The Grim Reaper came knocking for my car today

[bernhund]

Oh dear, parked for 2 minutes outside a friends house and the car gets rear ended. A young lady on her own, straight into the back at 40mph. Unfortunately an oak post stopped my car within about 2ft. So front end wrecked too and possibly made things worse for the girl. She was very shaken and I have to confess I felt sorry for her. I think she'll probably take herself off for an x-ray of the collar bone, but fingers crossed it'll just be bruising.
The first thing we think when young people do this is 'was she texting'? I didn't ask, and if she was, let's hope she's learnt a very valuable lesson.

[bernhund]

Green3R said:

Gutted for you. Hope it gets sorted out ok.

Prob a bit soon for dark humour but,

it can be rebuilt....

Haha!That's my sense of humour. It's never too early for me to laugh about anything, however serious.

[bernhund]

I'm hoping it's not a write off. But we're definitely looking at front a rear clams, windscreen, splitter and lights as the non mechanicals. That's gonna cost. There's also a split on the seal.

[bernhund]

Lakelord said:

Sorry to see this. What a terrible sight. Hope it gets sorted soon although getting the same type of rear lights will be a challenge.

The lights are my greatest concern. These are a rare commodity!

[bernhund]

simonx50 said:

Gutted for you Stephen lets hope it can be fixed, has it damaged the chassis much? And you had the sort after rear lights aswell

I don't know whether there's chassis damage. The recovery dragged the car up onto the flat bed by the towing eye, so that's still attached! The engine started and the power steering worked...until I moved back and the front wheel fell off! There was no way the rear clam was going to open for me to take a look at the chassis.

[bernhund]

Ian Perry said:

Commiserations mate, must admit your feelings towards the other driver make you a better man than me.

Thank you Ian. She cocked up and we've all made mistakes before, on and off the road. We have insurance and there was no serious injury, so what's the point of getting upset? I've been in a 9 day coma and ended up with 45 screws in my face, as well us a lot of other damage, from a car crash. In this instance no deaths and no one seriously hurt, so I'm really not bothered. I surprise myself sometimes!

[bernhund]

Mr Jenks said:

Not normally on here but I picked up on the Goathurst Common bit of the Kent spotted thread.
That looks like it was outside the cottage I used to live in, just before the nursery. It is an awful stretch of road, and not sorry when we moved along the road and got a decent driveway. The road got faster and faster over the years and we took our lives in our hands going in and out of the drive. Not sorry to have moved well away now.
Pleased to see nobody hurt, the car looks very sorry for itself but I'm sure it can all be put back to it's former glory.

Well spotted. That's exactly where it is. A friend is renting a cottage & we're all aware of how bad the road is. Someone said there have been 4 fatalities on that road. It's a very poor slippery surface, the kind that your brakes lock up on very easily.
It attracts a very strange mentality from drivers too. I was stopped there a couple of weeks back in my van while I repaired the friends car. Instead of people slowing down because there was a van with the back doors open by a car with the bonnet up, they just swerved around blasting their horns. A number of them did it. No slowing down, just abuse.

[bernhund]

andygtt said:

blimey that looks bad, glad you were not in the car when it happened.

Don't forget I have moulds for all of the body parts including the light pods.... be happy to let you can come round and make some of your own in either carbon of GF as my moulds support both, training, help and advice would be free if it helped you get the car back on the road

That's very decent Andy, thank you. I'll see what Jetstream find 'chassis' wise and let you know.

[bernhund]

Dave2P said:

Oh no, no, no!



The first Noble I ever drove! Gutted for you Steve, but insurance will cover everything and she'll look pristine again one day soon.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for your Nob, and glad you weren't in her at the time.

She'd obviously seen your app... better get working on "Stretch My Car" and "DON'T Squash My Car (Again)"

[bernhund]

I've just realised I may have screwed up on my insurance...they asked if the car was occupied and I had said no. Flat Eric was in there and wants to claim for whiplash!

[bernhund]

V1DL3R said:

very sad to see this.

it should also be in the 'post a picture of you noble' thread :-p

Haha, I had thought about doing that actually!

[bernhund]

verba1 said:

Very sad to see that , on the plus u weren't hurt and hopefully you will be back in a nob soon !

I had wondered how I would have faired had I been in the car. I had parked, removed my seat belt, then fiddled with something. I'd only got out 2 minutes before impact.
So she hit by car at 40mph & shunted it 1-2ft forward into an oak post that didn't move. I'm guessing I'd have eaten the steering wheel?

[bernhund]

V1DL3R said:

bigsmiffy said:

Eric was just Eric before the crash

[bernhund]

bigsmiffy said:

Glad your taking it so well, on a serious note who are you insured with & how are they handling the claim, I'm with Elephant/Admiral & although the premiums are good I always wonder how good the service will be in the eventuality of a claim & will they understand its a specialist repair that all their approved repairers wont be able to handle.

Tom

I'm with Admiral multi car. They've been excellent so far and the girl's insurer, Churchill, had admitted responsibility within 24hr. So hopefully it will all continue smoothly.

[bernhund]

bigsmiffy said:

bernhund said:

I'm with Admiral multi car. They've been excellent so far and the girl's insurer, Churchill, had admitted responsibility within 24hr. So hopefully it will all continue smoothly.

That means mine will go up 10% next year, "been a lot of claims on these this year sir, statistics say your more likely to get hit up the arse by a Micra"

[bernhund]

Chapppers said:

Do you want a replacement for this, Bernhund? Mine's sitting there doing not a lot at the moment, be good to get you back on the road and sell to someone who already knows Nobles

Thanks for the offer, but I'm sorted already with a 3R now.

[bernhund]

Tuscanny said:

What one did you buy ??

Bought from Jetstream, so wasn't in the classifieds.

[bernhund]

I've actually bought a Cat registered car. I did a lot of thinking and came to the conclusion that in the right circumstances, they're a great buy...particularly cars with chassis like Nobles. This car had minor chassis damage which contributed to writing it off. If assessed by companies not familiar with Nobles (most!), they are easily scrapped. Even if the owner of a high performance car accepts a 'like for like' during the insurance process, it could add another £3k or more to the repair cost estimate. Yes, you could unwittingly contribute to writing your own car off by accepting a high performance hire car!
The fact is, there are many NON Cat cars out there that have had more chassis work than this one just because they've had rusty sections removed and replaced. My old car was one of them as the rear clip section was renewed at Mole Valley some time back. So I'm quite happy with the decision I've made. I know the value is lower than others, but relative. Buying through Jetstream lends credibility too and is an important factor in the deal.
I'll post pics once I have the car.

[bernhund]

Look who's coming...very soon I hope!

[bernhund]

Cheers John. I'll be down Deal way on Saturday. If you're there too, we could catch up for a cuppa if you like. Looking unlikely that I'll have the Nob in time though.