Bad news

[Clio_172Cup36]

Hi all,

The wifes clio was hit last week by some idiot in a carpark, she hit it pretty hard but it didn't look to bad and it drove home ok as far as I could tell it was ok apart from the front drivers side wing and from bumper.

We sorted it out through our insurance company who I have to say have been outstanding! (Aviva) the other party has admitted being at fault. Had a call today to say its a total loss. We are gutted as we have only had it 4 months or so and took ages to find the right one. It had only done 60k full dealer history and one owner from new.

So I guess we are on the look out for another one. Might try and go for a 182 this time, all depends on the payout really but we shall see.
If anyone knows of one for sale give me a shout, need to sort a car out before xmas

:banghead:
Cheers,
Si

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Bad news indeed... Total loss for a bit of a scratch !? WTF...

Buy it back, replace the wing and the bumper ?! What else is fugger'd ?

 

[Fred@BTM]

bumper wing and headlight is a toal loss?? buy it back and have it fixed!

 

[It's.Lee]

Bad news indeed... Total loss for a bit of a scratch !? WTF...

Buy it back, replace the wing and the bumper ?! What else is fugger'd ?

Do this.

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

Total loss for that! Offer to buy the car back and get it repaired yourself. Only needs a new bumper and wing.

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

So, in summary, buy it back ?

LMAO !

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

Funny thing is we all typed the same thing at the same time!, It won't cost you much more than £3-400 to get that fixed up i think.

 

[GiT]

Total loss? How? Do as advised, buy it back ASAP and repair - you'll make a killing!

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

Cheers all,

I haven't heard what's needed yet as they were shut when I called back. It needs a new wheel too and the bonnet wont open so not sure what is wrong. It drove well though.

If I buy it back will it be classed as a cat something?

Thanks,
Si

 

[GiT]

Cat D I believe... I honestly cannot see how it's a write off - unless that whole front is twisted.

 

[Fred@BTM]

yeah but you'll get paid out say £2k (example price)

buy it back for £500, fix it for £500, your £1K up

it'll be a cat D, but the car's are so cheap now no one will care

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

Cat D I believe... I honestly cannot see how it's a write off - unless that whole front is twisted.

I do, Have you seen how much insurance approved bodyshops charge! , Our van was £3500 to repair, Literally had a new bonnet & bumper and thats it.

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

I can't either but I didnt underneath. Not sure I am a fan of having a cat d though as will be shite to try and sell one day but then i guess it wont be worth massive money when I do sell it..... Just had cambelt and shocks done too.

Bad times!

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

What is the rough price do you guys think they will offer us?

Thanks

 

[Fred@BTM]

considering you can buy a 172 for £500 (ok it'll be a dog) these days i wouldn't care about it being cat D!!

the cars are worth more in parts now

 

[Dan@M.A.D]

If you don't buy it back your crazy!, You know how little damage has been done so what's to worry about? These cars are worth so little now it doesn't make a massive difference if its cat d or not, Just get it fixed up and enjoy it again, You've spent a good amount on it and know its decent!

 

[edde]

Can often happen this is your cars worth say £2k to write off they sell the car to someone for £1.5k and to fix it was going to be say £1k. Then they keep the rest of your premium and make a decient profit.

Ask about buying back though

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

Does anyone know how buying it back works?

True @ Fred@BTM, thinking about getting it back now.....

Cheers

 

[GiT]

I do, Have you seen how much insurance approved bodyshops charge! , Our van was £3500 to repair, Literally had a new bonnet & bumper and thats it.

Sure do - was a bodyshop estimator before getting out of the trade full time mate... A wing, Bumper and headlamp is as stated £300-£400. For them to of wrote it off, I fear it's also a market value thing and if the bonnet wont open - possibly a front end rebuild.

 

[16v_paddy]

Classic case of insurance company being lazy, they cba to deal with it basically as it's easier for them to just pay you off than it is to go through the motions of paying to have it fixed.
Tell them you want to keep the car and they'll just pay you accordingly, leaving you to go get it fixed yourself. If you're lucky - with it being you claiming from the other persons insurance chances are you will be, happened to me with my car - it wont get registered as any category write off, that will only happen if they take the car off you, all they'll do is record it as an insurance loss & sell the car on

 

[RDH]

Have you considered buying it back?

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

Cheers,

I think I will find out what was wrong with it and buy it back then!

Will keep you all posted!

Cheers for the help!

 

[16v_paddy]

Does anyone know how buying it back works?

Tell them you want to keep the car, that's the easiest way. All they'll do then is pay you a different amount of money

 

[GiT]

I did it with a MK1 Golf once... so easy.

Car had it's wing tapped as an idiot reversed into me out of a spot - all watched too by a police officer lol.

I bought it for £400... The cost to repair was £2500 as it would of needed a full respray... so the insurance company said £400 market value was fine - and if I wanted to buy the car back - £50 lmao.

