Hit by someone who fled the scene, costing me...
Discussion
Hi i'm new...(been a lurker for a while)...i want to know if what i'm about to do is a reasonable deal
unfortunately i was hit by another driver (in my, laugh if you will, 98 1.2 fiat punto)...they tried to change lanes, rammed into my side and pushing me into another driver in front). The chaps car in front was fine...the offending driver however sped off before we could get a look in make on the car/reg (i will be looking into this, i'm under the impression i was hit by somebody uninsured)
Anyway...had my car checked out, the front end chassis (beneath the bonnet) has bent down slightly, the nearside wing looked chewed up and the bonnet is bent out and no longer closes shut. The car runs fine and the internals, steering etc are unaffected. For a car like mine it would be a write off...and with no other driver details and front end damage, a claim would be difficult, i cant afford a new car and need my motor, turns out the cost of work is not far off what my excess is...so rather than go through insurance, The body work specialist said he could sort the chassis (put it back in place), and then attach and respray a new nearside wing and new bonnet and put in new headlight/indicator (all salvaged from a breakers yard) for a total of £400.
is this reasonable?...sorry if its a silly question just i'm unsure what i should be expected to fork out.
cheers
unfortunately i was hit by another driver (in my, laugh if you will, 98 1.2 fiat punto)...they tried to change lanes, rammed into my side and pushing me into another driver in front). The chaps car in front was fine...the offending driver however sped off before we could get a look in make on the car/reg (i will be looking into this, i'm under the impression i was hit by somebody uninsured)
Anyway...had my car checked out, the front end chassis (beneath the bonnet) has bent down slightly, the nearside wing looked chewed up and the bonnet is bent out and no longer closes shut. The car runs fine and the internals, steering etc are unaffected. For a car like mine it would be a write off...and with no other driver details and front end damage, a claim would be difficult, i cant afford a new car and need my motor, turns out the cost of work is not far off what my excess is...so rather than go through insurance, The body work specialist said he could sort the chassis (put it back in place), and then attach and respray a new nearside wing and new bonnet and put in new headlight/indicator (all salvaged from a breakers yard) for a total of £400.
is this reasonable?...sorry if its a silly question just i'm unsure what i should be expected to fork out.
cheers
It depends on the car (nothing in your profile). A friend of mine just scrapped his Astra for £120 and bought a very nice 1998 low mile Almera for £600. Better to have a solid car than a badly repaired one but I don't know the value. I found a company on the internet, for example that supplies pre-painted Golf wings for £130 which is easily fitted but it was cheaper for me to bang out the wing and live with the dent to be honest.
£400 sounds reasonable to me, quite cheap even.
Given the vintage of the motor though I would be tempted to just source the panels yourself and fit them DIY. Sod the colour match, just go for the harlequin look. This assumes the wing will bolt off/on and isn't welded. Bonnet should be easy enough.
Will the chassis damage repair with a fook off hammer? Could you just leave it?
A damn shame it might cost you this not unsubstantial sum through no fault of your own.
Given the vintage of the motor though I would be tempted to just source the panels yourself and fit them DIY. Sod the colour match, just go for the harlequin look. This assumes the wing will bolt off/on and isn't welded. Bonnet should be easy enough.
Will the chassis damage repair with a fook off hammer? Could you just leave it?
A damn shame it might cost you this not unsubstantial sum through no fault of your own.
dave_s13 said:
£400 sounds reasonable to me, quite cheap even.
Given the vintage of the motor though I would be tempted to just source the panels yourself and fit them DIY. Sod the colour match, just go for the harlequin look. This assumes the wing will bolt off/on and isn't welded. Bonnet should be easy enough.
Will the chassis damage repair with a fook off hammer? Could you just leave it?
A damn shame it might cost you this not unsubstantial sum through no fault of your own.
i've decided to get this sorted by the local garage. i can't leave the chassis as the bonnet doesn't shut properly at the minute which could pose serious problems when driving, otherwise i would have had no problems putting on the panels myself as they all bolt on.Given the vintage of the motor though I would be tempted to just source the panels yourself and fit them DIY. Sod the colour match, just go for the harlequin look. This assumes the wing will bolt off/on and isn't welded. Bonnet should be easy enough.
Will the chassis damage repair with a fook off hammer? Could you just leave it?
A damn shame it might cost you this not unsubstantial sum through no fault of your own.
akkord said:
Hi i'm new...(been a lurker for a while)...i want to know if what i'm about to do is a reasonable deal
unfortunately i was hit by another driver (in my, laugh if you will, 98 1.2 fiat punto)...they tried to change lanes, rammed into my side and pushing me into another driver in front). The chaps car in front was fine...the offending driver however sped off before we could get a look in make on the car/reg (i will be looking into this, i'm under the impression i was hit by somebody uninsured)
Anyway...had my car checked out, the front end chassis (beneath the bonnet) has bent down slightly, the nearside wing looked chewed up and the bonnet is bent out and no longer closes shut. The car runs fine and the internals, steering etc are unaffected. For a car like mine it would be a write off...and with no other driver details and front end damage, a claim would be difficult, i cant afford a new car and need my motor, turns out the cost of work is not far off what my excess is...so rather than go through insurance, The body work specialist said he could sort the chassis (put it back in place), and then attach and respray a new nearside wing and new bonnet and put in new headlight/indicator (all salvaged from a breakers yard) for a total of £400.
is this reasonable?...sorry if its a silly question just i'm unsure what i should be expected to fork out.
cheers
Reading this, it is not the chassis that is bent, but the landing panel for the bonnet. From your comments the bump was not hard enough to affect the chassis.unfortunately i was hit by another driver (in my, laugh if you will, 98 1.2 fiat punto)...they tried to change lanes, rammed into my side and pushing me into another driver in front). The chaps car in front was fine...the offending driver however sped off before we could get a look in make on the car/reg (i will be looking into this, i'm under the impression i was hit by somebody uninsured)
Anyway...had my car checked out, the front end chassis (beneath the bonnet) has bent down slightly, the nearside wing looked chewed up and the bonnet is bent out and no longer closes shut. The car runs fine and the internals, steering etc are unaffected. For a car like mine it would be a write off...and with no other driver details and front end damage, a claim would be difficult, i cant afford a new car and need my motor, turns out the cost of work is not far off what my excess is...so rather than go through insurance, The body work specialist said he could sort the chassis (put it back in place), and then attach and respray a new nearside wing and new bonnet and put in new headlight/indicator (all salvaged from a breakers yard) for a total of £400.
is this reasonable?...sorry if its a silly question just i'm unsure what i should be expected to fork out.
cheers
In a former life I sold hundreds of these.... Let the Bodyshop man do his job, £400 is not the end of the world, better the devil you know and all that.
Oh, and Korma will get the b
d that ran into you (sorry I am hungry 
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