PH advice requested - is this likely to be a write off?

[Dids444]

Hi All,

I was a bit unlucky to be caught up in an accident yesterday on my way to work, which involved a chap pulling out of a side road junction and clipping a car which then spun and crashed into me (hope that makes sense!). Luckily no one seriously hurt which is the main thing.

My Mondeo looks a right mess now and has been towed off to the insurer’s garage and I'm waiting for them to come back to on the next step.

What I wanted to see if people’s opinions are if this is likely to be written off please? The car is a 53 plate Mondeo estate, 2.0 diesel 130bhp with approx 120k on clock. She is an LS but does have Cruise, alloys, Sony 6cd, climate (if any of that makes a difference) and was in very good condition prior to the accident

Damage is all front end, although it did still start, and the front passenger door which wouldn't open. I'm guessing the big problem will be that that both front airbags deployed and the windscreen is cracked too.

Feeling a bit sorry for myself as it was a bloody good car and after a quick look on eBay, auto trader last night I think I'll need about 2.5 - 3k to get something similar... I can’t see them offering me anything like that

Thanks
Paul

[RZ1]

Looks like it will be written off, the pillar looks to have a crease in it too

[DannyVTS]

As a rule of thumb, if the airbags have gone off along with the other damage it will be written off.

[Adam_W]

The door being jammed shut is pretty telling to id say

[Muzzer]

That's worth, what, £1500 pre-accident?

So yes, that's a write off.

[john_p]

bad luck

grill, bumper, headlight, bonnet, windscreen, dashboard, airbags x2, front panel, probably inner wing

Also that wheel doesn't look like it's properly centred in the arch so something has moved quite significantly, chassis leg?

New car time mate, sorry.

[fatboy b]

john_p said:

Also that wheel doesn't look like it's properly centred in the arch so something has moved quite significantly, chassis leg?

The bloody wing is bent to buggery. How can you say the wheel doesn't look centred?

[Petrolhead_Rich]

The good news is with the cash you will get from airbags in your face and whiplash (although to be fair you will probably have a stiff neck later) you will have easily 3k to spend:

£1500 car
£1800+ Whipcash

I'm assuming car spinning off into you won't go down as being your fault?!

[garrykiller]

Passenger and drivers air bags ur looking at up to £3000 on it's own without the damage of the car.

[Carfiend]

It's dead Jim.

[McSam]

Sorry to hear about that, hope you're okay and not too shaken up by it!

But to the car, sadly.. Write-off without a doubt, that's the sort of thing where you could get all the new panels etc. for it and then find they don't fit together properly because the subframe's knackered. Throw in the airbags and I don't see any hope for it at all, unfortunately.

Accept no offer from the insurers that you're not happy with, though! Get adverts from lots of places for similar cars and look at their prices, this does qualify as proof of the value of your car - basically, if you can't replace the car for the money they're offering, prove that to them and you should get more from them.

[Big_Dog]

If you arm yourself with some ads for similar cars when dealing with the insurance company you should finish up with enough to buy a similar car. Really would not expect you to be losing, despite the recent opinions of insurance companies.
I wish you luck with it.
I dont think looking at that A post you will be getting it back mended.

[antspants]

Dids444 said:

Feeling a bit sorry for myself as it was a bloody good car and after a quick look on eBay, auto trader last night I think I'll need about 2.5 - 3k to get something similar... I can’t see them offering me anything like that

Both my wife and a mate have had cars written off recently, and in both cases the first offer from their insurance company's were very reasonable and in line with the cost to replace, so don't despair
Good luck!

[Dids444]

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

Its confirmed what I thought, especially with regards to the airbags going off - thats a new dash to be installed which would be pretty labour intensive I'd guess, plus the new units.

I'm going to prepare myself with some example adverts as recommended but I'm hoping i've not got to fight too hard to get a fair price to let me buy an equivalent car. Has anyone got any idea of what a book price is likely to be?

I've had a call from the insurance company of the chap that caused the accident and they've admitted full liability so thats one less thing to worry about.

Got spot with the Puma . That is definitely dead too as it had a knock on the rear drivers quater which caused her to spin and then me hitting the front passenger side of the car too. She was very unlucky in all this.

[Rabbo]

Be prepared for your insurance premium to go up too, so take that into account if you go down the route of pursuing uninsured losses.

[morrellski]

Sorry to say it but I'd say definite write off!

[Carrot]

I would say write off, my mondeo (almost same spec by the look of it) had a really gentle knock into the back of another car while my girlfriend was driving ()

You could hardly see the damage unlike yours, and the repairs came to £2000 for mine.

[SteveS Cup]

I'd sat write off. I had a similar accident with similar damage just over a year ago in a £4000 car.

[Dids444]

Hi All,

I thought I would put a last update on this thread as I always like it when people come back to tell us what happened or what they did after asking advice.

First off I've got to say that my insurance company Aviva were fantastic and got the car to thier garage the next day and sorted me out with a brand new Insignia to run about in too. The third party insurance company admitted full liability on the day of the accident too.

The garage doing the assessment had a look and eventually reported a figure of £7400 to get her fixed up - apparently they budget 2k just to get the dash and airbags sorted, which wasn't a good start, but it also had bent the subframe on the front corner.. add in all the panel damage, windscreen etc and unsuprisingly she was written off.

I was offered £2700 from the insurance company initially, which I was quite pleased with as a starting point. Eventually we settled on £3200 which will be able to buy me a car of the same quality which is important.

The search begins this weekend so I might start a What Car thread this afternoon to annoy you all lol

Cheers
Paul

[Carrot]

Dids444 said:

Hi All,

I thought I would put a last update on this thread as I always like it when people come back to tell us what happened or what they did after asking advice.

First off I've got to say that my insurance company Aviva were fantastic and got the car to thier garage the next day and sorted me out with a brand new Insignia to run about in too. The third party insurance company admitted full liability on the day of the accident too.

The garage doing the assessment had a look and eventually reported a figure of £7400 to get her fixed up - apparently they budget 2k just to get the dash and airbags sorted, which wasn't a good start, but it also had bent the subframe on the front corner.. add in all the panel damage, windscreen etc and unsuprisingly she was written off.

I was offered £2700 from the insurance company initially, which I was quite pleased with as a starting point. Eventually we settled on £3200 which will be able to buy me a car of the same quality which is important.

The search begins this weekend so I might start a What Car thread this afternoon to annoy you all lol

Cheers
Paul

Result!