Rear ended - update

[sawood12]

Well the my insurance inspectors took a look at my car and have cleared it for repair. I've taken it to Zentrum in Nottingham which is run by a bloke who used to work at the Nottingham OPC and as a result uses all the contacts he made whilst working there. The bodyshop he uses is the one used by the Nottingham OPC but are obviously not charging OPC prices! For anyone who is near Nottingham I can heartedly recommend Zentrum for all your Porsche servicing/maintenance/repair needs!!

Anyway luckily the sturcture behind the rear panel was totally untouched so it's simply cosmetic damage - rear bumper, panel and lower spoiler. My ESS 6x9 oval exhaust was totally untouched and i've even managed to get them to include fixing the rust I had at the bottom of my passenger wing and a stone chip that was looking a bit ropey in the drivers door and an all-over body machine polish all rolled up into the insurance quote with a top up of a mere £50. Unfortunately getting an all-over body respray was a little too ambitious and they advised me not to push the insurance company on this issue as in their view and experiance they would have definately spat their dummy out and gone for the write off. So in the end i'm ending up getting all the affected areas of rust sorted out - even the minor spots of rust around the tailgate latch holes, paint restored back to bright Guards Red and i've had confirmation that under the surface rust all is OK so i'm feeling pretty good about the whole affair and am looking forward to getting her back.

I'm expecing it back in about a week and a half to two weeks as they can't start work proper until Thursday but not to worry as I managed to swing a nice C-Class Merc as a hire car and a lovely peice of kit it is too. I could get used to the comfortable, smooth and civilised driving experience, but I know deep down inside I prefer the more raw experience of the old girl!!

 

[colin129]

Glad to hear things turned out well. When I was shunted a couple of years ago, the work was carried out by an official body repairer. It was touch and go whther they would write off or not, but I manged to swing it by asking for additional paint to be done (at my own expnense), so the realised I wanted to keep the car.

I was, however, stuck with an Astra Cab 1.6, in the middle of Winter, for 6 weeks. Despite pushing for a C-class, like you, the insurance Co would only do it if I insured it myself, at my own expense. How did you wangle the comfy motor?

 

[Fen]

If it's not your fault then you are entitled to a like for like replacement. they will try to fob you off with a Corsa or similar, but you are entitled to reject it.

 

[colin129]

I spent hours and hours on the phone argueing this one and was given the highest grouping that they were allowed to without putting the insurance through my own company, who refused to do it.

I keep meaning to change the broker I use but they smash other quotes to pieces, and in the end I got my car fixed and I got to drive a Cab with the roof down (slowly) in the middle of Winter.

 

[sawood12]

They tried to fob me off with a Corsa as well. After about 30 phone calls arguing for something that was a remotely like-for-like car they bumped me up to a Golf 1.6 then a Passat then finally the Merc. They did offer me a C-Class Kompressor which I didn't get but I decided not to push it any further. My insurance policy did only cover me for a Group 1 car like a Corsa but I argued on the basis that the other person had admitted liability and that I do alot of motorway/dual carridgeway drivign and so needed something with a bit of ooomph!! Sounds like I was lucky!

Anyway the other parties insurance bill is going to be pretty high:-
Cost of my repairs (around £3 to £4k - not sure yet)
Cost of repairs to their car at £2k
Cost of the hire of a Corsa for them
Cost of a months hire of the Merc for me at £75 per day