Sad times - She's a write-off

[sidey]

Well the title says it all really.

First i'll introduce the car since i'm a bit of a CS lurker and haven't really felt the need to show off a standard arctic 182.

She had her first MOT the day I bought her in august '07 and stayed totally standard until i found this forum and so the simple sheep mods tidied up the outside.

totally standard by sidey_why, on Flickr


Kept her shiney and well maintained, never wanted for anything; full Renault history, Rentech for the belts and regular oil changes at home. All the servicing has been done ahead of time and milage. Many common faults solved thanks to the wealth of info on here, such as solving the footwell puddle problem...

Insides out by sidey_why, on Flickr

From many guides i've gained the knowledge and confidence to do jobs like changing the alternator;

New alternator by sidey_why, on Flickr

as well as brakes, plugs etc.

Being a fan of a clean car (at least now and again!) i've only gone and looked in the detailing section too, resulting in her looking pretty good for a spit and polish:

Scrubbed up well by sidey_why, on Flickr

Don't worry though, She did get used as intended once in a while

Brands by sidey_why, on Flickr

Nipple ring only ever fitted on track!

As she sat last week:

recent clean by sidey_why, on Flickr


So a well loved little thing for the 64k miles she's done.

Well I can tell you i'm just getting over the upset of the events of last Thursday night, an incident involving the avoidance of a fox on a slip-road, the meeting of car and barrier and the subsequent decision, in the eyes of my insurers, that the car is a total loss.

As there was no-one involved we dragged the car to the side of the road, informed the police and came back in the morning to inspect the damage.

As we left her by sidey_why, on Flickr

Looks worse for the bumper hanging off where my brother has dragged me backwards down the road. Loaded her up and brought her back to the farm before she gets burnt out. A rather unceremonious removal all in all.

Undignified by sidey_why, on Flickr

Coming home by sidey_why, on Flickr

The front corner, while not FUBARed, is never going to be straight again... or is it?!

Should polish out? by sidey_why, on Flickr

Seriously though, all pulled back together it's not all that bad

Not so bent really by sidey_why, on Flickr


With that damage and the passenger seat airbag deployed the car will be a write off for sure, a sad fact with the engine well looked after and just broken in so they say. So off she's gone to be assessed, i await a response from my insurers... i expect i'll get a reasonably insulting offer to begin with. i have a figure i'd like; i had no i intention of selling her but would have held out for a high price for the condition and milage if it came to it. I suspect i'll have to settle for less.

Well there's no point crying over bent metal and noone was hurt. Now i'm left wondering wether to scratch the itch i have for a red one, though the trophy premium is alarmingly high.

And so the last snap, possibly the last time i'll see her. I would entertain buying back the engine in a heartbeat but really don't think i can be bothered breaking the rest. If i do there'll be a for sale thread, I'll pay no attention to any 'dibs..' in here!

Bye by sidey_why, on Flickr

So thanks for all the fun little car, thanks for all the info and banter CS. i'll be back in a RS clio as soon as i can.

 

[Addicted]

Damn what a shame, is it not worthy buying it back? (not to fix, but for parts to sell etc).

 

[Matthew]

Unlucky! At least no-one was hurt.

I can imagine to an insurance company, these aren't worth that much these days though?

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

ive seen damage like that jigged back out

i would say have faith and pull it all back out, but its allot of work.

 

[sidey]

I imagine not :dapprove:

I would entertain buying it back, again i have a price in mind so we'll see.

 

[sidey]

ive seen damage like that jigged back out

i would say have faith and pull it all back out, but its allot of work.

We weren't that careful with the forklift... the nearside rear quarter's the only tidy panel left!

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

dents are easy. my boss has just rebuilt the whole front end of a ford KA..... anythings possible. your front cross member looks in tacked , would only need that side jigging back out ( rachet chain, and something sturdy to jack off, pull it out and done , wont look minty mint but the headlight and that will go back in nicely.

anyway , see what happens shame non the less. mine should of been writen off after i smashed my rear quarter to smithereens, but ive put a new quarter and door on now.

 

[Mr Burns]

Sad chain of events, bad luck bro.

 

[Damon65]

Unlucky, hope it's not too much of a headache.

 

[car.crash]

Should have just nailed the fox
you could have been injured much worse by swerving.

 

[clio_luke]

Gutted for you. Looks a really nice tidy example.

 

[sidey]

Should definitely have nailed the fox.

 

[Munson]

Unicorn > Fox

 

[JMR]

This is gutting to read sidey, and your first pictures make the car look fantastic, what an example.

Hope your insurers pay up the right amount.

 

[N4TH4N]

Such a shame mate! What mileage had it done

 

[sidey]

A shame indeed. She's just over 64k miles, only just broken in.

 

[Fletcher]

Sad sight that

 

[mokeyat]

A sad read. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that. No-one got hurt. Not even the fox! You've learned a lot about Clio's by tinkering about with it and if you do decide to buy it back and break it, you'll probably have most of the money that's needed for a trophy, along with the payout from the insurance company. Cars are worth more in bits (I've broken a lot of classic Mini's) and this may be a blessing in disguise.

 

[sidey]

So an update, at last, i have been contacted by my insurers confirming a total loss and offering me £2500 which i'm not at all happy with. I'm pretty sure he's basing his valuation on this car:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...had/used,nearlynew,new/keywords/182?logcode=p

Wot think?

Also there is no option to buy the car back, they'd apparently be breaking their contract with the Copart, salvage company, and it'll go to auction... i may see if i can buy it straight back from them. Anyone have any experience of this kind of dealing?

