Total loss due to unavailability of parts?

[p4cks]

The rona is delaying even mundane parts... I've been waiting since November for a window regulator from Lotus so that I can lock my car without the bd alarm going off every two minutes - there's not even a suggestion that there's a delivery date on the horizon!

Currently the car is sitting on my drive unlocked

[anonymous-user]

A500leroy said:

Delays at factory making part and shipping due to covid is why this has happened.

This.. and keeping the car on site / in storage costs a fortune. The body shop will charge per day/week. It adds up when you factor that all in.

[stemll]

Super_G said:

A500leroy said:

Delays at factory making part and shipping due to covid is why this has happened.

This.. and keeping the car on site / in storage costs a fortune. The body shop will charge per day/week. It adds up when you factor that all in.

They have all the parts they have ordered, it was during assembly that it became apparent that there was more damage. At the moment, not waiting on any parts, waiting on a repair decision from Volvo/Insurer.

The bodyshop is part of the same group as the insurer so suspect storage isn't an issue.

[keo]

p4cks said:

The rona is delaying even mundane parts... I've been waiting since November for a window regulator from Lotus so that I can lock my car without the bd alarm going off every two minutes - there's not even a suggestion that there's a delivery date on the horizon!

Currently the car is sitting on my drive unlocked

It’s a few years ago now but I needed a central locking module for my Elise. I went to Lotus and they said they had ordered them from the factory something like 12 months ago (I may be wrong it was a while ago) they still hadn’t turned up. They had no idea when they would turn up.

This played a major part in me not getting a v6 exige. I worried about getting parts.

[bungz]

tbh if it needs a new strut tower I would be happy for a new car.

[Krikkit]

stemll said:

The bodyshop is part of the same group as the insurer so suspect storage isn't an issue.

Keeping it on site instead of something else will be costed though, and adding to the bill.

[Sheepshanks]

thiscocks said:

Pretty sure they won't be pissing about trying to straighten it, they will be ordering a new strut tower and welding it in as per Volvos repair procedure (Not just however bob in the body shop thinks it should be done!). Not particularly hard for a good oem recognised body shop.

Would it be welded? If so, it needs someone that either knows what they’re doing, or, more scarily, doesn’t know and doesn’t care!

[thiscocks]

stemll said:

thiscocks said:

Pretty sure they won't be pissing about trying to straighten it, they will be ordering a new strut tower and welding it in as per Volvos repair procedure (Not just however bob in the body shop thinks it should be done!). Not particularly hard for a good oem recognised body shop.

That was his point. There isn't a Volvo repair procedure for that tower on that car hence why it's back with Volvo. It's not like it's a brand new release either, this version of the V60 has been around since 2018 so if there isn't a repair procedure for that part yet.....

Oh right. A bit poor if thats the case! Not exactly an unusual part of the body to replace.

[donkmeister]

gazza285 said:

Things like this happening, and suddenly that Mk2 Escort looks like a sensible buy.

Unfortunately nothing is immune from obsolescence... The only car I've ever owned where long-term supply of parts hasn't been an issue (yet!) is a Mercedes. When they stop manufacturing those "MK2 escort but without a Ford badge" cars, it's basically inevitable that certain items will have a had a final production run and once that stock is gone owners clubs will have people trying to get limited run production of windscreens, rubber seals, trim clips and all manner of other boring things most of us give no consideration to when buying a keeper.
When MGR went under, a handful of MG specialists were buying entire stocks of these sorts of things to store in warehouses, and there's plenty of bits you can't buy new for late model MGs now.

[VonSenger]

A large proportion of vx220 were declared write offs due to the wait for a new clam. Apparently they weren't a shelf item due to size and fragility. This doesn't surprise me.

[p4cks]

I think it was more to do with the cost of them too. Think they were about £1500 before paint, and then you had to add £900 for each headlight which quickly put them in to write off territory

[VonSenger]

p4cks said:

I think it was more to do with the cost of them too. Think they were about £1500 before paint, and then you had to add £900 for each headlight which quickly put them in to write off territory

I'm sure that contributed but I've had 2 cat d track cars and both were purchased after being written off due to courtesy car costs as a clam order took months.

[Hol]

gazza285 said:

Things like this happening, and suddenly that Mk2 Escort looks like a sensible buy.

