UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Well peeps it seems like its open hunting season for the poor Polo! After reading about a few of your unfortunate bumps, scrapes and shunts, today I had the great misfortune to have an accident of my own

In short, a 76-year old lady in a Citreon AX tried to turn right out of a junction on my left , on a 40-limit road, when I was a scant 10-12 metres from the junction

A car in front of hers had done the same thing seconds before, comfortably, and she simply followed it out without registering the fact that I was even there! The result? I hit the middle pedal, the ABS did its job, but I still hit her at about 15-20mph - suprised to say that I hardly felt the impact (never been involved in an RTA of any kind before in my life) but the AX didn't fare so well. The driver's side of the car and the door and rear 3/4 panel are all pushed in at least 4-6 inches across the area that my car made contact. Thankfully the lady in question, and myself also, has sustained no injuries whatsoever save a little shock, which obviously has affected her much more than I.

And the Polo? Sturdy little beasts aren't they! Some considerable damage to the front bumper in terms of paint and some gouges out of the plastic, the front numberplate is hanging off the car, and at first glance that seems to be about it.

However, here's the bad news: Whislt the car is driveable, I can't open the bonnet, the front bumper is pushed back a couple of centimetres (the bonnet now overhangs the front grille by nearly 15mm) and the bonnet appears to have dropped slightly on the nearside front of the car, there is a distinct gap between the edge of the bonnet and the nearside front wing

Oh and my dashboard is rattling quite a lot!

Not sure what to make of it, but suffice to say its definitely an incident that was entirely not my fault! Glad to know my Polo is so safe - better get hold of my insurers been at work until now.

Pictures will follow as soon as I can lay my hands on a camera!!

Gutted

Main thing is that there are no injuries though, thank God! I'm no expert but the AX looks to be a write-off

More news to follow... and pictures I hope.

Cheers

gutted!... hopefully itl be a quick DIY polish up..

sure you don't have pain in your neck? whiplash? i'm sure you do...*cough £1500 cough*


Hope you have witnesses or got the old dear to admit liability on paper as insurance companys suck!

Without scare mongering too much..mates bird was parked *handbrake on* at some lights when a bmw shunted her car..woman admitted it was all her fault left details and went..2 years on and shes still fighting it as the woman said mates bird rolled back into her.

I darn't take mine out now with all these accidents

Bad luck mate..hope its not too bad.

Glad your ok,

you should have phoned the insurers straight away, just incase.
hope it gets sorted out swiftly, sounds like it shouldn't be too bad them things can take a knock!

Your not alone Si.

It was last Friday but as i was about to enter a round about a car flew round it so i put my brakes on and stopped. Unfortunately the dick behind me in a golf didn't and shunted my rear bumper causing me to stall. We both pulled up on to a little road side lay by to asses the damage. A slight scuff mark near his reg plate but my bumper suffered a slight dent near the reg plate, chipped paint work and a 3cm scratch where the pait has come off.

The guy seemed really sorry but due to the slight damage didn't want to go through insurance. I agreed but foolishly didn't check to see if he had insurance. I took his number and Registration plate but when i rang him for his address, he'd given me the wrong number. The Bastard.

Now for the fun part.
I went straight down to the police station to report it and they said an officer would be sent out to deal with it. A week on and still no clue as to what is happening so pay a visit to the PS. The lady looks into it and tells me that the paperwork wasn't even processed until Wednesday and NO Officer has yet been assigned to my case>

Now, i don't know about you, but if i'd just given false details after been in a minor accident, i would have sorted my car out asap. This would mean that when a police officer then pays me a visit and i deny all knowledge, when he looks at my car and sees no damage its a 50/50 argument.

To top it off, this morning i recieved a letter from the police telling me that my car was spotted having CD cases on view in the dashboard slot. They kindly reminded me to remove these as to help prevent car crime. Fuckin losers.

It takes a week for a letter to be sent out, but longer than that for a RTA where false details are given.

I thought they would be on it like s**t off a shovel too as isn't it a big offence..just like leaving the scene?

The police really do themselves no favours these days.
No wonder no one has any respect for the f*****g tossers!

No worries guys I have just gotten off the phone to the insurers, and its all gonna be fixed up by a "local" (north oswestry) VW approved bodyshop. Hire car company are gonna give me a call on Monday too to arrange a courtesy vehicle

Regarding phoning the insurers, we are both with Direct Line and we called their accident line less than 20 minutes after the incident, and reported all the details. I have just given my own version of events to Direct Line and they have set up a case and offered full legal protection just in case

Metz: I have a witness and the old dear in the AX has already admitted liability, and her daughter agreed that is wasn't my fault in any way, so all good there. Worryingly, the 76-year old lady's recollection is very vague, hopefully down to the shock of the accident - I feel really sorry for her! My work colleague who came over to the scene for me said "look at it this way, at least you got another OAP off the road!"

