Reversed into :(

[5lab]

Had a spot of bad luck today..

At 3AM my better half's ford Ka was battered into by a drunk who sped off down the street before I could read the numberplate. As it was left undrivable, I let her take my 944 S2 to work today. No worries, she's a very careful driver in it as she doesn't want to damage it..

Get a call at 6.15 - she was stopped in a petrol station and someone reversed into it - talk about a bad day (it is the 13th!). The damage is the front nose panel is all dented, and the bumper is pretty scratched up (from the look of it, a spray would sort it, not too deeply gouged).

The lady who reversed into it (apparently a 944 is too low to see behind a merc M class) asked about sorting it out without insurance, so I thought I'd try to figure out a rough cost.

From what I can see, the part number I need is 951-503-033-00 - but I can't find anyone with it online. Does anyone happen to know the cost or where I can get one? Or the approx cost of a spray for that part and the bumper (I guess and bonnet and wings would need doing too??) The bumper looks not-quite-straight to the nose panel but I guess that might just be the nose panel is off.

I just want to give her a ballpark figure so she can decide if insurance is the way to go or not

Thanks!

Hugh

 

[simkin911]

Hugh, having had some experience of this kind of thing, I wouldn't overly exert yourself. Book the car into a reputable bodyshop for a proper quote and then present it to the other party. In the meantime, I would also suggest you report it to your insurers and say that the other party is currently asking about dealing outside insurance if possible. I suspect the lady may get a shock at the repair cost and the insurers will eventually resolve.

You should also hopefully for CCTV at the garage forecourt too in the event of a dispute over liability?

 

[Frenchy]

I presume the part you are taiking about is the badge panel ? if so Simon @ Porsch a Part had a new one for sale circa £50, i would take the car to a reputable bodyshop and get them to look at it and quote telling them you can supply the badge panel.
It may look okay but what lurks underneath ?
Personally i would want the car but back to better than before.
Do not guesstimate !!

 

[DC911SC]

+1 on above, do it all by the book.

Late one night last winter a drunk went down our one way street hit our neighbours mondeo in my opinion lightly looked like a grill and light needed, made a right mess needed all sorts including a radiator and a front jig pull the police were very good and got the culprit from the remains left behind.

You are being nice, which is good but just make sure you don't lose out!

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Before doing anything, do you have an agreed-value policy? If you have, then go for the other driver's insurer.

If not, the chances are that any claim will result in a write-off, as they tried to do with mine for a lot less damage than yours. They factor in the hire car, transport to the repairer etc., only use new parts, replace everything they can, it all adds up to £000s.

To put in context, mine was supposedly an £800 repair according to the assessor. That would be a write-off on an S2 at guide-price, once all the other extras were factored in. []

I'd get it looked at by a local, decent repairer. That way you'll know what the real cost of the repair is, and can decide if it's viable to go to the third party without insurers.

 

[5lab]

Thanks for all the tips all

I think it probably will go through insurers, but I was after a guide price to take to her to say 'roughly, its going to cost you £xxxx, do you think insurance is best' - then depending on that get a proper quote. I've previously dealt with minor bumps outside of insurers (when I've been at fault, or in one case, when some scrotes let the handbrake off my car and took it out of gear!), so its nice to offer to do the same again where possible.

My OH did very well - she phoned me and asked what to do so I told her to get a signed statement from the driver (which she did) plus go into the garage and ask about CCTV (they have it, and keep it for 6 weeks, but will only provide it to the insurers themselves). So win-win there.

The car isn't on agreed value, as it doesn't have much value. I don't know what book is, but it has previous accident damage (all repaired, but registered appropriately), and despite the low mileage (105k) its probably only worth £2500. Frankly, if the other driver does a runner I'll probably just wait till the appropriately coloured panel appeared on ebay and use that - for now the car is completely drivable, and I'd rather not have claim history pushing my future premiums up.

It looks like very minor damage, but thats why I wanted a good idea of cost before getting hold of her - she's probably expecting £100 or so, but I don't want to say a grand and then the final bill comes in at £500 (or whatever it might be)

Thanks again for the help!

