Car's a total loss but want the wheels - advice please!

Car's a total loss but want the wheels - advice please!

Author
Discussion

VWGolfGuy

Original Poster:

4 posts

48 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Hey all,

Absolutely gutted to say I got in an accident and my poor Golf is being written off by the insurers due the damage(Around £1k's worth) and age/mileage of the car

They've offered me payout and have also asked if I'd like to buy the car back, but as I'm looking for a new Golf so don't really want to play the game of buying the salvage and either reselling as-is, or getting repaired and selling privately.

Ideally I want to retain the wheels, as spent a fair amount on them... but with avoiding buying the salvage; do I A) Come clean with the insurers, tell them I want the wheels that are on the vehicle and replace them with standard 5 studs, or B) replace the wheels anyway, arrange for the salvage company and see if they spot the wheels have been changed?

Any help appreciated!

Cheers

Maldini35

2,913 posts

187 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Obviously option B.
Nobody will notice the wheels.

threespires

4,289 posts

210 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Did you declare the modification to the insurance company?

dibblecorse

6,869 posts

191 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
What wheels does the insurer think are on there ?

MK5GolfGuy

Original Poster:

4 posts

48 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Wasn't declared as I didn't think it mattered being wheels! But now fully aware if it's not OEM it's a mod. I think if anything I'd just say it's how I bought the car from the dealer and thought these were what came with the car, not a mod

No idea what they think on paper are on there, stock I guess. Only downside is they have images of the wheels from when they did the 'virtual' inspection..

Edited by MK5GolfGuy on Thursday 26th March 14:05

thecremeegg

1,948 posts

202 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Just swap the wheels, unless someone's been out to inspect which I doubt given the value.

redandwhite

473 posts

128 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
MK5GolfGuy said:
Wasn't declared as I didn't think it mattered being wheels! But now fully aware if it's not OEM it's a mod. I think if anything I'd just say it's how I bought the car from the dealer and thought these were what came with the car, not a mod

No idea what they think on paper are on there, stock I guess. Only downside is they have images of the wheels from when they did the 'virtual' inspection..

Edited by MK5GolfGuy on Thursday 26th March 14:05
that excuse wont wash with the insurers im afraid. Only option is to buy the car back as is to avoid any issue.

Option A & B could potentially leave you in a sticky situation, your risk

Stinkfist

37 posts

182 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Insurance companies dont miss a trick

Its really not a massive problem for them if you neglect to mention anything whilst applying for insurance. On a claim they simply request you send them your unique driving licence No so they can check the database and if you omited to disclose vital info or didnt notify them of a conviction etc etc they can either invalidate your insurance or charge you a whopping admin fee along with additional costs to cover what you should have declared

As for your wheels unless it was towed away at the site of the accident surely it would have been prudent of you to remove the none disclosed wheels BEFORE the inspection. Very much doubt you could replace them now without an issue

robbieduncan

1,978 posts

235 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
When I crashed my Elise I had it taken to a friendly garage. Before the insurance company collected it I was able to sell the rather nice seats I'd put in it to a forum member on SELOC on the condition they went to the garage and swapped in their standard seats. Modifications including the seats were all declared to the insurance company but as it was not agreed value they were paying out on a standard car. Nothing was ever said about it afterwards

SouthHamsGaz

614 posts

122 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Just swap the wheels, the salvage company will be completely separate to the insurance company and as far as they are concerned are just collecting a written off Golf.
When my old mk1 Golf gti was written off by fire damage I swapped the BBS alloys for steels, had someone take the TSR Donnington engine and replace it with a standard lump and removed the seats. Nothing was said.

This relies on you having the car on your drive and not at some breakers yard though.

Edited by SouthHamsGaz on Thursday 26th March 14:36

RUSSELLM

6,000 posts

246 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
I’d say you’ve had a decent result getting the payout, without them moaning about the upgraded wheels smile

So now it’s just a case of deciding if those current wheels are worth the asking price they’ve put to you.

Personally, I wouldn’t push for a ‘double’, by switching them smile

Krikkit

26,494 posts

180 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
SouthHamsGaz said:
Just swap the wheels, the salvage company will be completely separate to the insurance company and as far as they are concerned are just collecting a written off Golf.
When my old mk1 Golf gti was written off by fire damage I swapped the BBS alloys for steels, had someone take the TSR Donnington engine and replace it with a standard lump and removed the seats. Nothing was said.

This relies on you having the car on your drive and not at some breakers yard though.
This all the way - if it's on your drive then strip all the good bits out.

Replace the wheels, take any rare trim bits off it, take the stereo out. As long as it vaguely looks right the salvage guy won't give a fudge, he's being paid to dispose of it anyway.

MK5GolfGuy

Original Poster:

4 posts

48 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Stinkfist said:
Insurance companies dont miss a trick

Its really not a massive problem for them if you neglect to mention anything whilst applying for insurance. On a claim they simply request you send them your unique driving licence No so they can check the database and if you omited to disclose vital info or didnt notify them of a conviction etc etc they can either invalidate your insurance or charge you a whopping admin fee along with additional costs to cover what you should have declared

As for your wheels unless it was towed away at the site of the accident surely it would have been prudent of you to remove the none disclosed wheels BEFORE the inspection. Very much doubt you could replace them now without an issue
All hindsight for me unfortunately... was too preoccupied with finding out if the cars value and the salvage, originally was planned to buyback and sell to a friend, so the wheels didn't really cross my mind, but now my mate can't afford it so leaves me in this situation

MK5GolfGuy

Original Poster:

4 posts

48 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
This all the way - if it's on your drive then strip all the good bits out.

Replace the wheels, take any rare trim bits off it, take the stereo out. As long as it vaguely looks right the salvage guy won't give a fudge, he's being paid to dispose of it anyway.
This was the grey area... I wasn't sure if cause the salvage guys are the one benefiting from the salvage for spares/repairs/resell if they'd want to make sure everything they had coming to them was in order, if the insurers send them photos of the car to be collected and if they'd reference it when collecting.

Fastpedeller

3,844 posts

145 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
If you can afford to buy the salvage then you'd have a decent spared supply for the future?

ETA - I'd also be honest with the insurance co otherwise it could come back to bite you.
The only experience I have similar is a write- off, where I asked the insurance "can I take off the towbar" They said "yes, no problem as long as you don't take any engine parts you can take that you want" I should have stripped many parts off on that say-so, but we were also moving house so not a good time, but got the towbar and a few trim bits.

Edited by Fastpedeller on Thursday 26th March 14:53

Geffg

1,102 posts

104 months

Thursday 26th March 2020
quotequote all
If you have access to car etc take as much off as you want. If it’s gonna be collected for salvage it’s not gonna matter.