General Panda V Passat
- Thread starter Geddes
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General Panda V Passat
Definitely definitely go for a full replacement - when my Dad's GP got a similar speed whack in a rear ender I tried to convince him to get the insurer to write it off but as it was already about 30 months old it wouldn't have been a direct replacement. The car never feels the same after a repair of that size.
He needed a new bumper, bars behind it, some straightening on a jig, wheel arches, boot lock, lights, boot door needed panel beating, some struts underneath, etc.... job looks perfect (except its a bumper off a Series 2 GP and his is a Series 1!) but the car still feels 'different' driving after it. Resale value is also going to have been destroyed
He needed a new bumper, bars behind it, some straightening on a jig, wheel arches, boot lock, lights, boot door needed panel beating, some struts underneath, etc.... job looks perfect (except its a bumper off a Series 2 GP and his is a Series 1!) but the car still feels 'different' driving after it. Resale value is also going to have been destroyed
Hope you get new car. And glad you had no neck injurys. I had whip-lash when it by lorry 4 weeks ago and it still hurts now and again. I did think they would right my car off as it damaged a pilars but they repaired it.
Just checking our policy - says it can be replaced with a new model if repairs 60% of cost of new. But gather not all policies do this which I guess is why they try and sell you that extra GAP insurance.
"We will replace your car with a new car of the same make, model and specification (if one is available in the UK ) if, within 12 months of you or your partner buying the car from new:
the cost of repairing any damage covered by the policy is more than 60% of the car's UK list price (including car tax and V"
AT) when you bought the car; or
your car is stolen and not recovered."
But what your policy says dosen't matter as the accident isn't your fault. It's a 3rd party claim from you that will be being made against Mr Passat drivers insurance, either directly from you, your silisitors (sp?, lol) or insurance company.
Ultimatly you can if you want, not that I advise you do, turn the cards around and if they try and write the car off you can make them repair is, as it is still repairable even if it does cost twice the price of the car.
Insurance law is all fun and games, as insurance campanies have found out when dealing with me about dad's car being written off in March. Let's put it this way, not everyone can ensure they get a CAT-A written off car returned to them
Jon.
Your own policy is basically irrelevant when you're claiming off someone else. You just need to make yourself as unreasonable as possible to their insurers until they agree to a full replacement. Its standard enough to expect a new car if the car was under a year old, even if the car ends up being a Cat D after it.
I'd actually think a large amount of Cat D write offs are due to being under a year old, virtually all Cat D's I've seen on sale here are! My local scrapyard has a forecourt (in the old fashioned meaning of "area to the fore of a building", not a glass palace showroom) full of 07 and 08 plated slightly damaged cars because of this.
I'd actually think a large amount of Cat D write offs are due to being under a year old, virtually all Cat D's I've seen on sale here are! My local scrapyard has a forecourt (in the old fashioned meaning of "area to the fore of a building", not a glass palace showroom) full of 07 and 08 plated slightly damaged cars because of this.
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Yep, one in Norwich is like that. I nearly brought a bargain Rover 45 a few years back, but it got sold before I put my deposit down.
Your probably right about this being the reason why alot of newish cars are written off.
just remembered! H and i saw a quite new panda a few years ago (gaydon 2006, i think) had been rear ended too, the repair was a total arse bodge, nothing lined up rear of the b-pillar, the rear hatch was obviously wonky, butted up on one side, huge gap on the other. the bloke who had it said had been done by a main dealer as the car was quite new. the hadn't even straightened it out and done the tracking out, as evidenced by all the tyres wearing unevenly al over the place...
Sam Green Racing
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All insurace in the UK pays out what the car costs you to replace if you go about it.
Are you on about GAP insurance though
Yes Jon, I was refering to GAP insurance.
Sam.
citroends21
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the new panda is 'a tough wee nut' a tractor pulled the rear bumper from mine one day but i was suprised at how well built yet easy to fix the fiat was
Off topic but nice name there DS21 Do you own a Goddess yourself or are you just dreaming like me?
Do you own a Goddess yourself or are you just dreaming like me? OK. Been away for a week, but on Monday Panda came back from the body shop. And went straight back again...
You might recall this image I posted a while back. I didn't take another picture, but it came back exactly the same. C pillar pushed towards the door. They hadn't touched it.
Anyway, complained and they said they'd sort it. So it came back today. I was at work so couldn't look at it 'till later.
It came back looking like this.
The gap between the C pillar and the door is now the same as the other side, but the glass still doesn't line up with the door. Hmmm. More on that later...
Another thing up with the door was that the top of the door was bent outwards a little. Now it's bent in and sunk into the door frame...
Oh look. Overspray on the seatbelt.
Overspray everywhere really, though this stuff should hoover out.
Underneath they seem to have done a reasonable job of replacing the boot floor, but it's very obviously not original.
What's this dangly connector do?
Paint chip where rear light has hit the body. They missed that.
Trying to close the boot and it just bounces open again. It needs a mighty slam to close it. It's only the striker plate badly adjusted but it shouldn't come back like that...
