What are my best options?
Discussion
Hi
I know nothing about cars and only really came on here to get some good advice if anyone reading this knows alot about car purchasing. I was involved in a car collision on Monday evening when as I was waiting to pull out on to a main road where I live, I saw a gold Mercedes coming down the road. It signalled to turn into the road I wanted to pull out of and then it seemed to slow down and flash it's headlights at me (this made me think like most people do that the driver was allowing me to pull out) I then looked left to see if any traffic was coming down the road on my left, which was clear and as I pulled out the driver of the Mercedes slammed into me hitting the offside front corner of my car. He then pulled into the road I was in and we both got out of our cars to inspect each other's car damage. Mine came out the worst with the front chassis pushed in causing damage to whatever is in the front of the engine compartment but he only had a cracked bumper and some scratches to the paint work (at least this is all I could see from the outside) when I got back in my car to move it off the road, the driver of the Mercedes who was polish got back into his car and drove off leaving me with no details of who they were not even a car registration number, making this a hit and run accident. I reported it to the police and am waiting to hear back if anything is found. Meanwhile, my car is now at the accident repair garage and was given an estimate repair cost of £6000 to fix the damage caused to my Ford Fiesta Edge 2010 [3door] model, which I originally purchased for £5000. This cost includes replacing the chassis legs of the vehicle. I'm still waiting to hear back from the insurance company as to what they will decide to do but I can imagine they will right the car off.
I'm potentially looking at being without a car now and need some advice as to what my best options are at getting another car as I do need one. Do I lease? buy a second hand car again. Hope this doesn't sound like an impossible question to ask, just some friendly advice please in these desperate times.
Thank you
Joanna
I know nothing about cars and only really came on here to get some good advice if anyone reading this knows alot about car purchasing. I was involved in a car collision on Monday evening when as I was waiting to pull out on to a main road where I live, I saw a gold Mercedes coming down the road. It signalled to turn into the road I wanted to pull out of and then it seemed to slow down and flash it's headlights at me (this made me think like most people do that the driver was allowing me to pull out) I then looked left to see if any traffic was coming down the road on my left, which was clear and as I pulled out the driver of the Mercedes slammed into me hitting the offside front corner of my car. He then pulled into the road I was in and we both got out of our cars to inspect each other's car damage. Mine came out the worst with the front chassis pushed in causing damage to whatever is in the front of the engine compartment but he only had a cracked bumper and some scratches to the paint work (at least this is all I could see from the outside) when I got back in my car to move it off the road, the driver of the Mercedes who was polish got back into his car and drove off leaving me with no details of who they were not even a car registration number, making this a hit and run accident. I reported it to the police and am waiting to hear back if anything is found. Meanwhile, my car is now at the accident repair garage and was given an estimate repair cost of £6000 to fix the damage caused to my Ford Fiesta Edge 2010 [3door] model, which I originally purchased for £5000. This cost includes replacing the chassis legs of the vehicle. I'm still waiting to hear back from the insurance company as to what they will decide to do but I can imagine they will right the car off.
I'm potentially looking at being without a car now and need some advice as to what my best options are at getting another car as I do need one. Do I lease? buy a second hand car again. Hope this doesn't sound like an impossible question to ask, just some friendly advice please in these desperate times.
Thank you
Joanna
If it's a half decent insurance company they will tell you very quickly if the car is being written off. Seems you need to wait for that decision before deciding what to do. My g/f had an accident recently, and she was told the car was written off about a week after it was taken to the repair center.
If the cost of repair has already been given, I'd expect your insurers to be able to tell you almost immediately whether they will write it off (and my g/f's insurance paid out a couple of days after declaring a write off. It was all very quick).
If the cost of repair has already been given, I'd expect your insurers to be able to tell you almost immediately whether they will write it off (and my g/f's insurance paid out a couple of days after declaring a write off. It was all very quick).
ZX10R NIN said:
The car will be written off as the cost of repair is more than the car is worth , so now you need to work out if you want to lease or buy a car.