It’s an oddity, as it’s a car that is created from already available remanufactured parts, that restoration enthusiasts have been using to keep their 60/70 cars going.

[Lester H]

This is not uncommon with unusual cars. A local (good) independent used to have a few Hyundais category N - previously D. They appeared like new. Apparently, after a small bump there was a very long wait for spares and that with the cost of a courtesy car, especially ‘like for like’ resulted in a write off. Mind you, these need to be priced to sell, though they often aren’t.

[stemll]

thiscocks said:

stemll said:

thiscocks said:

Pretty sure they won't be pissing about trying to straighten it, they will be ordering a new strut tower and welding it in as per Volvos repair procedure (Not just however bob in the body shop thinks it should be done!). Not particularly hard for a good oem recognised body shop.

That was his point. There isn't a Volvo repair procedure for that tower on that car hence why it's back with Volvo. It's not like it's a brand new release either, this version of the V60 has been around since 2018 so if there isn't a repair procedure for that part yet.....

Oh right. A bit poor if thats the case! Not exactly an unusual part of the body to replace.

Update time. It can be repaired and it is being done now. Was shipped from the bodyshop in Aylesbury to one in Milton Keynes and when the tower is done it will be shipped back to Aylesbury to be painted and for everything else to be assembled and then shipped back to MK to me. Not exactly doing this the cheap way! Was already almost £5k before this extra work was found.

I don't see how they can remove the old suspension tower and weld in a new one with the engine in place as there is zero room so I assume this is engine-out now?

I have an offer from the dealer I bought it from to buy it back (they know it's being repaired and it is subject to them seeing it of course). It will more than settle the finance and provide most of a deposit for something else when I decide what and when so as soon as I get it back, it's going. Two months without it has kinda proved that we don't need two cars while we're both at home, that will change once everything is lifted and the kids get back to weekend tennis and cricket at the same time in opposite directions but, right now, it won't be being replaced unless I find something too good to pass up.

[Psycho Warren]

ford racing pumas are easily written off with a minor bump as any model specific parts are simply not available.

same with my jap import pajero. any body damage and thats written off too.

[IntriguedUser]

Apparently Vauxhall Corsa E VXR front bumpers are very difficult to get aswell

[stemll]

Just to close this off, it took them just over 12 weeks to repair and return it after missing about 3 return dates. They then had to come out and clean up a spill of bright green fluid which was under the aircon filling point (it had had the engine out so everything emptied and refiled) and the contradicted themselves several times whether it was spilled oil/dye from the aircon or spilled brake fluid. It was nowhere near the brake reservoir but was the same colour as what was in there. The carpet in the driver's footwell was also not installed correctly, no idea why that would have been out.

The amount of repair has meant that Volvo dealers will touch it. I had three explicit declines "due to the repairs carried out" and two more who simply didn't respond. That included the dealer that I said above had made an offer, that offer was withdrawn once the buyer I was speaking to discussed the detail of the repairs with his manager. One of those who declined to buy it would reluctantly take it as a trade but would devalue it "significantly" as they would not be able to sell it under Volvo's Selekt scheme.

In the end, I had it for exactly a week before trading it to an Audi dealer (with full disclosure on it being repaired) and they did not devalue it. They aren't interested in retailing it so it was valued for auction regardless.

[Limpet]

Eyersey1234 said:

IIRC at one time weren't Saabs being written off due to problems getting parts? This was after Saab went bust. I've a feeling the same applied to some Rovers.

I remember my friend being unable to buy a new radiator for his ZS180 back in 2011 after a piece of debris went through it on the M1. He ending up having to get the existing one reconditioned and repaired, and it was touch and go whether it could be as it was quite badly damaged. New ones were unobtanium even back then.

[Sheepshanks]

stemll said:

The amount of repair has meant that Volvo dealers will touch it. I had three explicit declines "due to the repairs carried out" and two more who simply didn't respond. That included the dealer that I said above had made an offer, that offer was withdrawn once the buyer I was speaking to discussed the detail of the repairs with his manager. One of those who declined to buy it would reluctantly take it as a trade but would devalue it "significantly" as they would not be able to sell it under Volvo's Selekt scheme.

In the end, I had it for exactly a week before trading it to an Audi dealer (with full disclosure on it being repaired) and they did not devalue it. They aren't interested in retailing it so it was valued for auction regardless.

It's a moot point now, but you could have claimed diminution of value against the 3rd party.