I'm confident its all gonna be fixed OK - my insurance is fully comp, with full legal protection and protected NCB - the lady's insurance is also fully comp.

Aaron: definitely NOT a polish-up job it seems the garage will let me know on Monday - will they let me see a damage report do you think?

Pictures - still waiting to lay my hands on a digital camera - parents took theirs to New Zealand. Oh yeah, they'll have a nice surprise at my latest mods talking of which, bloody good thing I didn't fit the B&M against my insurers wishes after all eh M@turner!! I was right

Si_GTi wrote:Metz: I have a witness and the old dear in the AX has already admitted liability, and her daughter agreed that is wasn't my fault in any way, so all good there. Worryingly, the 76-year old lady's recollection is very vague, hopefully down to the shock of the accident - I feel really sorry for her! My work colleague who came over to the scene for me said "look at it this way, at least you got another OAP off the road!"

Ahh good show old boy...and..hes right hahaha

I was about to say something regarding that as she sustained a considerable side impact whilst pulling out onto a fast road it would be difficult for her to deny liability - but then I remember the more than a year-long wrangle my mum had. A biker who went into the side of her as she was edging out, turning right into a steady stream of traffic and waiting for a gap...... he having already lost control at 30-odd and slithered just over the centre line, unable to stop (inexperienced guy going too fast on a wet road, over manhole covers). Multitude of witnesses and the position of the vehicles told enough story, but he still made the rather ludicrous claim she shot out on him with no warning - and held onto it like a terrier. Didn't get the insurers to pay up for nearly 18 months, when he finally tired of it and gave up...

Good for you that this is going much more smoothly! I do hope she's not too badly injured otherwise the family might start a ruckus..

(and at least she's insured, tho surprisingly not by Saga or eSure for "safer elderly drivers" - got a mate still at the tail end of recovery after being rear-ended by an uninsured drunk at about 50mph - whilst stopped at lights)

glad ur ok and the car should be all fixed!

some noob that is the boyfriend of my girlfriends next door nabour's daughter (think about it) came round the corner at my girlfriends road my my girlfriend was coming the other way, girlfriend ran into the side of him because he was cutting the corner, blatently his fault! this boyfriend's girlfriend got out the car and said "wots the damage?" my girlfirend said "looks mainly cosmetic." they got back in the car and drove off! left my girlfriend and did exchange details. obvioulsy as they were nabours they could do it later but thats not the point!

anyway, he said it was her fault and my girlfriend said it was his! my girlfriend lost her no claims discount and had to pay half! his car was a F**king state n e way!

my girlfriend would of been getting her no claims this year but her car went into a ditch! doh

suffice to say everytime i see the little noob i chase him!

n e way, glad there were no injuries!

regards
Doug

thats really unlucky, sorry to hear about that
glad your ok, and hopefully the polo can be restored back to mint condition.
-Ben-

I'm sure it'll be fine - I've heard good things about the garage the car is going to tomorrow. Pant Motor Bodies in, well, Pant! And of course any parts that need replacing will be official VW parts so it's all good - hey maybe I can be rid of those stonechips on the front bumper now?

I know I promised photos... I'm working on that but don't have anything other than my camera to hand right now! Got a workmate to snap some photos at the incident after I asked him to pop over, should get those tomorrow too.

s**t and bugger for u both Si and M@Turner, that really sucks glad to see you're both ok though and things are getting sorted !

Cheers Prash

Pictures - only have a couple, and none of the AX as it had already been tucked away in the garage at this time:





As you can see I managed to scrub off a fair bit of speed in a very short distance! If I'd have not had ABS it would have been much worse. Mate of mine took a look and reckons I was lucky enough for the brunt of the impact to be on one of the mounting points for the bumper (where the gouging and scraping is) and pretty much the strongest point of it. Either way, its getting picked up tomorrow for repairs.

Got a hire car today... a Chevrolet (formerly Daewoo) Matiz 1.0-litre!! Its... an experience but gets me from home to work and back again, so thats the main thing eh?!

Cheers

Tough little polo.

My accident damage is much less than that but it still pains me every time i look at it. Cheapest quote i've had is £200 to respray all the bumper and fill out the miner dent/chip.

Not sure wether just to get the work done but make sure i've got some good pics of the damage. Its really pissing me off that the police haven't even sent an officer to the other drivers house yet. Can see me been £200 out of pocket due to a 24carat plonker giving me wrong details.

Glad things are getting sorted for you tho Si, and thanks for the sympothy Prash.

Mat