FAO Friends of R3OBC!...and clio owners!

[R3OBC]

Hey guys n girls.............right, i need some proper CLIOSPORT help!!

As most of you will know, black R3OBC was involved in an incident where i bent the suspension and kinked the roof around the sunroof area! The assessor said that the roof is not related etc, and the car has been off the road now for almost 3 months.

I have just spoken to the 'ultimate' assessor who seems very clued up on all of this! he will be visiting my car in the near future. I mentioned that i am in an owners club etc, and he has advised me to ask you lot, if anyone else has experienced the problems of the 'soft roof' on the clio's due to accidents! If any of you have, a simple letter stating this would go a long way, proving that it is not just myself, and more of an actual design flaw!

Now, i am not sure WHO, if anyone has had a bad bump on the suspension (lowered of not) and had the roof kinked as a side effect. One person i know, and hope might back me up a bit here (okay, it might not be bump related but......FRED, you are MR LOW so surely you can help me out here) is FRED! his roof looks like a junior version of mine!

So, i BEG of some of my friends and useful people in this club......who can help me out with a short letter, basically stating that they have experienced problems with 'roof distortion' on their clio's (with or without sunroofs!) due to a minor bump etc, suspension bottoming out etc!? Surely all of you 1.2 16v owners know how much the sunroof flex's and creaks!!??

A simple letter, with a cliosport membership number, and brief story / outline as to any problem you have experienced with your roof, would give me even more backup to launch at my insurer along with my new assessor report.

I thank you all for reading this, and maybe with a bit of club spirt, R3OBC will show its face once again!!!

MUCH APPRECIATED, ROB!!

 

[snick01]

i remember winston16v say something about this happening to his car on renaultsportsclub

"My strut brace kinked my roof and now the coilovers have finished it off lol"
/\/\/\ winston16v's comment

http://www.renaultsportsclub.co.uk/forum_3403/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=37629

 

[Lee]

I'm sure Fred had a dent appear in his roof, but not sure if it was the result of the car being so low and stiff.

Hope you get it sorted, insurance companies are the f**king scum of the earth as far as I'm concerned.

 

[R3OBC]

Yea Freds is like mine, not sure if its always been like that but the sheer shock of hard suspsnsion / a bottoming out can cause this, hence Fred's input would be VERY valuable!!

Thanks snick!!

 

[R3OBC]

bump bump bump

 

[fizzy_drink]

Some cars DO just get bent roofs on impact.

Si's car was seriously damaged at the front, and his roof had a crease in it too afaik.

Your accident: did it only do suspension damage? Did it do anything else?

 

[R3OBC]

the damage that has been recorded from specialist alignment people (who work for renault) is as follows:-

4 bent wheels, bent struts, wishbones, ball joints etc etc, it was a hard impact indeed! basically, the full front suspension would be renewed

 

[Ad]

I will write, without doubt, my 172 had this from suspension damage as well!!

Happened to my m8S as well.

Whos the insurnace company....

You will have to PM me details to send the letter.

 

[Fred@BTM]

i'm on the job

 

[R3OBC]

right guys, what i will do is PM ya the address of the insurance company, with my policy number to refer to......and that way you can send the letter direct to them in reference to my claim? is that okay? Thank you very very much!! (next round is on me lol)

 

[davebem]

I had bad suspension damage after an accident which bent my front subframe, bent the suspension arm, and ruined a bearing. At the time the mechanic being a Renault specialist checked the roof which I found strange. (although it was found to be fine and the rest was repaired). After that accident my sunroof has never creaked or rattled again and everything looks fine. I always thought the clio shell with a sunroof was weak anyway and thats why it was never used for the 172/182/V6.

Just trying to help,

Dave

 

[R3OBC]

id agree with that mate, the R-sports will be much stronger without the sunroof.....even they crease though.

 

[BRUN]

dave if the roof was checked then maybe you could let Rob know who did the work, as maybe they have seen it happen before and thats why it was checked

Rob there is a Renault repair place near me, might be worth giving them a ring, i *think* its on Merton Bank Road, St Helens......

if you cant find it gimme a ring

 

[R3OBC]

no problem mate, but the car is in good hands now, just hope this assessor agrees with the roof. i spoke to him on the phone today and he seems very clued up, and this time, due to the car having had an alignment check (by the same boys that work for reno), its been noted that 'oh, we see these all the time'.....!

See, im not lying! lol

 

[Ali]

Hope u get it sorted rob.

 

[Pete]

This is a common problem on a lot of cars (not just Clio's) I can't quite understand what your insurance companies problem is and why they would question it at all, seams a bit weird, they must be really desperate not to pay out to question this.

 

[R3OBC]

they did indeed authorise repairs after the original 'assessors' 2nd visit, but they just wanted to stick new shocks on and see if it was straight - and not touch the roof. I then took the car away from the garage and have taken it to a garage of MY choice. Already, the geometry check has revealed that ALL of my front suspension needs replaced......just shocks indeed! lol.

They are just being typical CRAP insurers, but, they WILL be paying! one way or another Thanks for the help and feedback guys.

 

[R3OBC]

a huge thanks to adtmits for your letter!

 

[R3OBC]

bump bump

 

[jonnyboy]

I remember seeing a pic of a 172 on the old site that had a kinked roof folloing a front ender

 

[Christopher]

never saw the old thread!!

anyone have a link?

I'll ask my Reno tech mate Rob.

 

[Saner]

My car was wriiten off because of the roof having kinked . But then again, I hit a kerb at 70mph.. so I don't think i can back you up on this!

All the best anyway!

 

[clio_lass]

Hey, Trev showed me this thread.

The roof was kinked on my old clio around the sunroof. I always blamed the 60mm pi suspension altho i went up a kerb and the kink got worse. So much so that i got scared and decided to trade it in for something jap and more reliable!!

My mates dci clio is also kinked around the sunroof.

 

[Djw John]

My car was wriiten off because of the roof having kinked . But then again, I hit a kerb at 70mph.. so I don't think i can back you up on this!

All the best anyway!

Not hugely dissimilar to Robs case, not a kerb but nearly as bad and at 60mph. May be useful to him.

 

[R3OBC]

Got a letter from elephant today, confirming that they received your letter Adam! Thats the first time they have contacted off their own back EVER lol! They say it does not alter the claim as it does not effect their assessors report. I rang them up to state that the 2nd report is in progress and not to close the case (they said they would in 14 days if they did not hear from me).

So, thats another bit of evidence in my favour thanks to a fellow ClioSport member. Anyone else experience ROOF DISTORTION from an impact, or even just stiff lowered suspension?? its all related guys, and the more letters i get into them, the more of a poin i am proving. Anyone else insured with elephant and drive a clio? Trust me, this may be of assistance to yourselves should the worst happen!!!

Thanks again Adam, Rob! (i want my clio back now!!)

 

[Saner]

Would what I mentioned above be of any help? I've been very busy but if you let me knoe asap i can e-mail a letter.

 

[rory182]

ask J3 ned he must see a lot of them! good luck

 

[R3OBC]

Saner, if you suffered sever suspension damage and it caused the roof to kink / distort (did the A pillars also distort or just theroof skin?) a simple letter stating that the roof skin distorted in relation to a sever suspension knock would strenthen my case even further. If you can construct a letter stating this, i can PM you my claim reference and e-mail address to fire it into. Rob

 

[Ad]

I got a letter of aknowledgment today. I am passing the word around people i know not go with elephant even if there the cheapest quote. Theyre cowboys and its a joke what there doing. hope the letter helps with your second report Rob!!!