Fire damage pics - is this a write off?

[FarmyardPants]

Here are some pics. Sorry about the link to the directory:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.sommers/

There are a bunch of images there but if you only want to look at a few, these are in order of increasing gruesomeness:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.sommers/IMG_488...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.sommers/IMG_488...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.sommers/IMG_488...
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger.sommers/IMG_488...

I'd be interested to hear opinions on

- whether you think this is a write-off
- guestimate of cost (impossible to say of course, but gut feeling). I'm guessing at 4-7k depending on what's found when the burnt bits are scraped off.

Some of the images are of the nose of the car which I took the day before. The ones of the car at the roadside were taken while waiting for the AA (looks undamaged from that angle).

The bonnet survived because it was up pretty soon after the fire started. As you can see the damage is reasonably localised. Main problems I see are to the firewall/lower screen area and of course the wiring which may never be the same again (hopefully!)

Any opinions are welcome at this stage.

[methodwares]

poor cerbie


no ideas on the cost....

[AlVal]

i think you're pretty accurate at 4-7k, more like 7 when you include paintwork

[D_G]

Hi Rog,

Soz to see the damage mate, never good to see this happen. I've dealt with a few fire damaged cars and all were written off even with fairly light damage. The problem is making it right afterwards so they budget for wiring looms etc which are hard to replace (especially on your type of car). Also repainting burnt areas is also difficult so I'm told.
Is the dash OK as it's obviously very close to the hot bits, hope you get it sorted mate.

Dave

[esso]

Sorry to see these pics matey.Unsure if it will be written-off,what year is your car & how much is it insured for?My 4.2 went up in flames in similar style in Sept 2005.It was a 1996 car,there was a bit more damage to mine,bonnet,tops of both wings,front edge of roof.It was written off & after arguments with the insurers i got 15K back.Bought a 4.5!!!! ~ Best of luck.

[FarmyardPants]

A cursory inspection of interior shows no visible damage but I imagine it'll be a different story once the screen's out.

I think it's borderline but the ins companies tend to take the easy option and write it off when this happens, not knowing how much the cost will escalate to once the work starts. They'd rather not take the uncertain route. If they write it off I have two options - buy it back at auction (bid against the other punters for my own car), or agree a settlement figure with them and have it repaired myself. I think they will assess it as unviable and I'll probably end up taking the latter route. I'll post the verdict when I get it..

[Gazzab]

Hi - as it is a 00 4.5 LW then it must be worth £18K or more?
I think the repair bill is going to be higher than your guess.
IT looks like a pain to fix ie wiring, fuel lines, new wing, screen, interior behind dash, the panel under the screen looks like a pain, engine bits etc etc I guess a £12K estimate.

[satman]

As someone else has pointed out, the question of escalating costs would sway an insurance company's assessor into writting it off. Ive seen cars with less damage and still get written off.

Looking at pictures, the damage to the loom is directly above the ECU,and with the main loom passing here I'd bet your last dollar repalcing the loom alone will be a job and a half!

There was a post here recently with another Cerbera with fire damage, (I admit an older model), that had been written of with less damage than yours (and I had seen this particular car close to hand in a salvage yard a few months back). Now for sale in the classifieds http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/175269.htm

Sorry to sound negative...a lesson for us all in the purchase of a fire extinguisher too!

[cerbieboy]

holy sh!t dude
hope it can be repaired