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Hi guys, my girlfriend was in a crash last night in her beloved Eunos, thankfully she is ok, but the car isn't. It was entirely the other guys fault and he has accepted full responsibility, we have pics of both cars and pics from the immediate aftermath so it's very obvious whats happened and I've spoken to his insurers and they are providing a hire car as of tomorrow and so far being very good about it. Now the advice I need is how best to go about getting it sorted without it becoming a write off! They wanted a garage to pick the car up and to replace it with a courtesy car but I refused for now and it's been left that they will send an independent assessor to look at the damage with me present. We are getting an independant hire car. The point I raised was that a garage would rack a bill up using original mazda parts and it will then obviously be a write off, however it looks like it may be fixable with second hand panels. I'm just curious as to what people who've been in this situation would recomend as this is new to me. It's gonna need two wings, bonnet, bumper, slam panel, radiator and the lights aren't looking too healthy. I haven't managed to open the bonnet yet but it drives fine still. Any advice appreciated!
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taurus
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,084
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I suspect you'll get a variety of advice as every insurance company handles these differently. The key thing is to tell the company that if it is a write off for economic reasons you are wanting to buy it back to repair. That way they will hopefully not go down the route of formally declaring it a write off - which means you won't have a write-off Catergory on the logbook.
Usually they'll offer you either write off value and then you buy it back, or they might offer you an amount plus the car back.
Having said that - with the damage listed I'd make sure that the geometry is OK. If you haven't opened the bonnet check the inner wings for distortion before making a firm decision.
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They sometimes write the vehicle off and will sell it back to you for a nominal sum
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insisting on keeping the car at your place and waiting for the assessor to come to you was a good start.
have a Good hard look over the car to be sure in your mind that damage isnt hidden away for you to find later.I've kept a vehicle myself before now only to find the gearbox was wrecked internally!
Then have a chat with the assessor when he turns up.they are usually independent bods and reasonable to talk too.
glad to hear the g/f was ok,sounds like quite a shunt!
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,195
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Some good advice present here  . I agree with not letting them take the car away from your place. As said, before you make a firm decision I would check the car is straight. Another thing is that I would not be too concerned about it being written off. It is 'just' a marker and a number of people put deathtraps of bent cars back on the road with no marker against them whatsover. Just ensure that you have the choice to buy the car back (I have done so in the past). At least the GF was fine, which is the important thing in such matters . |
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Dec 12, 2012 16:50:33 GMT
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Thanks for the advice guys - as said the main thing is she is fine. I'm just waiting for an independent assessor to arrange a viewing convenient with me now. I've found a garage locally that understands the issue and who are willing to talk to the insurance company about doing it on a 'contract repair basis' which as far as I can gather means they'll look at it (I've sent photos) and work out how much in terms of 2nd hand parts and labour and agree an amount that the insurers will pay. At the moment it seems it depends on wether the assessor is of the sensible variety :/
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Thanks for the advice guys - as said the main thing is she is fine. I'm just waiting for an independent assessor to arrange a viewing convenient with me now. I've found a garage locally that understands the issue and who are willing to talk to the insurance company about doing it on a 'contract repair basis' which as far as I can gather means they'll look at it (I've sent photos) and work out how much in terms of 2nd hand parts and labour and agree an amount that the insurers will pay. At the moment it seems it depends on wether the assessor is of the sensible variety :/ Makes no odds regarding the assesor, he simply works out the cost of repair versus the market value of the vehicle and it gets categorised as such. It's a total lottery as regards whether it will be cat c or d, it seems unlikely it will be a cat b as the damage is not too severe. Ignore the fools that tell you cat c is heavier damage than cat d its all in the eye of the assessor, i've seen cat c's where you can't actually view the damage, perhaps a damaged bumper or something wheras i've seen cat d's that appear to be dropped from an areoplane!!! It will certainly be a write off, of that theres no doubt but thankfully the majority of companies will let you buy it back at usually a "nominal" fee, but be aware they have teams now who bid you off against breakers who are registered with them so it might not be as cheap as you think. Chances are it will be cat c, which means generally a VIC test and marked logbook, it hits the second hand value hard so bear this in mind as from what you've described the repair will be around if not over £1000, say £300 to buy back plus the fact you'll knock 30% at least off its value is it really worth it? I'd be looking to get the highest price possible from the insurance company and then search out another nice example and go in hard on the price, people are desperate this time of year and a convertible mazda won't necessarily be the top of many peoples shopping list as a "winter car". I used to be in the body repair game so this is from experience not what my "mate" told me down the pub as so many replies tend to be when accidents/insurance get involved. |
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Dec 15, 2012 10:36:46 GMT
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Hmm. Assessor is coming Monday and they have the number for my garage who are prepared to fix it with 2nd hand parts. Will this still be a write off? Obviously it depends on many factors but I thought doing it this way could prevent it getting a marker if it doesn't cost 60% of the value? It looks bad but 2nd hand, the parts bill won't be much... I thought there's a chance of it being classed as uneconomical to repair?
