Car a write off, what you think?

polo-sib · Post by **polo-sib** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:43 am

Right I had an incident back a while where I damaged the door and front drivers wing of my car, I took it in the repair center. Two weeks later I get a call saying its not worth repairing as the repair costs are more than the car, so it'd be written off. Took them long enough to decide, the car is valued at Â£1500 and to buy it back its Â£250 rough price, and if bought back it will be a cat C. But the damage cannot be that much at a guess I would say I've caused Â£600 worth of damage and I think they are having me on, what should I do?

All I've done is put a dent in the door and wing, both will prob need replacing.

Andy1.6 · Post by **Andy1.6** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:45 am

The door is pretty easy to replace! Not sure about the panel as Ive never done it! I would definately buy it back though! Get some parts from the scrap yard and you're away!

randomage · Post by **randomage** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 10:43 am

take it to a different garage n get a 2nd opinion. that sounds like a pisstake to me. front wing n front door cannot cost more than 1500. and why would it be a cat C? economically unrepairable is usually cat D or E..... weird.

Biddle · Post by **Biddle** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:16 pm

didnt know there was a cat e write off category.

polo_dude · Post by **polo_dude** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 12:48 pm

As andy said, Scrapyards the place for you! There must be a black polo with a door and panel in good nick there!

NOZ · Post by **NOZ** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:36 pm

Not sure how much a door costs but a new primed panel used to cost Â£80ish when I searched for one ages ago. Shouldn't cost you more then Â£400 at an expensive garage! best thing to do is when you go to a garage, don't tell them its an insurance job or they'll add another Â£200 just for the sake of it and you'll notice they'll ask how it happened to find out

randomage · Post by **randomage** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:37 pm

Biddle wrote:didnt know there was a cat e write off category.

neither did i until my dads range rover was one.... they dont happen often i dont think.
edit: just checked it out, there isnt! must have been a cat d. and that damage shouldnt make it cat c, only cat d. if the insurer repaired it, it would be a cat c. as they havent, its d.

NOZ · Post by **NOZ** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:45 pm

I knew there wasn't an 'e'!

Anyway, judging by the pics it doesn't look bad enough to have structural damage underneath the wing. Only needs a new door and a wing so doubt it should be a 'C'

Ian_R · Post by **Ian_R** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:29 pm

Who valued the car? Also there may be underlying damage to the suspension and things, as it looks like the wheel got hit as well, I'm not saying the Garage are correct, but Insurance companys will happily Write something off and pay you pennies for it!

After all how old is the car? and the will fix only if it's economicly viable IMO

polo-sib · Post by **polo-sib** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:46 pm

Thanks for the advice, took back the courtesy car now sorting out to buy it back. The structural damage was not bad, basically what I need doing is:

New wing
New door
New suspension (its bent slightly so I get pulled to the side as if tracking is out, it was also considered as structural damage)

New wing is Â£30 brand new which is the cheapest I found. Not sure how much a door is. As for suspension I might just invest in coilies. As for the paint work I imagined it wouldn't be much, I asked a few places and they have come out with ridiculous quotes such as Â£600 to respray a door and wing together

Any advice on paint jobs or recommendations I'm in south east London/Kent.

But at a rough guess I'd imagine the repairs will cost as much as the car at the most, but shouldn't if I look around, just problems with the paint work prices.

randomage · Post by **randomage** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:06 pm

have a look round your local scrappie if they have anything vag related. ebay, hunt around. if you were going to uprate your suspension anyway, nows the best time!!! ask around neighbours/friends for their recommendations paintwork wise.

LeMeph · Post by **LeMeph** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:41 pm

Are you sure thats all the damage is? Have ytou checked your hub, suspension leg etc? get the wheel off and have a look because from that picture i think it all looks a bit off. Thats imo though and im no mechanic lol.

If it is just a wing and a door though then its bull buy it back and get her on the road. Big problem will be if your chasis leg has been bent or like the pillar holding the windscreeen in. Its ahrd for me to tel from the pic... damn black cars dont giive off any depth apart from the paintwork lol

polo-sib · Post by **polo-sib** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:57 pm

LeMeph wrote:Are you sure thats all the damage is? Have ytou checked your hub, suspension leg etc? get the wheel off and have a look because from that picture i think it all looks a bit off. Thats imo though and im no mechanic lol.

If it is just a wing and a door though then its bull buy it back and get her on the road. Big problem will be if your chasis leg has been bent or like the pillar holding the windscreeen in. Its ahrd for me to tel from the pic... damn black cars dont giive off any depth apart from the paintwork lol

No physical damage to the chassis, just the suspension bar (to be more specific it was the shock absorber) got bent and the alloys took some damage, part from that, wishbone, hub, brakes, tie rods etc never suffered as its the top part that bent not the bottom luckily (according to the guys at the repair center, they advised me to get it done privately). Well I'm picking it up tomorrow as it was a bit of a fiddle to get my insurance to allow the release. None of the pillars took damage, there was very little impact, it was more of exchanging paint work than anything, but I washed it all off in the end. I'll have an extra look tomorrow and I should have the complete report tomorrow as well so we'll see how it goes. Thanks for the help everyone!

Shmosh · Post by **Shmosh** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:13 am

i had an accident like this, after i went into a lamp post (haha). crunched my door and wing. 300 quid roughly as i recal for a new door, banged out rim and all resprayed.

NOZ · Post by **NOZ** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:54 am

Theres a place down Forest Gate, East London which I recommend as they did my previous polo wing and bumper repair. Close to Kent. He'd probably charge you Â£90 for wing spray (what I was charged for a metallic wing) and Â£110 for the door (guessing). So fitting and repsray shouldn't be anywhere near Â£600.