A tale of woe...
Discussion
... got back to my S2 this eve - has been tucked up under its cover all week so thought I'd take it out for a spin - as I removed the from of the cover from under the front spoiler there was an unnerving chink as broken glass hit the tarmac...
My fears were confirmed when I saw the indicator had a good proportion missing/cracked - clearly some
had whacked it whilst parking and didnt have the decency to leave a note. 
At this stage I was a bit pissed off - though the indicator was knackered - there appeared to be only superficial danage to the GRP.
then I saw the bonnet shutline.
What used to be a neat join between bonnet and tub was now 1-2 cm protruding - this is when I got scared.
Looking under the hood - the square tube that the bonnet hinge is mounted on has gone diamond shaped - clearly it was a harder whack than I had first suspected..
Couple of questions that I hope you guys will be able to help me out on:
(I'll see if I can get a couple of pics this weekend)
1) does anyone have any idea what this will cost to fix properly?
2) could I claim on my insurance in this situation?
Is there any way of finding out who is guilty of this heinous crime?
Im thinking lie detector on all my neighbours
but in reality I guess this sort of sh1t just happens and we have to move on...
My fears were confirmed when I saw the indicator had a good proportion missing/cracked - clearly some
had whacked it whilst parking and didnt have the decency to leave a note. At this stage I was a bit pissed off - though the indicator was knackered - there appeared to be only superficial danage to the GRP.
then I saw the bonnet shutline.
What used to be a neat join between bonnet and tub was now 1-2 cm protruding - this is when I got scared.
Looking under the hood - the square tube that the bonnet hinge is mounted on has gone diamond shaped - clearly it was a harder whack than I had first suspected..
Couple of questions that I hope you guys will be able to help me out on:
(I'll see if I can get a couple of pics this weekend)
1) does anyone have any idea what this will cost to fix properly?
2) could I claim on my insurance in this situation?
Is there any way of finding out who is guilty of this heinous crime?
Im thinking lie detector on all my neighbours
but in reality I guess this sort of sh1t just happens and we have to move on...
My S3 is presently in the spray shop after someone reversed into the front of me. I was driving through country lanes and stopped about 2 metres behind someone to let some on coming cars through. For some reason the guy in front thought the cars coming the other way did not have enough room to get passed him so reversed straight back into me without looking where he was going !!.
He only hit my car at about 5mph but managed to crack the fibre glass just behind the front number plate. Also as a result of the impact the gel coat had cracked all over the front end of the bonnet.
The quote that I then sent on to my insurance company was £1000 to repair this. Basically that covered removing the bonnet repairing the damage and fully respraying. The guy who gave me a quote said that they quite often they have to rebuild the front mountings / hinges when they do this work as they break a lot when being removed, so I guess he may have taken this into account on the price of mine.
I would say that if you don't have to have a respray like I did then depending on your insurance excess you might better off paying to get it fixed. Otherwise claim on the insurance, only problem being as you do not know who did it then your going to have to pay the excess on it .... but just think your have a shiney new bonnet with no stone chips !!
He only hit my car at about 5mph but managed to crack the fibre glass just behind the front number plate. Also as a result of the impact the gel coat had cracked all over the front end of the bonnet.
The quote that I then sent on to my insurance company was £1000 to repair this. Basically that covered removing the bonnet repairing the damage and fully respraying. The guy who gave me a quote said that they quite often they have to rebuild the front mountings / hinges when they do this work as they break a lot when being removed, so I guess he may have taken this into account on the price of mine.
I would say that if you don't have to have a respray like I did then depending on your insurance excess you might better off paying to get it fixed. Otherwise claim on the insurance, only problem being as you do not know who did it then your going to have to pay the excess on it .... but just think your have a shiney new bonnet with no stone chips !!
Dammit ! There's nothing worse than this sort of thing. Someone whack's your car then s off leaving you with a bill for a grand. Makes me even more sure - must find a garage. Sorry to hear about this Tim - I guess that pull to the left you've got is the least of your problems right now ... 
... hope it doesn't turn out as bad as you're fearing tho'.
s off leaving you with a bill for a grand. Makes me even more sure - must find a garage. Sorry to hear about this Tim - I guess that pull to the left you've got is the least of your problems right now ... ... hope it doesn't turn out as bad as you're fearing tho'.WonkyGibbon said:
Dammit ! There's nothing worse than this sort of thing. Someone whack's your car then
Cheers Danny - Still up for hooking up check geometry though... when it aint bucketing down!
BERGS2 said:
Dammit ! There's nothing worse than this sort of thing. Someone whack's your car then
Cheers Danny - Still up for hooking up check geometry though... when it aint bucketing down!
Likewise - all a bit damp at the moment though !!
I had to have my bonnet hinge frame (and hinges) replaced after someone pulled out in front of me on a roundabout. The total repair cost was about £2500, but I don't know what proportion of that was the hinge assembly replacement.
You could try talking to Glenn Martin at Harrison & Co. in Farnham, who carried out the work, to see if he might be able to give you an idea.
(They ordered the new hinge assembly directly from TVR IIRC).
You could try talking to Glenn Martin at Harrison & Co. in Farnham, who carried out the work, to see if he might be able to give you an idea.
(They ordered the new hinge assembly directly from TVR IIRC).
I had almost exactly the same thing happen to me as trevytrev in my S2 a few years ago. The damage was slightly different, being a small chunk dug out of the front of the bonnet by the other car's bumper bracket. (Just one of the down-sides of being invisible I suppose).
No one noticed the crack in the bonnet hinge bracket though, until it got worse through use some time later. My local garage welded it up for £80 (though it was a while ago) and it gave me no more problems.
Didn't I see somewhere, ages ago, an ad for insurance against minor dinks, like shopping trolley scratches etc? Basically, iirc, you pay a small premium which covers repairs below your excess without affecting your ncd.
No one noticed the crack in the bonnet hinge bracket though, until it got worse through use some time later. My local garage welded it up for £80 (though it was a while ago) and it gave me no more problems.
Didn't I see somewhere, ages ago, an ad for insurance against minor dinks, like shopping trolley scratches etc? Basically, iirc, you pay a small premium which covers repairs below your excess without affecting your ncd.
BRGS2 said:
Looking under the hood - the square tube that the bonnet hinge is mounted on has gone diamond shaped - clearly it was a harder whack than I had first suspected..
It's not as bad as it seems, especially if you can live with the superficial GRP damage, it's the bonnet re-spray what is going to cost.
If you are lucky the square tube may straighten with the aid of Oxy/acetylene. In the worst case a new box and hinge assembly can't be too expensive, or can easily be made by a competent garage/fabricator.
Give your local TVR specialist a phone, David Gerald are always a good call. They will give you some useful pointers and a rough idea of cost.
BRGS2 said:
Looking under the hood - the square tube that the bonnet hinge is mounted on has gone diamond shaped
If it is only squashed out of shape, try forcing it back into shape with a g-clamp. It would be wise to heat it first, but a simple gaz blow torch should suffice.
Best of luck
Andy
>> Edited by andyf007 on Thursday 4th December 13:24
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