i need some advice please - I'm gutted
Discussion
I lost control of my Elise today on the road between pickering and whitby (a169). and i'm gutted.
Lucky for me i wasn't travelling very fast (about 40mph) but the back end lost all grip while going round a left hander and i skidded on the grass, hit a pile of gravel and ended up in the ditch at the side of the road. no other cars or parties are involved and I was the only person in the car.
The front clam has a big hole in it on the drivers side around the headlights and the drivers wheel has a slight buckle in it where it took the full force of the gravel pile. The coolant pipe has also split.
I'm really gutted (I can't begin to explain how gutted i am to be honest). It was (still is) my pride and joy. I keep trying to tell myself that it's only a car and that i should be thankful that I'm ok but it's tricky!
I'm after some advice as to what to do next as I've never been in this kind of situation and I've a real big fear that they could write the car off and if possible i really want to try and avoid that at all costs as the car means a lot to me.
It has been recovered to a garage in scarborough and i'd really like it a bit closer to home (i live in wetherby).
I rang my insurance company and they arranged for it to be recovered, and said they would call me tomorrow to discuss further. This is all i know at the moment.
From the quick look I took the damage appears to be:
new front clam
new front undertray
new coolant pipe
new front wheel
I didn't take any photos of the damage as I was to busy replaying it all over in my head (what if i hadn't gone out, what if i hadn't turned so much, etc, etc) to think about getting any.
It runs fine, all the electrics still work, it didn't feel like anything was miss aligned or broken when i drove it out of the main road and waited for recovery.
I'd really like some advice on what the best course of action should be.
Can i ask for the car to be moved to a garage of my choice (probably pure lotus as they are the nearest specialist) and ask them to assess the damage and fix it?
Do i need to be doing this through the insurance company at all? (even though they arrange for the recovery?).
I need some help / advice as i'm worried that my Lotus is about to be declared dead and that is the last thing i want!
Lucky for me i wasn't travelling very fast (about 40mph) but the back end lost all grip while going round a left hander and i skidded on the grass, hit a pile of gravel and ended up in the ditch at the side of the road. no other cars or parties are involved and I was the only person in the car.
The front clam has a big hole in it on the drivers side around the headlights and the drivers wheel has a slight buckle in it where it took the full force of the gravel pile. The coolant pipe has also split.
I'm really gutted (I can't begin to explain how gutted i am to be honest). It was (still is) my pride and joy. I keep trying to tell myself that it's only a car and that i should be thankful that I'm ok but it's tricky!
I'm after some advice as to what to do next as I've never been in this kind of situation and I've a real big fear that they could write the car off and if possible i really want to try and avoid that at all costs as the car means a lot to me.
It has been recovered to a garage in scarborough and i'd really like it a bit closer to home (i live in wetherby).
I rang my insurance company and they arranged for it to be recovered, and said they would call me tomorrow to discuss further. This is all i know at the moment.
From the quick look I took the damage appears to be:
new front clam
new front undertray
new coolant pipe
new front wheel
I didn't take any photos of the damage as I was to busy replaying it all over in my head (what if i hadn't gone out, what if i hadn't turned so much, etc, etc) to think about getting any.
It runs fine, all the electrics still work, it didn't feel like anything was miss aligned or broken when i drove it out of the main road and waited for recovery.
I'd really like some advice on what the best course of action should be.
Can i ask for the car to be moved to a garage of my choice (probably pure lotus as they are the nearest specialist) and ask them to assess the damage and fix it?
Do i need to be doing this through the insurance company at all? (even though they arrange for the recovery?).
I need some help / advice as i'm worried that my Lotus is about to be declared dead and that is the last thing i want!
Hi,
Really sorry to hear this. I can probably give you some idea of cost to fix as I had a similar experience in my S2 Elise a few years ago. I spun whilst coming off a roundabout at about 30mph. I ended up in a ditch and put a large hole in the rear clam, driver side sill and knackered a wheel, rear undertray and few other cosmetic bits. I had it fixed through my insurance company and the total cost by the time they had added on recovery costs and given me a hire car for 6 weeks was £5k. The rear clam fitted and painted was about £2.5k if I remember correctly.
I had full protected no claims and was about 26 years old at the time. It didn't actually make much difference to my premium the following year although I sold the car to my dad shortly afterwards.
Hope you get it sorted.
Simon
Really sorry to hear this. I can probably give you some idea of cost to fix as I had a similar experience in my S2 Elise a few years ago. I spun whilst coming off a roundabout at about 30mph. I ended up in a ditch and put a large hole in the rear clam, driver side sill and knackered a wheel, rear undertray and few other cosmetic bits. I had it fixed through my insurance company and the total cost by the time they had added on recovery costs and given me a hire car for 6 weeks was £5k. The rear clam fitted and painted was about £2.5k if I remember correctly.
I had full protected no claims and was about 26 years old at the time. It didn't actually make much difference to my premium the following year although I sold the car to my dad shortly afterwards.
Hope you get it sorted.
Simon
You will be in full control of what happens to the car until the moment you accept the insurance co's offer to write it off and pay you for your loss.
I would make appointment to meet with inspecting engineer and talk with them in an effort to NOT have the car written off if it is repairable at no more cost to insurance co than paying out for total loss. It's a percentage game remember. Usually engineer will have laptop of info which relates to damage / repair / costs / loss etc etc etc to call upon and will know their s
t well. Your problem will be if repair is not their best option, you will need to convince them otherwise if you expect them to pay out for repair. There are such things as 'contract repairs' where insurance pays only to the quoted figure on the estimate. It's possible a friendly repairer may be able to give a better quote for repair than the engineer believes possible, thus saving from total loss if this turns out to be the insurance co's decision. Then you will need to convince the insurance co you want to enter into a contract repair.