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Dec 15, 2012 10:50:30 GMT
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Don't worry too much about it getting a marker on it, IMO it doesn't make a lot of difference in the sub £1000 market - just take photos of it pre-repair so whoever buys it knows it's not had much of a knock.
See if you can insist on cash in lieu of repairs, Just get a quote and say this is what it'll cost to fix it, I want the cash and I'll sort it myself - When someone reversed into my Saxo years ago (worth about £1500) they cracked the indicator, scuffed the bumper and wing slightly. They drove off but I got their reg plate off CCTV and ended up with a £1400 cheque from their insurers (That was what the place I took it to had quoted to paint the wing and bumper and blend it across the bonnet and passenger door)
I just put a new indicator on and buffed the scratches out, it was good as new. The car didn't end up cat C /D or anything of the sort.
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Last Edit: Dec 15, 2012 10:51:42 GMT by cobblers
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Hmm. Assessor is coming Monday and they have the number for my garage who are prepared to fix it with 2nd hand parts. Will this still be a write off? Obviously it depends on many factors but I thought doing it this way could prevent it getting a marker if it doesn't cost 60% of the value? It looks bad but 2nd hand, the parts bill won't be much... I thought there's a chance of it being classed as uneconomical to repair? The problem is that the labour will far outweigh the cost of the parts generally, not sure on your mans rates but a ballpark figure of £50 an hour sounds about right and I can safely say stripdown/refit alone will be 4 or 5,general paint prep another 4 or 5, actual painting/refinishing 4 plus about £2/300's worth of parts sees me at about a grand realistically. Also, are this garage a registered bodyshop/vat registered business? A lot of insurance companies won't deal with them if not. Cash in lieu of repair is a good way of doing it if your hell bent on keeping the car but to me it sounds a lot of hassle and youve not even stripped it down yet to see if the damage is worse than expected. Their not a very strong car from a repair point of view either, so you could be talking inner wings/chassis leg damage and then you've accepted a low price for the car to repair thats gonna end up costing you ££££'s to sort. VERY rarely have I seen a car written off,gone to a garage to be repaired and the owner come out on top or broke even,unless you can do 90% of the stuff yourself I'd be very cautious. Sorry to sound doom and gloom but it's your cash at the end of the day and theres nothing worse than getting lumbered with something that she may not even want to drive again after her experiences. |
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I suspect you'll get a variety of advice as every insurance company handles these differently. The key thing is to tell the company that if it is a write off for economic reasons you are wanting to buy it back to repair. That way they will hopefully not go down the route of formally declaring it a write off - which means you won't have a write-off Catergory on the logbook. Usually they'll offer you either write off value and then you buy it back, or they might offer you an amount plus the car back. Having said that - with the damage listed I'd make sure that the geometry is OK. If you haven't opened the bonnet check the inner wings for distortion before making a firm decision. It still gets declared a write off no matter whether you repair it or not, all for the insurance companies records. |
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Dec 16, 2012 12:25:51 GMT
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Vaughant cant AGREE more of what you are saying TBH,I run my own Body shop and if the damage that has been described is ALL theat is needed then I am Chinaman,I will Gtee you there is underlying damage that has not been seen 100% Gteed of that.I haev repaired so many cars over the years and done one heck of a lot of the Contract repairs for customers and yes some have come in on traget BUT many have cost far mmore than the market value of the car.THERE IS no GARGAE ON EARTH who can catagorically state it is not going to cost over this price whithout a total strip down and inspection .
Face trhe fact it will be a write off take the dosh and go and find a new car far simpler in the long run
Dave
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Dec 16, 2012 21:14:31 GMT
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Think it all depends on the value of the car. If you can realistically get second hand parts for "pennies" and fix it for peanuts its worth doing. But if its going to cost you £1k to put a pre-accident £1k car back on the road its better to cut your losses. My Evo suffered from loose scaffold bars bouncing off the windscreen, a-pillar and the roof, it creased the roof lining and the assesor said it would cost £2k in parts so wrote it off as a cat d. They gave me £4200 for the car and I bought it back off them for £700. I repaired the roof and a pillar myself and bought a windscreen for £300, leaving me with just under £3k change. That was worth while
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Both the replies from penrhynrallycentre and mattfletcher spot on imo,there will be more damage to this I'm sure of it and also take into account all the little things like clips,trim,sealants,bulbs etc and you'll throw another £200 at it without thinking.
We used to get a few idiots down my old garage thinking they could buy from salvage sites,get the cars delivered,repaired and without lifting a finger double their money, usually at our expense.
Like the muppet who turned up asking me to sort the rust on his megane scenic and leave the scratch further up on the wing to save money!!!!
After ten minutes of explaning it wouldn't work as we'd need to blend into that area he just didn't get it and drove off round the corner to the next bodyshop who no doubt told him the same.
If you were in a position to complete 90% of the repair yourself and just drop it into the garage to get it sprayed it would be worth it otherwise listen to those that know and get the best price possible for it, you'll thank us in the end!!!
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