Insurance write-offs with minimal damage
Discussion
Yesterday I went to have a look at an S160 at a salvage yard.
I couldn't see any chassis damage, only the front clam and undertray (which was mashed and bent back).
Seemed to be very little damage to have written something off.
Are the insurance cos really this averse to Elise repairs, or am I likely to ave missed something?
Only other worry was that the coolant tank was empty - and I couldn't see radiator damage.
Seriously tempted to start bidding...
I couldn't see any chassis damage, only the front clam and undertray (which was mashed and bent back).
Seemed to be very little damage to have written something off.
Are the insurance cos really this averse to Elise repairs, or am I likely to ave missed something?
Only other worry was that the coolant tank was empty - and I couldn't see radiator damage.
Seriously tempted to start bidding...
My insurance life has been ruined (from 17 years without a single claim) by Lotus' propensity for 'chassis damage' to result in a write-off. If the suspension pick-up points from the front wishbones to the aluminium chassis are slightly bent / damaged, then the insurance assessors tend to immediately write the car off.
Hence a £26k claim against my name and now insurance costs me £1800 for my car and £800 for a bike worth £1000. The only damage to the car was the front passenger wheel, which caught a tree stump in the verge - the rest of the car (including panels and paint) was fine…
Presumably she's been bolted back together and being used on track so is continuing a happy life… but isn't allowed on road without a chassis change. One BIG problem with the Elise / Exige design, IMO - and the reason why they're expensive to insure. Accidents tend to either involve no payout, or multi-tens-of-thousands…
Perhaps someone in the retail car insurance industry could shed more light on this?
Hence a £26k claim against my name and now insurance costs me £1800 for my car and £800 for a bike worth £1000. The only damage to the car was the front passenger wheel, which caught a tree stump in the verge - the rest of the car (including panels and paint) was fine…
Presumably she's been bolted back together and being used on track so is continuing a happy life… but isn't allowed on road without a chassis change. One BIG problem with the Elise / Exige design, IMO - and the reason why they're expensive to insure. Accidents tend to either involve no payout, or multi-tens-of-thousands…
Perhaps someone in the retail car insurance industry could shed more light on this?
In the end I bottled it and didn't bid - but I wish I had.
I checked all the suspension mounts as best I could and they all looked sound to me. There looked like one bit end of section (next to the front ARB mount) which looked like it had been dinged by something, but that's all.
Last time I looked the highest bid was about £5300 - so someone will have bought a S160 for less than 6k, with less 1.5k cost to fix. Bargain.
Next time I'll grow a pair and bid - assuming I get enough free time again to go and look...
I checked all the suspension mounts as best I could and they all looked sound to me. There looked like one bit end of section (next to the front ARB mount) which looked like it had been dinged by something, but that's all.
Last time I looked the highest bid was about £5300 - so someone will have bought a S160 for less than 6k, with less 1.5k cost to fix. Bargain.
Next time I'll grow a pair and bid - assuming I get enough free time again to go and look...
cyberface said:
If the suspension pick-up points from the front wishbones to the aluminium chassis are slightly bent / damaged, then the insurance assessors tend to immediately write the car off.
Accepted wisdom seems to be that these can't be repaired - but that feels like nonsense. If they're slightly bent I don't see why they can't be bent back- so long as there's no damage to bonded areas.kambites said:
A new clam and floor pan would cost the insurance company a good five grand or something to get repaired. Small bits (such as lights) added to that can push the price up to more than the car is worth quite quickly.
Thing is the threshold is only actually 70% rather than even the whole value. Even on a non fault claim. New rear clam, repaired front clam, new rad, new exhaust, new driving lights came to £7k on my s160 after it was sandwiched between two cars. That was pretty much the limit of 'economical to repair' I believe.
the problem is many in teh motor repair trade have no idea how to hande composites and composite bonding - so they 'write them off'
the aluminium chassis can be repaired - IF you know what you are doing with aluminium/composite bonding. if you don't know - don't do it.
My background is high end composites in boats - and belive me the Exige/lotus is not high end composite - the body work is a simple spray chop layup, the chassis staright forwrad ally bonding. Easy to repair - if you know how.
my own exige was a 'write off' - i did get it on a alser jig before i bought it to check chassis alignment IMHO essencial when buying. every bit of the bodywork was cracked/broken/ damaged and i only bought one panel (the door hing cover). the rest was repaired. and i bet you can't tell
Ross
the aluminium chassis can be repaired - IF you know what you are doing with aluminium/composite bonding. if you don't know - don't do it.
My background is high end composites in boats - and belive me the Exige/lotus is not high end composite - the body work is a simple spray chop layup, the chassis staright forwrad ally bonding. Easy to repair - if you know how.
my own exige was a 'write off' - i did get it on a alser jig before i bought it to check chassis alignment IMHO essencial when buying. every bit of the bodywork was cracked/broken/ damaged and i only bought one panel (the door hing cover). the rest was repaired. and i bet you can't tell
Ross
I think you will find that it is the insurance company that writes the car off not the garage.
IMO most bodyshops that are willing to do major crash work on Lotus and other alloy and composite motor actually do know what they are doing.
It's the customer and the Ins Co that are afraid of repairs.
I blame Anne Robinson
IMO most bodyshops that are willing to do major crash work on Lotus and other alloy and composite motor actually do know what they are doing.
It's the customer and the Ins Co that are afraid of repairs.
I blame Anne Robinson
Ross14 said:
the chassis staright forwrad ally bonding. Easy to repair - if you know how.
Really ?OK the panels & the crash structure are bonded to the chassis in an easy way and can be removed / refitted as you say, if you know what you are doing. But the Chassis is not straight forward ally bonding, hence the quickness of insurance companies to write a car off if it's got chassis damage.
If the chassis bonding is compromised, then so is the strength of the chassis in that area and I doubt anyone has the correct ovens & bonding glue to even attempt a repair.
Forget chassis damage - bash a couple of clams and you could be in trouble. Easy enough as a cheap-ish diy fix and getting the parts off eBay etc but the insurance assessor is basing the claim on all new parts - clams, professional strip, paint, rebuild. And then there's always the little bits and bobs that need replacing.
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