1 day old used car, bonnet flipped up on motorway!
Discussion
Hi All,
Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
Easternlight said:
Why didn't the safety latch work?
I don't think they are strong enough to hold at motorway speeds. I had something similar happen years ago and the bonnet flipped up and, fortunately, hit the guttering above the windscreen rather than the screen itself. Had to find the hard shoulder by guesswork.Easternlight said:
Why didn't the safety latch work?
how does this work, she was sure she dropped the bonnet and it was down, but with it being so cold, i wonder if the mechanism was frozen or stiffwhen i got to the car on the motorway i had to really smash the bonnet down (as it was damaged) and finally it clicked and i yanked at it a few times to ensure it wasnt coming up again -
i would have though the bonnet unlatched would have come up before hitting 70?
OP, what car is it, this might help with responses.
Do you have anyone local who you trust who can take a look at the damage and maybe give you an idea on how much it might cost to fix.
If you do go through insurance, you should also have the option to take a reduced amount and keep the car, if you can get it fixed for a reasonable price, this sometimes works out a good option.
Do you have anyone local who you trust who can take a look at the damage and maybe give you an idea on how much it might cost to fix.
If you do go through insurance, you should also have the option to take a reduced amount and keep the car, if you can get it fixed for a reasonable price, this sometimes works out a good option.
Weather might be a factor. I cleared the snow off one of my cars yesterday then opened a rear door to put something on the back seat. Door then seemed to be closed normally. About five miles into my journey the dash binged telling me that door was ajar and suddenly I could hear road noise from that direction! I had to stop and close it again. I guess there was some snow in the mechanism when I closed the door that then melted as the cabin warmed up and somehow released the door. Never had this happen before, but I guess the same could apply to a bonnet?
Sadly a £5k car with that level of damage is quite likely a write off. Could be worth buying back and repairing with used parts though?
Sadly a £5k car with that level of damage is quite likely a write off. Could be worth buying back and repairing with used parts though?
boyse7en said:
I don't think they are strong enough to hold at motorway speeds
I doubt that's true. How many cars go up and down the motorways at speed, and how often do bonnets flip open?I'm pretty sure the manufacturers build and test them to stay closed. On the rare occasions they do open, there's a fault of some kind. I have had a bonnet open at speed, and I have had a car where the bonnet wouldn't shut properly.
many thanks for all the replies - its sinking in now that, given how it happened, we are very fortunate no one was harmed or worse.
we have put through a claim via online form, and they came back with being contacted by a specialist "not worth repair" team to handle the claim....
all we can do is take it from there ...
our saved search for the car on AT showed we did get it at a lower price, as most or around 6K, so hope that could work in out favour !
littleredrooster said:
Not that it helps the OP, but IIRC there was a recall notice some years back for the Renault Clio which had exactly this problem. The secondary (safety) latch would rust, seize and fail to operate and the bonnet was prone to fly skywards on the motorway.
I’ve heard similar with Alfa 156s. A work colleague once told me of it happening on a motorway, and thinking quickly realised there is a gap low down near the base of the windscreen where you can still see ahead, so managed to bring the car safely to a halt on the hard shoulderMore worryingly, he said this resulted in him not panicking as much when it happened again several days later, but scared the bejesus out of his passengar!
so - just going through it again, when she got out the de-icer from the boot - it wouldnt shur properly because it was stuck, open (it was -8 overnight) i suspect even more now that the bonnet has done the same, and its either slightly caught just enough to keep it down (the route the motorway is very bumpy over train tracks and A roads up to 60mph) and then released at 70mph or un-seized as the engine has heated up and freed it a little so it moved.
wanderingMan said:
Hi All,
Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
Wait and see what the insurance company offer.Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
What makes you think they will offer you £2000-£3000 for a car you paid £5000 for 48 hours earlier?
What is the car and was it bought privately or from a dealer?
Edited by Unreal on Monday 5th January 15:01
This is just one of those highly unfortunate incidents which can happen anyone, I'm sure we don't all check our bonnet latches every time we get in a car. My father had exactly the same happen a few years ago, took the car out on an icy January week and he was 100% sure he had closed the bonnet tightly a few days prior when adding window washer, but it flew up at speed and damaged the A-pillars, roof, window and few other bits. The cold had likely affected the mechanism somehow so it hadn't fully secured the latch when he closed it even though it felt that way to him.
Unreal said:
wanderingMan said:
Hi All,
Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
Wait and see what the insurance company offer.Not sure what to do here - or what advice can be offered - but its just so annoying and upsetting.
i bought a used car for my wife that she really really liked and waited to find locally, she was so excited to find it and use it - the car is (was!) utterly immaculate at 10 years old with a high spec and only 40,000 miles, paid £5000 for it
we test drove it around A roads at 50, then she went and drove it today on the motorway and bonnet flipped up , twisted it , its mountings and then creased each wing where the mounts are - i managed to shut the bonnet and get home slowly.
we are not sure if there was a defect on the catch, or it wasnt closed properly , not sure we can tell either way - and being used, we are not going to try and blame it on the person we got it from, as i dont think we can fairly do that.- iit was our responsibility to ensure it was closed but when we looked at it, it certainly looked closed to us as we inspected it all around, and then bought and drove it straight away
- it was also all up to date service and just had 12 months mot.
i am insured,- but we think the insurance (tesco) are just going to write it off
are we looking at making a big loss on this now?
we went through the insurance to begin a claim, but we might think about getting it repaired ourselves if they want to write it off , with what i assume to be a low offer - but given the damage i cant imagine it being anything under a few grand
sorry we know nothing about cars really!
What makes you think they will offer you £2000-£3000 for a car you paid £5000 for 48 hours earlier?
What is the car and was it bought privately or from a dealer?
Edited by Unreal on Monday 5th January 15:01
I had a Mercedes I bought for 3.5k for a long commute (120 mile round trip). It got written off about 3 months later by a truck crossing into my lane.
Even after the excess they offered pretty close to what I paid. Then about a year later they wrote to me saying they underestimated the value and sent me some an additional cheque (a few hundred).
carguy45 said:
This is just one of those highly unfortunate incidents which can happen anyone, I'm sure we don't all check our bonnet latches every time we get in a car. My father had exactly the same happen a few years ago, took the car out on an icy January week and he was 100% sure he had closed the bonnet tightly a few days prior when adding window washer, but it flew up at speed and damaged the A-pillars, roof, window and few other bits. The cold had likely affected the mechanism somehow so it hadn't fully secured the latch when he closed it even though it felt that way to him.
The latches can get a bit 'sticky' particularly in cold weather.Our X5 had a bonnet that was hard to close properly... it seemed like it was closed if you pulled up on it, but then it would ping up on the move. Added to which, the safety latch would not necessarily return to position. Fortunately no severe problems like the OP.
A good squirt of the latching points and catches with WD40 or GT85 sorted it.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff