Will this be a write off? Estimated repair cost?

[Trailhead]

A friend has just done the below and is wondering if the car would be a write off?

The bumper and light are easy repairs - it's the pushed in rear quarter panel that I wouldn't know how to fix.

[hman]

age and mileage of the car - possible suspension damage if the collison caused the wheel to come into contact with the body.

At the very least it will need:-

Light, Bumper, rear panel, rear quarter, interior panels, full geometry check, possible pull on inner wing, paint bumper, paint 1/4

I wouldn't expect to see a bill of less than £2.5k really.

[Trailhead]

Thanks.

It's a 57 plate 116i with around 50k on I think. So probably worth around £5 or £6k?

I've only seen the pictures he has sent me so far and not the actual car but it's the quarter panel that is the worrying part. Hard to see how badly damaged it is.

[gizlaroc]

Get them to use their body shop for a quote, they will probably then want to write if off as they have to use new parts every where.

Then ask for cash in lieu.

Then take it to someone who can sort it for a few hundred quid.

[Trailhead]

Thanks both.

He is back from holiday now and has sent me some slightly clearer pics -

[BritishRacinGrin]

Borderline... could see it going either way depending on the exact book value of the car and how rapidly the estimator's coffee is cooling.

[e21Mark]

My money is on ''write off'' as uneconomical repair.

[Trailhead]

He found a bodyshop who will do the work for £800-£1000. I'm slightly dubious but we will see.

[BritishRacinGrin]

yes we'll see. I would expect the genuine parts cost alone to be in that ballpark, and that probably wouldn't include the most expensive part- the rear quarter, which presumably they're repairing, rather than replacing.

[Trailhead]

BritishRacinGrin said:

yes we'll see. I would expect the genuine parts cost alone to be in that ballpark, and that probably wouldn't include the most expensive part- the rear quarter, which presumably they're repairing, rather than replacing.

£280 for (second hand I think) parts £500-700 for pulling the dent, a loooooot of filler and respray.

[BritishRacinGrin]

If this comes back a decent looking repair I shall be stopping by at the garage for a business card. Not a straightforward job getting those shutlines around the light / bumper right, and the cheap metallic black paint blend into the rear quarter/ 'C' pillar will be very interesting.

[Trailhead]

BritishRacinGrin said:

If this comes back a decent looking repair I shall be stopping by at the garage for a business card. Not a straightforward job getting those shutlines around the light / bumper right, and the cheap metallic black paint blend into the rear quarter/ 'C' pillar will be very interesting.

I'm interested in the results too. He will get it back on Friday so I'll put pics up if people are interested!!

[gizlaroc]

Trailhead said:

He found a bodyshop who will do the work for £800-£1000. I'm slightly dubious but we will see.

Did he do what I suggested earlier?

Get the insurance company to get a quote from their approved bodyshop, which will be a few grand, and then ask for cash in lieu.

They will offer the repair price less the vat.

He can then take it anywhere, this will then cover any potential losses when selling on if someone sees it has had work, but may also see him a few grand in pocket.

[Trailhead]

gizlaroc said:

Trailhead said:

He found a bodyshop who will do the work for £800-£1000. I'm slightly dubious but we will see.

Did he do what I suggested earlier?

Get the insurance company to get a quote from their approved bodyshop, which will be a few grand, and then ask for cash in lieu.

They will offer the repair price less the vat.

He can then take it anywhere, this will then cover any potential losses when selling on if someone sees it has had work, but may also see him a few grand in pocket.

He didn't because he doesn't want the insurance co to know anything about it - he is a young lad!

[loskie]

So he will be defrauding the insurance co by not reporting an accident irrespective of whether he claims or not.

[Trailhead]

Fairly sure damaging your car on private land and then repairing it yourself isn't defrauding anyone actually.

[loskie]

Your insurance asks "have you had any accidents claims or convictions?"

[loskie]

"Fairly sure damaging your car on private land "



I smell BS

[Trailhead]

loskie said:

Your insurance asks "have you had any accidents claims or convictions?"

There's always one isn't there...

The answer would be no, because what you do off road falls outside of the remit of insurance, like track days for instance.

Stop trying to cause trouble, it isn't the purpose of this thread.

[loskie]

Raw Nerve anyone?