So got £350 back, it stood me at £50 for 3 whole years passing it's MOT each time. I ignored the little dent

 

[16v_paddy]

Had this damage to mine when the rear axle of a Corsa hit me. After my excess & the cost of buying the car back were deducted from the settlement figure I got £1,200 & it cost me £600 to get it fixed :rasp:

That £600 came in bloody handy as 2 months after I got it fixed the clutch died so I got that done at a garage & treated the car to a new cam belt & water pump while the engine was out :approve:

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

Cheers!

Going to find out what damage is and get it sorted!

Cheers

 

[Jamie]

Buy it back - run it, when you're bored strip it.

Won't be worth much as a CAT-D for resale but for personal circumstances and it's a good'un I'd fix it.

 

[2 live]

yeah but you'll get paid out say £2k (example price)

buy it back for £500, fix it for £500, your £1K up

it'll be a cat D, but the car's are so cheap now no one will care

lower cat's can be removed as well cant they if you get it sva tested.

 

[MartinR]

front wing,bumper,headlight,and wheel probably get them of ebay for around £150-£200. get someone to pull on the bonnet as you pull the release handle in the car it will open and it will be down to the movement in the wing/headlight why it doesn't open. i very much doubt there shall be any underlying structral problems as it was on a car park at reasonably slow speed. as everyone else says buy it back fix it and you shall have a nice little sum in you're pocket. as for the cat-d thing i would not even worry about that because if you do ever sell that won't affect the price much as they're tumbling anyway. i bought a cat-d clio once then i cat -c'd it had it VIC checked at vosa and sold it on no problem and the new owner was aware of it. There's a huge market nowadays for cat-d and cat-c cars its a cheaper way of getting the car you want.


buy it back or you will kick yourself

 

[Tony172]

You better buy it back!!! Then I will help you rebuild it in my spare time!!

 

[Andy 172]

Can't believe its a right off for that damage! Another reason why our insurance premiums are going through the roof daily, as it happens I bought a wing and bumper in that exact colour the other day for £50 on eBay, I'd defiantly buy it back I once had a Renault 19 16v that got rear ended, it was trashed but I bought it back for £50 and broke the engine etc and got £500 in total plus got a lot more than I paid for the car in the 1st place.

 

[2Damnsly Andy]

I'd argue it with the insurance company that you want a second opinion from a second bodyshop. Take it to somewhere else and get them to value it. Also find out how they are getting to that estimate. Do you have an agreed valuation on your insurance as that can also help.

I'd only do the above if you don't want the car to be written off.

 

[markhinton]

I don't know if it's already been mentioned, but I'd definitely look at buying it back!

 

[16v_paddy]

Can't believe its a right off for that damage! Another reason why our insurance premiums are going through the roof daily

The insurance company will be doing this as it will be quicker & cheaper for them to just pay out instead of having to go through the motions of fixing it as it takes time & time = money, so really they're doing it to keep costs & ultimately our premiums down - probably not but I'm an eternal optimist

I'd argue it with the insurance company that you want a second opinion from a second bodyshop. Take it to somewhere else and get them to value it. Also find out how they are getting to that estimate. Do you have an agreed valuation on your insurance as that can also help.

I'd only do the above if you don't want the car to be written off.

I'd only argue the final settlement figure with them & use the agreed value thing to help secure a better payout, it's what I had to do with my claim. I don't know if it's the norm but in my experience of these sort of circumstances the car wont be classed/registered as any kind of write off if the OP keeps it. The OP will be claiming off the other persons insurance & all they'll be interested in is getting rid of them as quickly as possible. If the OP keeps the car & accepts a lower payout, the insurance company will be as happy as a pig in s**t as they pay less money & don't have to piss about recovering the car, registering it as an insurance total loss, then going through the motions of selling the car on

 

[Sparky]

My misses car got "written off" needed x and y and z which will cost £2000 car was worth £1200, bought the car back and got £800 on top. replaced one wing and a headlight = £216 job done, went off for a vosa check and passed. we were £500 better off

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

Just got off the phone and the estimate is over 2k to repair. Bumper,wing, headlight, alloy + tyre and the best bit is the chassis is snapped somewhere so it is dangerous and shouldn't be driven. I would have thought it would be a good price to buy back if it is that bad.

Think we are going to have to get a new one and I will buy it back and sell as spares.

Cheers,
Si

 

[Clart]

Snapped chassis from a car park bump?

 

[Clio_172Cup36]

She hit her really hard! Must have been about 40-50 mph, it was a straight road in a car park.

Mental!

 

[Revels]

She hit her really hard! Must have been about 40-50 mph, it was a straight road in a car park.

Mental!

LOL! No.

 

[moorin]

Worked at a salvage yard for a few years and I wouldn't trust any "cat" or "non recorded" car as far as I'd throw one. They always look a money earner but in the end always turn out to be a dog. Insurance companies don't employ engineers for nothing who come and look at the car. Get paid out and find another it's only a Clio, it isn't like you've just had a jag e-type ran into.