 

[aporschefan]

In the meantime, I would also suggest you report it to your insurers and say that the other party is currently asking about dealing outside insurance if possible.

I did this when a van drove into the back of me while I was stationary at a set of red lights. The damage was minimal. I notified the insurer the next morning. The chap paid for the repair and no claim made.

During my renewal, the insurer said my premium was increasing as I was involved in an accident. Despite it not being my fault and no claim being made, my premium increased at renewal. And was higher than expected for the next few years.


I'm not suggesting you don't report the accident but sharing what is likely to happen when you do.

 

[T3rra]

Iv had my turbo hit 3 times in 1 year. Wing was the worse and I got fucked over. Bloke said he pay to get it done but clearly didn't care about putting it right, it needed a new wing. Wing was only 6 years old.

Ended up going though my own insurance who never got the money from him, cost £350 excess plus travel fuel, to there choice off body shop.

Iv had the rear bumper hit and front. Rear bloke gave me £150 that day. The front was reversed in to at a petrol station took details and asked for CCTV inside if need. Car went in for some other work and didn't come back for much longer then ment. Anyway phoned the guy 3 months later, he payed up.

Personally I would expect the damage to be around £2/400 to put right £50/80 badge Pannle
£300 for paint a good macth will stop at bonnet and crease in the wings edges

If you trust her get her to write a letter to you saying she will put it right to a max cost. If she happy with that then go get quotes. If she not then I would get in thouch with your insurance, unfounctaly it will prob be £1000 that way at least. No better finish. You may have to pay out and could effect your renewal price.

 

[5lab]

these last two points are my worry - the car was stationary with the handbrake on so it doesn't really seem right that my insurance costs get worse last year

had another look today in the cold light of day - its not as bad as it looked last night - it rained overnight and what I thought were deep gouges are actually just merc paint that mostly rubs off. It will need a new panel, but the bumper probably just needs a blow over. I've also managed to find the part in stock in the UK for £320 (in case anyone else is looking and finds this thread) at porscheshop - so that makes things easier to quantify

 

[aporschefan]

ORIGINAL: 5lab

these last two points are my worry - the car was stationary with the handbrake on so it doesn't really seem right that my insurance costs get worse last year

I completly understand. This was my point too when I was advised about the increased premium. The facts, according to them, were simple, I was in an accident. It wasn't my fault so the premium didn't increase as much as it would have otherwise.

Not much I could do really.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I've also managed to find the part in stock in the UK for £320 (in case anyone else is looking and finds this thread) at porscheshop - so that makes things easier to quantify

What do Porsche quote? I believe all panels come from them, so why go anywhere else?

Regarding non-fault claims, I've had two. It's correct that you have to declare them when shopping around at renewal time, but it shouldn't affect your premiums. I made sure to get it in writing that I was not to blame, the TP paid all costs including refunding my excess, and my no-claims wasn't affected in either case.

It will occasionally defeat some of the online-only applications that are seeking the people with the perfect history only, but they aren't the only insurers and don't even offer the best deals always. No issues so far with either of mine, and they are a classic policy and a commercial vehicle policy, so a standard car policy won't be any different.

These are genuine non-fault claims though. Often insurers do a knock-for-knock as it's cheaper for them than pursuing the TP's insurer. This WILL affect you, so you need to insist they put it in writing that it was a non-fault accident.

It sounds stupid, but your insurer gets a comission from the car hire people, the repair shop, the transport company, the accident-management firm and the injury lawyers, so it's actually in their interest to put the claim through your policy as it wipes out most of the costs! [:'(]

 

[Eldavo]

I've just had my claim authorised from being rear-ended while stationary last month. I did everything via the other party's insurance and made it clear that I wanted a repair over cash in lieu, etc. I could have gone via my insurance and reclaimed my excess from the other party but I would suggest if you go down the insurance route you go via her insurance.