 

[yourcodenameisnick]

I was offered around that amount for my 05 reg Inferno cup though with another 10k miles.

I argued and tried to get the price up, but to no avail. I think they use a Glasses valuation, but I think they're quite out of date.

Which insurers are you with?

 

[sidey]

NFU mutual. They're usually pretty good, no quibbles about loads of tools i had stolen a while back.

 

[MRBILLYUK]

£2500 does seem a bit low. Try and find a few more adverts , say on autotrader , Pistonheads etc .... for cars of a similar age and mileage but higher priced then contact your insurance company and show them . There are quite a few around the £3500 mark .

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...price-from/3000/usedcars/model/clio?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...price-from/3000/usedcars/model/clio?logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...price-from/3000/usedcars/model/clio?logcode=p

 

[R-Sport.]

Its a bit low- I think you will get to £2750...

Cant you nick the cup spoiler?

 

[Chris_Beer]

Sad to hear this news but at the same time, I kind of enjoyed the read of it?

Showed the love for the car (apart from the tractor forking it off the floor lol)

I couldn't deal with the insurance having my car, I would have to break what I could and hope for the best, infact even selling my Clio makes me feel slightly odd..

 

[couzens]

Must be gutting, looked like a minter.

 

[rctempire]

What a shame, least your not hurt.

Anything smaller than a Labrador , slam it.

 

[rctempire]

NFU mutual. They're usually pretty good, no quibbles about loads of tools i had stolen a while back.

Good company to be insured with.

 

[Goodj]

a fox you say?

 

[ilovewilly]

Also there is no option to buy the car back, they'd apparently be breaking their contract with the Copart, salvage company, and it'll go to auction... i may see if i can buy it straight back from them. Anyone have any experience of this kind of dealing?

Perhaps that's a clause that a few insurance companies hold with Copart?

Just thinking out loud, but I'm sure I heard somewhere that if they pay out for the car, it's no longer your property to demand to purchase so they can sell it to copart/do as they see fit.

Usually when you can buy them back, it's only a couple of hundred quid knocked off the offer and you keep the car also.

 

[loggyboy]

Price will be based on a traders guide like Glasses. Definitely worth arguing, ive written off a few cars and always argued a good 10-20% extra on initial offers

 

[Dan@Greenlight]

Shame to see that mate.

Hope you get the insurance sorted soon. If you have any insurance questions, even though not with us, feel free to drop me a PM.

Dan

 

[172_Tom]

If you had somewhere to store the car on your own property then the insurer wouldn't have been able to take it off you. Always try and keep the car if you can as you'll nearly always be able to get more selling it yourself as spares/repair than it will cost you to buy it back.

Other adverts might not be that much use. Adverts and photos very rarely tell the full story of a car and this works both ways. You also have to take a bit off advert prices to get to the actual sale price.

Don't have time to read up - but was the car modified and do you have an agreed value policy?

You might be better off arguing what you feel the value of your car is compared to the guide price. The guide prices are an average and normally only take into account age and mileage (but sometimes factory options). Find out what price guide they are using for the valuation and look on the website for the price definitions. Glass's guide retail prices do not require a car over 6 years old to have a FSH, so if your car is over 6 years old and you have evidence of a FSH then you could use this to argue a valuation above the guide price.

If you aren't happy with what your insurer is offering then you can go to the Financial Ombudsman. The Ombudsman rarely take into account other adverts for the reasons I stated.

I was in a similar situation recently after someone rear ended my other car (not the Clio!) and it was a total loss.

Good luck getting it sorted out, I know how much of a pain it can be!

 

[RickD]

Also there is no option to buy the car back, they'd apparently be breaking their contract with the Copart, salvage company, and it'll go to auction... i may see if i can buy it straight back from them. Anyone have any experience of this kind of dealing?

Check the small print in the policy

 

[GrahamS]

Perhaps that's a clause that a few insurance companies hold with Copart?

Just thinking out loud, but I'm sure I heard somewhere that if they pay out for the car, it's no longer your property to demand to purchase so they can sell it to copart/do as they see fit.

Usually when you can buy them back, it's only a couple of hundred quid knocked off the offer and you keep the car also.

It's not a clause in the contract at all. This used to be said at my old work just because it was a little extra hassle for the policy holder to keep it.

Unless it's a cat A you can keep it.

 

[sidey]

Its a bit low- I think you will get to £2750...

Cant you nick the cup spoiler?

Well Steve got it spot on, i've argued up as much as they'll go and this afternoon accepted £2750. It doesn't quite seem enough to directly replace her but really i guess i'm fussing over about £200.

And i may have already alleviated them of the cup spoiler, the 182 alloys w. Eagle F1s, the Miltek backboxes, ITG filter, nearly new DS2500s and a few other bits.

I've pushed again for the chance to buy the damaged car back, will find out tomorrow.

Let the hunt begin.

 

[robhoops]

Well Steve got it spot on, i've argued up as much as they'll go and this afternoon accepted £2750. It doesn't quite seem enough to directly replace her but really i guess i'm fussing over about £200.

And i may have already alleviated them of the cup spoiler, the 182 alloys w. Eagle F1s, the Miltek backboxes, ITG filter, nearly new DS2500s and a few other bits.

I've pushed again for the chance to buy the damaged car back, will find out tomorrow.

Let the hunt begin.

sad to hear, like everyone else says though, at least no one was hurt, how did it go with your insurer, did they give you the car back?

 

[Pauleds]

Someone that lives on a farm that swerved to avoid a fox - that's a first!!

Everyone I know would have aimed for it!

Would have fixed that and you could pick up most parts on here!