I would suggest a 3 year lease, possibly including maintenance, then you know exactly what your cost over the 3 years will be.With warranties etc should be trouble and[ extra cost] free motoring
TJC46 said:
ZX10R NIN said:
The car will be written off as the cost of repair is more than the car is worth , so now you need to work out if you want to lease or buy a car.
I would suggest a 3 year lease, possibly including maintenance, then you know exactly what your cost over the 3 years will be.With warranties etc should be trouble and[ extra cost] free motoring
Sorry to hear of this. A headlamp flash is the same as a horn, it is to draw attention to the car's presence. It should not be taken to mean anything more (yes, I know it can be taken to mean; get out my way, I am letting you out, there is a speed trap up the road; and it can be given to mean the opposite of what you take it to mean).
As others have said, it will probably be written off, and you will pay from your excess. You may lose no-claims bonus on your next insurance.
Unless you have positive witnesses or CCTV, you will be unlikely to find this chap.
Being obsessive, I always look at number plates, mainly to identify the originating region!
https://www.newreg.co.uk/dvla-number-plate-identif...
There are a lot of lease deals around. If you can afford the deposit, and the monthly payment seems OK, go for that.
As others have said, it will probably be written off, and you will pay from your excess. You may lose no-claims bonus on your next insurance.
Unless you have positive witnesses or CCTV, you will be unlikely to find this chap.
Being obsessive, I always look at number plates, mainly to identify the originating region!
https://www.newreg.co.uk/dvla-number-plate-identif...
There are a lot of lease deals around. If you can afford the deposit, and the monthly payment seems OK, go for that.
Edited by Pica-Pica on Saturday 9th September 18:02
Hi guys
Well after nearly 3 weeks since my accident I am now in possession of a new car or used car even. My old car was written off but I knew that was going to happen but my insurance company paid out almost £4000 for my old car minus the excess fee, which left with about £3400 to spend on a new car. I ended up buying a used car with the insurance money and had enough left over to tax and insure it also, so didn't have to pay out any extra costs of my own. Just glad to be back on the road. My new car is Vauxhall Corsa 2011 plate low mileage 1.0 ecoflex. It's alot more basic than my ford was but hopefully it will be easier to fix if anything was to go wrong with it in the future. Leasing a car was an option but didn't want to be paying monthly instalments for the next 3-4 years on top of the exsisting loan for my old car that I am still paying off, which ends in March 2018. Also, driving a lease car for 3-4 years and making sure you don't scratch or have a slight ding in the bodywork or worse a major crash is not something I wanted to deal with. I think I'd be terrified to take out on the road. As for the culprit that went into me and left the scene before exchanging details, he was never found after the police trawled through whatever CCTV footage they had and ANPR cameras. Just my luck! Thanks for all your replies and help in this matter.
Joanna
Well after nearly 3 weeks since my accident I am now in possession of a new car or used car even. My old car was written off but I knew that was going to happen but my insurance company paid out almost £4000 for my old car minus the excess fee, which left with about £3400 to spend on a new car. I ended up buying a used car with the insurance money and had enough left over to tax and insure it also, so didn't have to pay out any extra costs of my own. Just glad to be back on the road. My new car is Vauxhall Corsa 2011 plate low mileage 1.0 ecoflex. It's alot more basic than my ford was but hopefully it will be easier to fix if anything was to go wrong with it in the future. Leasing a car was an option but didn't want to be paying monthly instalments for the next 3-4 years on top of the exsisting loan for my old car that I am still paying off, which ends in March 2018. Also, driving a lease car for 3-4 years and making sure you don't scratch or have a slight ding in the bodywork or worse a major crash is not something I wanted to deal with. I think I'd be terrified to take out on the road. As for the culprit that went into me and left the scene before exchanging details, he was never found after the police trawled through whatever CCTV footage they had and ANPR cameras. Just my luck! Thanks for all your replies and help in this matter.
Joanna
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