especially if you get a hire car while its in.

If there is any suspension damage and it needs oil coolers etc its gonna add up to a lot of parts and labour.

At least you're ok though and you can always get another one.

Dan

[Peter]

Another vote for Murray's and Willoughbrae, excellent job on mine and they are very experienced now with these machines. I think I'd always prefer a dealer provided repair if someone else is paying. Especially if it had some kind of warranty too as it makes it harder in the future for people to avoid responsibility by blaming other parties.

Cheers, Peter

[Deany1986]

Peter i had originally phoned up planning to get it done through Murrays and would have got them to use Willow Brae. But on speaking to Fraser he just gave me willows number and said to phone them and deal with them directly so it wouldnt be through Murrays, asked about getting the car into Murrays so they could check everything over and be done through them. He wasnt very helpful to be honest, had originally asked for Craig but was told he was on holiday until Wednesday.

Phoned up Steve Walkers and were much more pleasant and helpful on the phone.

Dan, I think the suspension seems to be okay though i could be proven wrong on this when the car gets checked over. I however believe i may need a driver side oil cooler.

Should hopefully find out tommorow the extents of the damage as car will have been at Walkers this afternoon.

Kevin

[bertieduff]

Been there, done that, so know the pain!

Only thing I learned was the more you keep on top of the insurance co., and the louder you shout, the more chance you have of a speedy resolution. Unless the JM bodyshop in Perth get involved. In which case I have a box of matches

All the best!

[Deany1986]

Some pics of the damage:







Still waiting on an estimate from Steve walkers, they are really busy at the moment just now with a couple guys off as well.

Kevin.

[tut]

Kevin, has the Insurance assessor been to look at the car yet? I presume all the tyres are above limits?

tut

[Deany1986]

Im not aware that they have, havent heard anything. Rears are basically brand new (only changed couple months ago) and the fronts are above the limits. Everything else on the car is standard as well.

Kevin.

[tut]

If they write it off, do not accept a valuation that is less than you would need to pay out for an equivalent replacement. They always try it on, in Brian's case they were trying to pay out £8K, but he kept at them and ended up with £20K.

Also if you have access to the car, take any accessible parts of it as spares, ie the soft top.

tut

[Deany1986]

Thanks for the advice Tut.

If they write it off I take it I will be given an offer, and as you say it is likely to be a really low value. What sort of things will I have to do to prove my point that the car is worth significantly more. Will I have to send them examples of current (similar spec) cars for sale on the likes of autotrader and pistonheads? Anything else?

Cheers,

Kevin.

[tut]

Wait and see what they offer you first. I was OK when I wrote off the original N1 TUT and they gave me a good figure, so you may be fortunate.

If they do not have a word with Brian Laing and follow his route.

tut

[andyc]

Definately hang in there for a good offer if it gets written off. I had a Volvo S40 2l Turbo years ago and a bus hit it......ouch!
Was offered less than I could have replaced the car with. I had to trawl autotrader etc to prove my point. I eventually got what I needed to replace the car.
For sure take anything out the car that you can....stereo, personal items, wheels.....ok, maybe not the wheels but anything they won't bother about! I think they might notice the roof missing but you never know. I would remove it before they arrive and any items of toolkit etc.
Hope it works out for you. I like the look of your car and would be a shame to not replace it with like for like if it can't be repaired.
You should maybe ask if you could buy the car from them once claim is done.....get yourself a track shed

[ClarkyBoy]

thats a real shame about the car, but as everyone has said, hold out for top money, and then see what the option is to buy it back, i did this before with the same car....2 times....long story, however, i ended up making enough out of it each time to repair it and do up little bits and bobs that needed done - like a rusty rear arch and a scraped rear bumper,

you just need to be bold as hell with the assessor, it also helps if you have the boys at the garage on your side ( i used to work at my nominated bodyshop - this was a big help)

however that said -if you are in a position to steal the front 2 service panels and fancy selling them cheaper than lotus do... i will take em !!

[jen]

Have a look on autotrader and pistonheads for cars of similar spec and print them off, just in case you need to send away proof your car would sell at a higher value. The more you have, the more likely you'll get more money!! Iv had to do this a few times myself-I always seem to get in the way of other peoples mistakes...

Hope it doesn't come to that though.

Jen