Hope this helps. I'm no expert. I might be wrong / things could have changed / my memory's fuddled. Suggest you have the car looked at by someone who knows what it might cost to repair if you think it might be close to a total loss for insurance co. Good luck. Keep us posted.
I would make appointment to meet with inspecting engineer and talk with them in an effort to NOT have the car written off if it is repairable at no more cost to insurance co than paying out for total loss. It's a percentage game remember. Usually engineer will have laptop of info which relates to damage / repair / costs / loss etc etc etc to call upon and will know their s
t well. Your problem will be if repair is not their best option, you will need to convince them otherwise if you expect them to pay out for repair. There are such things as 'contract repairs' where insurance pays only to the quoted figure on the estimate. It's possible a friendly repairer may be able to give a better quote for repair than the engineer believes possible, thus saving from total loss if this turns out to be the insurance co's decision. Then you will need to convince the insurance co you want to enter into a contract repair. Hope this helps. I'm no expert. I might be wrong / things could have changed / my memory's fuddled. Suggest you have the car looked at by someone who knows what it might cost to repair if you think it might be close to a total loss for insurance co. Good luck. Keep us posted.
Use your insurance, that is what it is for... I'm afraid it is already down as a claim as you have informed them and used them to recover it... £300 or £3000, it makes no difference to the fact that it is a claim. But you still have a lot of sway over the outcome so just keep pestering them at every stage to make sure it goes the way you want. If they class it a total loss you may still be able to buy it from them, though it doesn't sound as bad as that.
Fingers crossed. I had similar happen to me last summer.
Fingers crossed. I had similar happen to me last summer.
It depends what's broken the fact you say new front wheel would make me think it'll need at least some if not all of the suspension + steering on that side replacing as it's made weak to protect the chassis. If the chassis is bent then it's a whole different story they can be repaired (contary to popular belief) but it's a very specialist job.
My advise would be to get the insurace report and then if it's not too bad and they write it off CAT D or CAT C, make sure you get the option to buy it back. You should be able to get it fixed up for alot less than they quote.
My advise would be to get the insurace report and then if it's not too bad and they write it off CAT D or CAT C, make sure you get the option to buy it back. You should be able to get it fixed up for alot less than they quote.
If you're seriously worried about making a claim then see if a specialist will come out to inspect the damage (for a small fee) to see if there's any chassis damage or if it's just suspension bits.
Excepting the damage to the front clam (which might be repairable) you could still be looking at a grand or two to replace knackered suspension components and the wheel.
What year/spec is it?
Excepting the damage to the front clam (which might be repairable) you could still be looking at a grand or two to replace knackered suspension components and the wheel.
What year/spec is it?
It's a S1 111s.
I've spoken to the insurance company and they are waiting on some paperwork from the brokers. Then they are going to send out an engineer to check it out. I've asked to be present when they do look at it and I'm hoping that it really is just cosmetic stuff. It isn't going to be moved until they have been out as I don't know where to ask for it to be moved to!
Any recommendations?
Central garage has been mentioned by another NYLOC member.
I've spoken to the insurance company and they are waiting on some paperwork from the brokers. Then they are going to send out an engineer to check it out. I've asked to be present when they do look at it and I'm hoping that it really is just cosmetic stuff. It isn't going to be moved until they have been out as I don't know where to ask for it to be moved to!
Any recommendations?
Central garage has been mentioned by another NYLOC member.
At the very least get it in your possession if you're certain you want to keep it and you anticipate a conflict with your insurers. The minute you start negotiating a claim they may well save on the storage fees, which it will be accumulating now on a daily basis, by having it removed to one of their salvage contractors. Once there the ball is well and truly in your insurers court for them to just tell you what they're going to do without negotiation.
The incident was about 2 miles from the hole of horcum. if your going south, from whitby, you go down the hill, past the goathland turn off, right hander over a bridge and then a slight left hander up the hill. the left hander is where it happened.
It's a Series 1 111s.
insurance inspector is going out tomorrow or friday.
Then i need to get it taken to my garage of choice (JCT600 brooklands in leeds?).
Im crossing everything that can be crossed. I really, really hope it isn't written off!
It's a Series 1 111s.
insurance inspector is going out tomorrow or friday.
Then i need to get it taken to my garage of choice (JCT600 brooklands in leeds?).
Im crossing everything that can be crossed. I really, really hope it isn't written off!
I don't know how it went as I really wasn't pushing it. I remember just feeling it going and then it was already to late.
All I can think is that I touched a painted white arrow a bit to much and that was enough to set it sliding. if the gravel pile hadn't been there I probably wouldn't have done any damage. Lots of what if's though. it's been eating me up for days.
All I can think is that I touched a painted white arrow a bit to much and that was enough to set it sliding. if the gravel pile hadn't been there I probably wouldn't have done any damage. Lots of what if's though. it's been eating me up for days.
well the insurance guy has been out and he said that he is going to recommend that it is repaired subject to clam off inspection.
I'm glad he said that. He did say that it looks like it might have bent something on the suspension, but he couldn't see as the place it is at didn't have a ramp.
Looks like it may be on the road to recovery.
I'm glad he said that. He did say that it looks like it might have bent something on the suspension, but he couldn't see as the place it is at didn't have a ramp.
Looks like it may be on the road to recovery.
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