Also. The driver's door now requires a similar slam to close it. It wasn't like that before. It wasn't like that after the crash either!
Lets have a look at the shut lines here.
Here's the drivers door.
And here's the passenger door. See the gap with the A pillar? Bit different isn't it?
Yep. Going back to the original problem with the C pillar being out, what they've done is try to bull**** me by moving both doors forward and hoping I wouldn't notice
Looking at the drivers door hinge bolts you can just see the chips where they've adjusted it.
On the hinges for the rear door which are more visible, you can see where they've painted the bolts to try and hide what they did.
By now I'm quite cross. In the morning I'm going to pop down to the local Fiat dealer (Pewsham/Supersaver) Ask how much it's now worth in part exchange and have them tell me its a worthless bent piece of crap and they wouldn't take it at all.
Then I'm going to phone the insurance company and shout at them until they buy me a new one.
BTW the people who did the sterling repair job are BP Rolls in Swindon (Formerly Titcombe Garage).
You might recall this image I posted a while back. I didn't take another picture, but it came back exactly the same. C pillar pushed towards the door. They hadn't touched it.
Anyway, complained and they said they'd sort it. So it came back today. I was at work so couldn't look at it 'till later.
It came back looking like this.
The gap between the C pillar and the door is now the same as the other side, but the glass still doesn't line up with the door. Hmmm. More on that later...
Another thing up with the door was that the top of the door was bent outwards a little. Now it's bent in and sunk into the door frame...
Oh look. Overspray on the seatbelt.
Overspray everywhere really, though this stuff should hoover out.
Underneath they seem to have done a reasonable job of replacing the boot floor, but it's very obviously not original.
What's this dangly connector do?
Paint chip where rear light has hit the body. They missed that.
Trying to close the boot and it just bounces open again. It needs a mighty slam to close it. It's only the striker plate badly adjusted but it shouldn't come back like that...
Also. The driver's door now requires a similar slam to close it. It wasn't like that before. It wasn't like that after the crash either!
Lets have a look at the shut lines here.
Here's the drivers door.
And here's the passenger door. See the gap with the A pillar? Bit different isn't it?
Yep. Going back to the original problem with the C pillar being out, what they've done is try to bull**** me by moving both doors forward and hoping I wouldn't notice
Looking at the drivers door hinge bolts you can just see the chips where they've adjusted it.
On the hinges for the rear door which are more visible, you can see where they've painted the bolts to try and hide what they did.
By now I'm quite cross. In the morning I'm going to pop down to the local Fiat dealer (Pewsham/Supersaver) Ask how much it's now worth in part exchange and have them tell me its a worthless bent piece of crap and they wouldn't take it at all.
Then I'm going to phone the insurance company and shout at them until they buy me a new one.
BTW the people who did the sterling repair job are BP Rolls in Swindon (Formerly Titcombe Garage).
Glad you are ok....I bet you would like to find the audi driver to pass on your thoughts!!
Quick update. Panda is going away tomorrow to be inspected by the insurance company's own engineer.
Had a chat with the manager at BP Rolls Swindon and they don't seem willing to accept that the C pillar could possibly have moved. Presumably the engineer will arrive equiped with some sort of tape measure to sort that one out.
Also it's going back with copies of the pictures in this thread.
Had a chat with the manager at BP Rolls Swindon and they don't seem willing to accept that the C pillar could possibly have moved. Presumably the engineer will arrive equiped with some sort of tape measure to sort that one out.
Also it's going back with copies of the pictures in this thread.
More bidgery bodgery I missed yesterday.
See the gap between the A pillar and the top of the wing on the drivers side.
And the same gap on the passenger side.
Mmmmm, Different!
Let's open the bonnet shall we?
Looky. The bolts holding the wing on appear to have been spannered.
What are they like on the passenger side?
All nice and shiny.
So. As well as buggering about with the doors, they've gone so far as to unbolt the front wing and slide that along too!
None of which goes any way towards fixing the actual problem which is to do with the back end being shorter that it used to be.
See the gap between the A pillar and the top of the wing on the drivers side.
And the same gap on the passenger side.
Mmmmm, Different!
Let's open the bonnet shall we?
Looky. The bolts holding the wing on appear to have been spannered.
What are they like on the passenger side?
All nice and shiny.
So. As well as buggering about with the doors, they've gone so far as to unbolt the front wing and slide that along too!
None of which goes any way towards fixing the actual problem which is to do with the back end being shorter that it used to be.
pdtrewern
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Good for you for having such a sharp eye. I hate bodgers... hope you sting them for all they are worth.
You need a new car, and BP Rolls need a bloody good clip round the ear! You just can imagine the conversation when looking at the car...
"eh, look ere bob, this gaps a bit tight", "No worries fred, ill just bang that wing forward a bit, no one would ever know, 10 minute job, we can hit the pub!"
You need a new car, and BP Rolls need a bloody good clip round the ear! You just can imagine the conversation when looking at the car...
"eh, look ere bob, this gaps a bit tight", "No worries fred, ill just bang that wing forward a bit, no one would ever know, 10 minute job, we can hit the pub!"
