Advise - scratched another car
Discussion
My wife (honestly) scratched a parked car (S reg Honda Accord) the other day. Slight damage to the wheel arch and plastic bumper of the parked car whilst a bit of Zymol sorted out her car. Left a message to the owner to call. The owners, a retired couple, called and we asked them to have an estimate done of the limited damage (the Honda was old and pretty worn out with numerous dents). They took it to Honda and Honda wrote them an estimate of 1300 pounds to repair the car. I really think that Honda is taking everyone for a ride. I had a new bumper sprayed and fitted on my 996 and that cost me 500 pounds at Solus. How can Honda charge that kind of money on such an old car and what can we do to contest this. Any advice. I have deliberately not taken it to the insurance as my wife has a 10 year no claims bonus and we drive pretty expensive cars.
This is why people don't leave a note these days. Because they know they'll get screwed. My girlfriend did something similar. The other driver needed a 4 wheel alignment check for a slight ding in the rear quarter panel (which mostly polished out of out TT).
I suggest telling them you want a second quote.
I suggest telling them you want a second quote.
They're trying it on. You have done the decent thing and they are trying to leverage it.
So suggest to them that you re more than happy to arrange a repair - then you can get it done for a reasonable price bearing mond the car is not pristine and therefore doesn't require going in for a full Honda respray!!!!!
If they then decide to have a go through the courts then you simply show the letter you sent them to the court and they will get laughed at.
They have a duty under law to "mitigate their loss" - that is to say that if they have a tiny dent then they can't then claim a huge amount of cash becuase they go to the most expensive bodyshop when their car is a shed.
Another example might be if you were a plumber and you left a tap on in someone's house, just a dribble, which would in the normal course of events have damaged a small area of carpet. If the householder finds the tap and just leaves it so it floods the whole house, they have not mitigated their loss and so they can only get back from you the amount they would have got if they had acted reasonably and turned the tap off when they found it.
Anyway, write saying that you are prepared to effect a proper repair or reimbuse them what a reasonable cost of a proper repair is......
Four hundred quid please
>> Edited by Vesuvius996 on Tuesday 22 November 19:21
So suggest to them that you re more than happy to arrange a repair - then you can get it done for a reasonable price bearing mond the car is not pristine and therefore doesn't require going in for a full Honda respray!!!!!
If they then decide to have a go through the courts then you simply show the letter you sent them to the court and they will get laughed at.
They have a duty under law to "mitigate their loss" - that is to say that if they have a tiny dent then they can't then claim a huge amount of cash becuase they go to the most expensive bodyshop when their car is a shed.
Another example might be if you were a plumber and you left a tap on in someone's house, just a dribble, which would in the normal course of events have damaged a small area of carpet. If the householder finds the tap and just leaves it so it floods the whole house, they have not mitigated their loss and so they can only get back from you the amount they would have got if they had acted reasonably and turned the tap off when they found it.
Anyway, write saying that you are prepared to effect a proper repair or reimbuse them what a reasonable cost of a proper repair is......
Four hundred quid please
>> Edited by Vesuvius996 on Tuesday 22 November 19:21
Same thing happened to me, i kindly asked the driver to go to a reputable specialist body repairer that i have used before and the repair came down from £590 main dealer to £440 specialist... I gave her a cheque and have heard no more. No insurance to deal with , no sweat and one happy sole who was unfortunate enough to have by bumper stuck up their back end.
Vesuvius996 said:
They're trying it on. You have done the decent thing and they are trying to leverage it.
So suggest to them that you re more than happy to arrange a repair - then you can get it done for a reasonable price bearing mond the car is not pristine and therefore doesn't require going in for a full Honda respray!!!!!
If they then decide to have a go through the courts then you simply show the letter you sent them to the court and they will get laughed at.
They have a duty under law to "mitigate their loss" - that is to say that if they have a tiny dent then they can't then claim a huge amount of cash becuase they go to the most expensive bodyshop when their car is a shed.
Another example might be if you were a plumber and you left a tap on in someone's house, just a dribble, which would in the normal course of events have damaged a small area of carpet. If the householder finds the tap and just leaves it so it floods the whole house, they have not mitigated their loss and so they can only get back from you the amount they would have got if they had acted reasonably and turned the tap off when they found it.
Anyway, write saying that you are prepared to effect a proper repair or reimbuse them what a reasonable cost of a proper repair is......
Four hundred quid please
What a load of tosh. they are entitled to ask your insurance details and you are legally obliged to provide them. Whats all the rubbish about courts?
If you dont want a claim to be made for the damage (your partner caused) its worth being polite and suggesting that it would be in your joint best interests (as premiums go up even for a non fault claim) for you to cover the damage personally, subject to a second more affordable quotation being sought. Perhaps suggest that if the quotation comes out to sub £500 that you would just pay them the cash and they could do it at a convenient time.
bennno
To be honest they are prety much entitled to take the car where they want - if its a Honda dealer than so be it. You do however want to ask to see a breakdown of the quote to see how this is made up, and perhaps speak to the Honda garage if you do not agree with it.
I would also inform your insurers 'For Information Purposes Only' as really under the terms of your policy you should notify them, even if you do not intend to claim. If this is still ongoing a couple of months down the road, your insurers will probably not honour any claim if you do not disclose the incident in a timely fashion.
As for 'Such an old car' on a S reg.... well my poor old 993 Turbo must be well and truly ready for the scrap yard being on a R reg
. I would like to think that I could go to a Porsche centre for a quote on paintwork if someone were to scratch the paint on my car, and I wouldn't be restricted to an 'under the arches' paint shop soley because I drive such an ancient jallopy!
