Crashed Car (pics added)

[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

[Deany1986]

Hi all, thanks again for all the advice. Have been on phone to Steve Walkers today and as there is quite a bit of damage to the car Steves wanting to look over the car himself (been on holiday) so he should be looking over it tommorow.

Cheers,

Kevin.

[Deany1986]

Hi,

got the estimate for repairs for the car. I work it out that its around 70% of the value of the car. Shall wait and see what the insurance have to say about it.

Kevin.

[meatball]

Ouch!

[Mikie711]

mmm wonder what the buy back price would be and what did they value the car at ? £14k seems a lot for a repair if they valued the car at £20k.

[Deany1986]

looks like the repairs going ahead on the car, got an email from my insurer saying they were sending out an independant engineer to assess the car and providing all is well he will authorise the repair.

I was surprised at the repair cost as well, a bit more than 14k as well as i had valued my car a bit higher than 20k

Easily adds up though when you look at the cost of some of the parts before VAT; Front Clam - £2,252 , Rear Clam - £2395 , Front Headlight - £506 , Oil cooler and pipes - £220, Exhaust heat sheild - £430, Full exhaust system - £1000 and a few other bits, paint cost and labour costs.

Kevin

[Shug]

Well that's good news.

Yeah, part of the reason that Elises/Exiges keep you safe in shunts also contributes to them being easy to write off. Lots of stuff disintegrates to dissipate energy, but it's expensive stuff to replace!

[robin]

Are you sure you want it repaired?

Cheers,
Robin

[meatball]

Are you sure you want it repaired?

Cheers,
Robin

[russellphoto]

If you want somebody else to look at repairing it, try MP Supercars for the mechanicals (01875 813976) and Prestige Car Bodies (01875 818992). They are both in the same industrial units at Cockenzie.

I've just had a bit of bodywork damage fixed to the front clamshell (might have to stop the wife driving it in future) with a complete respray of the front clamshell and it now looks as good as new.

Russell

[Deany1986]

Robin - I didn't realise i had any choice to it getting repaired? I thought if the insurance company agreed to go ahead with repairs then thats what would happen?

There doesn't appear to be any chassis damage to the car, so at first i was reasonably happy that the repairs are going ahead. What are my potential problems with getting it repaired? Obviously poor paint finish, panels not lining up. But i am pretty confident that i should get a good job done at Walkers? Car is getting a full respray so colours of all panels should match.

Russel - if repairs are going ahead im happy to have the car repaired at Steve Walkers.

As from previous advice, I would get the car inspected after the repairs are finished. Who would be my best bet for getting this done with?

Cheers,

Kevin.

[robin]

In my mind, it's just a long list of little things that might go wrong/devalue the car. I'm sure that the repair will be top quality, but even so ...

You don't have automatic choice in repair vs write off, but you might be able to argue the cost of the repair up - do you get a courtesy car on your policy, for example? If the repair will take 3 months (long lead time on front clams, say), that cost of the 3 months of courtesy car might well tip the total over the write-off threshold. Are you sure that they've picked up all the damage - e.g. is steering wheel still straight, does it feel notchy, does the engine run smoothly, gears change smoothly, etc. If you decide that any of these things are not quite right, the cost of replacing any one of them might be enough to write it off.

It is worth going over with a fine toothed comb before the repair. If anything is wrong after the repair that wasn't included in the estimate, even if it was damaged in the accident, you might find it much harder to argue with the insurance company that they should be paying for it.

Cheers,
Robin

[philthy]

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.

I basically said that if I was to replace the car like for like, I will need £x amount and haggle for that.

Managed to get previous insurers to double the amount they were going to give me.

[Deany1986]

For the hire car, I was told by my insurers (bell) if i put the car into arnold clarks (their recommended repairer) I would get a hire car but as I chose a different repairer they would not provide a hire car. So dont look like I have much hope for this. All I could do is phone up and try push again to get a hire car?

If I do go and look/get someone else to have a look at the car and nothing else is identified as being wrong bar what was included in the estimate again where do I go from here?

Obviously I realise if the car is repaired and however good the repair is, even if exceptional i am still going to lose alot of money when I sell it in comparison if it hadnt had a bump. Which makes the write off more appealing.

Also having never had a crash/claimed on the insurance before will this repair if it goes ahead be recorded on my log book/come up on an Hpi check?

Cheers,

Kevin