My beloved GTi got pranged. Where to go from here?

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GT
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My beloved GTi got pranged. Where to go from here?

Post by GT »

Hi everybody, I've just rejoined this excellent site, after letting my reg lapse. Good to see healthy level of activity still!
Sadly, yesterday my front nearside corner took the full impact when someone decided to turn in front of me. How and why don't really matter but my lovely GTi, which I've had for 11 years and was my third one, now has damaged wing, bonnet, bumper, light cluster and crucially flitch panel. So my question is what do I do now? The car is still fine mechanically. The engine is sweet, suspension, brakes steering etc all OK ( car is mechanically driveable) . I've been given options by the insurance company which boil down to - let their approved repairers look at it and decide it is not economical to fix, let their approved scrapper (CoPart) take it away or deal with it myself. My regular Citroen repair guy can't fix it as it stands. It's a K-reg 8v with cat. As you can guess I'm so very P**d off. I don't want to see it go for a pittance but I don't know if I can rescue it without spending more than I can afford. Thoughts appreciated.
Why do cars have to die when you still love them?
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toddao
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Post by toddao »

Hello GT and welcome,

any chance of some pics - before/after? Everything is repairable but it just depends on the investment of time and money required and whether you can do it yourself or have to pay someone. Can you weld?
I reckon you could pick up another GTI cheaper if you're patient and sell your pranged one (or keep it for parts)
Todd


this yellow writing is really hard to read
Gibbo2286
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Post by Gibbo2286 »

If the insurer wants to write it off which I guess is almost certain ask them to let you keep the 'salvage' that way you have the cash payout and the car.

You can then either repair it or break it (if you have the room) and sell the parts, the last one I broke up fetched over £800 selling the bits through Ebay.
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

Awful news. My sympathies.

This happened to me: I was hit (no fault of mine). The other guy's insurance company sent over an assessor. He valued the car at £800 (he liked old Cits) and I received £680 plus the car itself (scrap being estimated at £120). It was not written off, not a Cat C, and that was it. The money was to be used to repair the car, (until the head gasket and FDV went, not to mention the rust the impact had uncovered!).
• 1992 Citroen BX TZD Turbo Hurricane
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Dollywobbler
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Post by Dollywobbler »

DO NOT let them take the car away. Get the assessor out to see you. Are you able to claim from the third party? If so, deal direct with their insurance company.
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Tim Leech
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Post by Tim Leech »

As stated if its there fault you can insist on having the car repaired. Parts are easy to come buy and the front panels are easily straightened if not too badly damaged.

What colour is your car?
Lots of Motors, mostly semi broken....
GT
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Post by GT »

Thanks for the messages of sympathy and advice. The insurance is really the bugbear in all this. I've not been involved with an accident for 20+ years so, call me lucky or naive!, I'm a bit rusty on claim procedures. All your advice much appreciated.
Here's a link, hopefully to some pics ( the good bits, the bad bits and the ugly!)
http://s1099.photobucket.com/albums/g38 ... C1543.jpg
Why do cars have to die when you still love them?
GT
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Post by GT »

Thanks for the messages of sympathy and advice. The insurance is really the bugbear in all this. I've not been involved with an accident for 20+ years so, call me lucky or naive!, I'm a bit rusty on claim procedures. All your advice much appreciated.
Here's a link, hopefully to some pics ( the good bits, the bad bits and the ugly!)

http://s1099.photobucket.com/albums/g38 ... DC1543.jpg

sorry, try again without the url tags!
Why do cars have to die when you still love them?
citronut
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Post by citronut »

as said above TELL the insurance company you are retaining salvage rights (dont ask them if you can),


also if you dont weld if required you can do all the nuts and bolts stuff, and just pay someone to do the welded bits,


then find all the bolt on panles in good condition and the right colour,


also as said can you post some picy's of the injury,


regards malcolm
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Gibbo2286
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Post by Gibbo2286 »

Roverman wrote:As stated if its there fault you can insist on having the car repaired. Parts are easy to come buy and the front panels are easily straightened if not too badly damaged.

What colour is your car?
That's not quite correct Roverman, you cannot insist that they repair the car regardless of whose fault it is, they're only obliged to leave you in the same finacial position you were in before the accident e.g. if you have a car with a trade value of £300 they can give you £300 cash plus any incidental expenses and walk away.
GT
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Post by GT »

Yes, this is a lot of the problem. They will offer me PVA based on their engineers opinion and I'm pretty much stuck with that as far as they are concerned. Worse, if they write off the car, I lose any remaining premium I've paid, 6 months worth in this case ( a hazard of paying yearly). This is common policy it seems. Add on the compulsory excess and it looks a very poor deal, even if I can claim back against the TP.
I'm going to try and get some estimates to repair else look at REALISTIC scrap value. If it is unfeasible to repair, I'll offer it first call to this forum.
Why do cars have to die when you still love them?
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Philip Chidlow
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Post by Philip Chidlow »

From what I gather you are 100% blameless. Has the other party admitted responsibility? If so you only have to inform your insurers as to what's happened - (this is a requirement but it has it's downside, but that's not important now), and contact the other party's insurers directly. They are obliged - in principle - to return the car to its pre-accident state, but if this can't realistically be done they will assess the car's value as it would have been prior to the accident. As I said, you can request that you retain the car; the salvage value of the car is retained by them and the balance of the car's assessed pre-accident value is given to you. Your insurance is not touched: you don't lose anything to compulsory excess and you can transfer the insurance policy you have to a replacement vehicle.

NOBODY can make you write your car off if it was NOT your fault.
Please don't accept anything at first, because it was not your fault. You have that on your side.
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toddao
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Post by toddao »

From those pics I was say that it's probably repairable but perhaps not economically repairable if you have to pay someone else.
I'm not sure if any of the panels are available new apart from the wing but you could transplant the metal from another scrap BX.
I have everything you need to repair that : a bumper and a wing in the right colour and a half stripped shell which could donate. Unfortunately I'm 'sausage side' ie Germany so that's not very useful.

Depending on what deal you get then, as Malcolm suggested, strip it yourself and then see how much you can do before you have to pay someone for panel work/ welding. At least you know that the rest of the car is sound!
Todd


this yellow writing is really hard to read
Gibbo2286
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Post by Gibbo2286 »

Good advice Philip. i.e. inform your insurer but don't claim through them claim directly from the third party, he's then obliged to inform his insurer and make the claim through them,

If you claim through your own insurer you will (or may depending on the policy terms) lose your no claims bonus and your excess.

They will tell you it's not a 'no blame' bonus it's a 'no claim' bonus.
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Post by sdelasal »

i'm confused ...is the advice to claim from the other party directly (not sure how you'd do that ? small claims court - for up to £5000??) or from the other parties insurance company?
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