>> Edited by ek993 on Tuesday 22 November 20:09
I would also inform your insurers 'For Information Purposes Only' as really under the terms of your policy you should notify them, even if you do not intend to claim. If this is still ongoing a couple of months down the road, your insurers will probably not honour any claim if you do not disclose the incident in a timely fashion.
As for 'Such an old car' on a S reg.... well my poor old 993 Turbo must be well and truly ready for the scrap yard being on a R reg
. I would like to think that I could go to a Porsche centre for a quote on paintwork if someone were to scratch the paint on my car, and I wouldn't be restricted to an 'under the arches' paint shop soley because I drive such an ancient jallopy! >> Edited by ek993 on Tuesday 22 November 20:09
My opinion is pay the £1300 or accept that you just go thru' the insurance and pay a whole lot more for the next X years when you have to answer in the affirmative to "any claims, accidents or convictions"...Expensive but rock the boat too much and you may just find they get on the 'phone to their insurers anyway and then you won't have any choice unless you come out favourably in a no doubt subsequently messy argument.
If someone had driven into your motor, you'd likely want it fixed how you wanted, where you wanted and you must understand the old folks not understaning the subtleties of bodyshop differences in pricings and markups. Likewise their little beatup Honda might be rather more worthy to them. "We've got a Honda, so we take it Honda - that's the way it goes, why should we have to take it somewhere else because the folks who drove into our car say so?". There has to be responsibility.
A Devil's advocate stance; I certainly understand *your* frustration - but there you go...
If someone had driven into your motor, you'd likely want it fixed how you wanted, where you wanted and you must understand the old folks not understaning the subtleties of bodyshop differences in pricings and markups. Likewise their little beatup Honda might be rather more worthy to them. "We've got a Honda, so we take it Honda - that's the way it goes, why should we have to take it somewhere else because the folks who drove into our car say so?". There has to be responsibility.
A Devil's advocate stance; I certainly understand *your* frustration - but there you go...
Thanks Guys for your honest comments. We did receive a detailed quote from a Honda OPC so we followed your advice: i.e. took out the checkbook wrote the amount and sent it off. I just makes me mad that not the owner of the car (an elderly couple) but the Honda garage did not see how unreasonable it was to spend that kind of money on an old banger. But i got it out of my system now so thanks again....
Christian
Christian
clorenzen said:
Thanks Guys for your honest comments. We did receive a detailed quote from a Honda OPC so we followed your advice: i.e. took out the checkbook wrote the amount and sent it off. I just makes me mad that not the owner of the car (an elderly couple) but the Honda garage did not see how unreasonable it was to spend that kind of money on an old banger. But i got it out of my system now so thanks again....
Christian
probably out there now booking a unexpected winter holiday to somewhere sunny.
bennno
Well it's all a bit academic now as the matter has been resolved. But, I had a similar incident a while back with some crummy old Metro. I asked the owner, who was a neighbour of mine, to get a quote and it came back about £1500. I ended up buying the car for about £400 (about £150 above book). I ended up using the car as a run about until the MOT ran out. Everyone was happy apart from the dealer.
Steve, 996TT
Steve, 996TT
You did the right thing. It doesn't always hurt your pocket though. I had a similar experience a few years ago. I reversed into a parked car (incidentally also a Honda) I put a sizeable dent in the rear door of the Honda and a small scratch on the bumper of my Beemer. I could have driven of but decided to leave a note with my number. I received a call the next day from a greatful youngster who thanked me profusely for leaving my details. I gave him my insurance details and he let me know that he would pass them to his Dad (owner of the car). Several weeks passed and I didn't hear anything, I phoned my insurance company they had not heard anything either. I phoned the Honda owner again, spoke to an affable old man who recounted the story of how his car had been damaged once before and the offender had disappeared without trace. I talked him through the insurance details again and he said he'd get it sorted. Several years have passed and I have never heard a thing. Maybe he couldn't be bothered with the hassle. Perhaps he popped his clogs? Who knows?
Not sure what the moral of this story is- check for parked Hondas perhaps?
pp
Not sure what the moral of this story is- check for parked Hondas perhaps?
pp
GF drove her mates MK2 escort into the back of a really old battered pick up.
She was insured 3rd party but did not want to claim on her insureance.
I bought the escort of her mate £250 and went to have a chat with the bloke who wanted £500 quid for the most minor of dents in an already battered large bumper.
I payed up. £750 down the drain I was earning about £100 a week
lots of 7 day weeks 12 hour shifts on saturday and sunday
that pick up stayed like that for years the Twat never got it repaired
>> Edited by pesty on Thursday 24th November 02:30
She was insured 3rd party but did not want to claim on her insureance.
I bought the escort of her mate £250 and went to have a chat with the bloke who wanted £500 quid for the most minor of dents in an already battered large bumper.
I payed up. £750 down the drain I was earning about £100 a week
lots of 7 day weeks 12 hour shifts on saturday and sunday that pick up stayed like that for years the Twat never got it repaired
>> Edited by pesty on Thursday 24th November 02:30
My GF hit a parked car and did a lot of damage with my motorbike earlier this year. Again, didn't want an insurance claim, so we got the couple to take the car to the local Toyota garage and get a quote. We paid the gardage directly with credit card, so it was definitely the true cost of the repair (£1800).
This car was a 53 reg, so maybe with an S-reg there is a case for going to another body shop that isn't a main dealer, but you'll need to agree that with the owners as essentially it's up to them...
This car was a 53 reg, so maybe with an S-reg there is a case for going to another body shop that isn't a main dealer, but you'll need to agree that with the owners as essentially it's up to them...
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