One bent E-type

[lowdrag]

I suppose it had to happen one day given the mileage I've done over the last 30 years, and on reflection this is the second accident, both times french drivers not paying attention. In this case a woman in a Kia not paying enough attention. She said she didn't see the car because it was too low.



The french insurers are being their usual selves, sending out the local assessors who understand the costings on a Twingo but to them this is just any car, not one that needs special attention, so it is likely it will be trailered back to the UK and then my insurers will deal with it and charge the bill back to the french ones. Incidentally, yesterday on the way back from the garage I witnessed two accidents, both people using a phone at the wheel. More anon

[battered]

Ouch.
Ah well, nothing structural there, it appears, so it's an easy enough repair.

[TR4man]

That's sad, hopefully it will be repaired properly and without too much fuss.

[Riley Blue]

battered said:

Ouch.
Ah well, nothing structural there, it appears, so it's an easy enough repair.

No? Looks like the exhaust took a bash so hopefully it hasn't caused damage to mounts, floor etc.

[V8 FOU]

Oh 'eck! Good luck with French insurers. could be a long battle in my experience. Hopefully the damage isn't too extensive - the exhausts look a bit worrying. Hope there isn't more damage further along.
Keep us posted?

[battered]

Riley Blue said:

No? Looks like the exhaust took a bash so hopefully it hasn't caused damage to mounts, floor etc.

An exhaust is suspended from hangers. If you think that you can bend a Jag chassis by bashing the exhaust like this one has done, and without just ripping it off the hangers, then you're a better man than I, Gunga Din.

[Vintage Racer]

OMG! - Hope that it gets sorted without too much hassle.

I recently had an assessor out to value the TR (for agreed value) and when he arrived, he did not even know what it was, let alone know how to value it!

Bonne Chance Mon Ami!

[lowdrag]

The floor is quite damaged. I can't access the spare wheel compartment because the wood fllor is stuck, nor can I shut the boot lid where all has moved forward.

[Geekman]

Never ceases to amaze me how French people can love cars so much but be so incredibly ignorant and careless at the same time. I live in a French village and barely a day goes by without somebody complimenting me on my (vastly inferior to yours) Jaguar. People take pictures of it, want to sit in it, ask loads of questions about it and in general seem to appreciate it far more than English people.

And yet equally, barely a day goes by without somebody smacking their door into it hard enough to remove whole lines of paint and put massive gouges in the door protector strips, or driving into it whilst parking and scuffing the bumpers. When challenged, they couldn't care less, apart from one girl who annoyed me enough that I smacked my door straight back into her car: turned out she really didn't like a taste of her own medicine.

Makes no sense

[9xxNick]

I feel your pain. Best wishes for getting it resolved properly and without too much of a wait.

[Shoegrip]

At least it was only an old car.

Edited by Shoegrip on Friday 11th November 21:04

[TerryThomas]

I will never forget having dinner in Paris and watching a woman manoeuvre her car into a space far too small for it by repeatedly crashing into the cars in front and behind until she'd pushed them back far enough to fit in.

No-one batted an eyelid. I was livid. Just a different set of rules I guess.

Cretins.

[battered]

TerryThomas said:

I will never forget having dinner in Paris and watching a woman manoeuvre her car into a space far too small for it by repeatedly crashing into the cars in front and behind until she'd pushed them back far enough to fit in.

No-one batted an eyelid. I was livid. Just a different set of rules I guess.

Cretins.

Normal Parisian practice. Nobody puts the handbrake on more than 2 clicks to allow the shuffling. As for the French loving cars, they don't. Not in general. They like the pretty ones but only to look at. Otherwise they like them as much as I like my washing machine and treat it about the same.

OP, no need to worry about the lid no longer closing, that's easy to fix. The back valance will probably come off or undo a few spot welds at least and then the surrounding panels will lose their support and be easy to panel beat back. Not sure if they can repair that original panel. Prob cheaper and definitely easier to replace but on a car of that value you right consider it worth saving if it's an original.

[RYH64E]

TerryThomas said:

I will never forget having dinner in Paris and watching a woman manoeuvre her car into a space far too small for it by repeatedly crashing into the cars in front and behind until she'd pushed them back far enough to fit in.

No-one batted an eyelid. I was livid. Just a different set of rules I guess.

Cretins.

I once had a Spanish girlfriend who used to park like that, she said 'that's what bumpers are for...', unfortunately at the time we were living in Yorkshire and the locals didn't appreciate such quaint Spanish practices.

[jith]

You ok lowdrag? No sore necks or backs?

J

[KateV8]

My sympathies to the OP. I sustained similar damage in our TVR back in June. I had to stop at a junction to give way to traffic approaching from the right and a few moments later felt a shunt, the young girl driver behind us had such sharp observational skills she hadn't noticed a stationery car right in front of her (clear sunny day,high sun, perfect visibility ). The whole saga and the resultant repair (£2800) was sorted within weeks and as far as I was concerned that was that. Yet two days ago whilst renewing my daily drive insurance (with a different company to the TVR) I found my policy had increased by £32 purely because of the accident. Quite how being hit by a blind motorist while stationary increases my risk is beyond me but there you go.

[lowdrag]

jith said:

You ok lowdrag? No sore necks or backs?

J

Well, if it had happened in the UK I'd naturally have immediately called Scumbag and Co,Solicitors, then the ambulance and then the police; in that order. But here in France sadly you have to pay a lawyer. No, I'm fine although the business of getting the car repaired is wearing. I mean, they are going to repaint the car to the doorshuts, but he pointed out that there was a slight scratch on one side (I'd been forced into a hedge on a country lane by white van man coming the other way) and he told me I would have to pay for 30 cms of the work. I explained to him the meaning of sex and travel, and if they persist the car will be trailered back to the UK and CKL will deal with it and I'll involve my insurers who will then send the bill to her insurers, and it'll be a lot dearer I can assure you. I was on the way back from the funeral of a dear friend, and we were numerous with our E-types to give her a good send-off. People came from the USA, Ireland, France and Switzerland.

[Perik Omo]

Geekman said:

Never ceases to amaze me how French people can love cars so much but be so incredibly ignorant and careless at the same time. I live in a French village and barely a day goes by without somebody complimenting me on my (vastly inferior to yours) Jaguar. People take pictures of it, want to sit in it, ask loads of questions about it and in general seem to appreciate it far more than English people.

And yet equally, barely a day goes by without somebody smacking their door into it hard enough to remove whole lines of paint and put massive gouges in the door protector strips, or driving into it whilst parking and scuffing the bumpers. When challenged, they couldn't care less, apart from one girl who annoyed me enough that I smacked my door straight back into her car: turned out she really didn't like a taste of her own medicine.

Makes no sense

Drives me nuts too. My XF has dents in both back wings and one front wing from parking in supermarkets and whilst washing it yesterday afternoon I noticed another small ding that must have happened at Carrefour in Boisseuil yesterday morning, grrrr. Oh, and you should see the Kangoo, the only straight panel on it now is the bonnet and one front wing the rest is covered in dents and dings from the local Intermarche.

[battered]

Like I said, the French don't care. I was once out with a French mate, he backed into another stationary car in the dark. Didn't even get out to look.

[CDP]

KateV8 said:

I found my policy had increased by £32 purely because of the accident. Quite how being hit by a blind motorist while stationary increases my risk is beyond me but there you go.

Pity you can't charge that £32 back to the other insurance company...