 

[eddieedmo]

ORIGINAL: Eldavo

I've just had my claim authorised from being rear-ended while stationary last month. I did everything via the other party's insurance and made it clear that I wanted a repair over cash in lieu, etc. I could have gone via my insurance and reclaimed my excess from the other party but I would suggest if you go down the insurance route you go via her insurance.

Definitely agree , I am in the middle of a no fault claim , my van was written off and the TP insurers have already agreed van value pre accident and are in process of paying - 10 days after accident. No excess to pay and claim back.Just need to sort out rest of claim for equipment damage , damage to me and treatment costs etc. etc.

Nick

 

[majorporsche]

But it WAS your fault, ie you were involved in an accident ( which was not your fault ) , but you are statisticly more likely to to have a claim now. You ve gone from pure white to slightly off white in the Insurance Industry's eyes. Most unfair but I found this problem myself. Hope it sorts out well for you. My advice is to try sort it with the other driver first, give them a price and deadline and then act if need be. Good luck !

 

[pauljmcnulty]

But it WAS your fault, ie you were involved in an accident ( which was not your fault ) , but you are statisticly more likely to to have a claim now. You ve gone from pure white to slightly off white in the Insurance Industry's eyes.

Yep, stupid as it sounds it's true. Insurers use nothing more than raw statistics to calculate risk, so your neighbour having his house burgled adds to your premium.

It has got better over recent years, though, as more factors come in to the equasion. So long as your insurer is prepared to confirm it was a genuine no-fault claim I've found no penalty on either of mine. One was a driver who passed out at the wheel, hit the accelerator and hit my parked van! In the old days that would have been a simple "this road is more dangerous, so all postcodes near it go up", or "all parked vans are at greater risk" assesment, now they would analyse it in more detail.

 

[912UK]

I would just get a few quotes and work out a price and factor in £100 extra for your time and effort..

and I would factor that in because they are asking to not go though the insurance so that they don't have to mess around with insurance companies in the future when they get a quote so like for like..

I had this recently with my god daughter and she had some one hit her from the side road! his fault.. my mate asked me what to do. So I said how much was the car, can we get another one.. so we worked out £500 his excess all told was £350. So for £150 he gets to say for the next 5 years did you have a claim " No" that's £30 a no a year to him is what it's worth!

So I bought another Ford Ka writen off one 2002 leather, aircon, cd player all the goodies 50k on the clock £301 !!!! on the road for £500 with mot and tax!

I fixed her old car for £50 and we sold it telling them the damage £250

so with some effort she went from an 98 " S " reg for Ka to a 2002 " 02 " Ka top spec and had change left over!

 

[5lab]

quick update - I figured on £500 to repair as cheaply as possible (2nd hand part, sprayed locally). 3rd party said this was too much - so its going through insurance. SL restoration are coming down to quote it (I'm down in Brighton) - whats the reckoning on it being written off? I noticed the bumper is out of line (looks like its further back/down on one side than the other) so that'll need sorting too.

 

[ChasR]

This is a harsh thing to say but I reckon it will probably be written off.

What you could do (not an ideal situation on the basis of a marker being against your car) is that I would be tempted to take the money from the payout and repair it with a repairer of your choice upon buying the car back.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

What you could do (not an ideal situation on the basis of a marker being against your car) is that I would be tempted to take the money from the payout and repair it with a repairer of your choice upon buying the car back.

From the posts above I understood it already had a cat-c or d against it? I'd guess book value would be somewhere less than the "guide" for an S2 that doesn't have an agreed value. Mine was assumed at around £2K, so a previously written-off car would be perhaps less than half that?

Insurer's values for the cars are shocking. Get an approved valuation for God's sake: it's free for members, and if all you do is join for that alone, it's one years subs to get an industry-approved valuation that's not available anywhere else accepted by all companies.

Given that it sounds like a simple repair, I'd be doing it myself if the car is otherwise good. Can they put two Cat-c notes against it??

 

[Eldavo]

Saga have paid £1750 nearly for mine to be repaired and furnished me with an E-class Coupe for 3 weeks. The quote from the OPC-approved Bodyshop was £4k!!!