Rough cost of repairs - guesstimates please - pics included

spookylukey

My car was involved in an accident yesterday (not my fault if that's at all relevant), the garage won't be collecting the car til Tuesday so I was wondering whether the knowledgeable car people on this board could try and give me a guesstimate of how much the repairs will be.

I'm fully comp but the car is probably only worth £2,800 on a very good day (similar car on Autotrader) so I'm trying to work out if it will be wrtitten off and if so that gives me a few days to do some research on buying a 'new' used car. The damage isn't that bad but I know that even a car park bump can be expensive to repair nowadays.

The damage is:

Bonnet - Light dents/creases/scratch
Grill - cracked
No plate - smashed
Front headlight - cracked
Bumper/faring - smashed/cracked in half

Pics:


















Thanks for any input

Kilty_2

I doubt it'd be written off for that.

Since the accident wasn't your fault, you're claiming from the third party's insurer anyway - if they do write it off, haggle hard for a good price then buy the car back from them as salvage. It'll be Cat D and a cheap fix.

spookylukey

That's good to hear, I've had it for most of it's life and it's been a good, reliable car *touch wood* so would rather it could be repaired. It's just that you hear of car park bumps costing hundreds and as quite a few bits are damaged I thought the costs might mount up.

darich

I agree it's unlikely to be written off.
Not sure of costs but expect 4 figures. If I had to guess I'd probably guess somewhere between £1500 and £2000

EDIT : mileage will also be a factor because it affects value. But if the car is worth £2800 or so as you say then I expect it will be repaired.

vaio

On the visible damage it could well be close, is there any hidden damage?

If you are 100% sure that someone else’s insurance company is going to be paying then think hard about pursuing them directly (either yourself or via an accident management company) rather than going through your own insurance company

blue_haddock

Ok a bumper is £175 for a stilo and a bonnet about the same, the grill is £38 and a headlight about £140. A number plate is approx £5. You then have paint and labour on top.

I would say your looking at somewhere around £1000 for the repairs at retail costs however i know you can buy the parts quite a bit chepaer than retail at www.shop4parts.co.uk they supply brand new genuine parts with a significant discount.

spookylukey

Thanks to everyone for the input, it seems the consensus is that it'll be repaired, that's fine by me as it's a good little car with low mileage and owned by me from nearly new.

vaio wrote: »

On the visible damage it could well be close, is there any hidden damage?

If you are 100% sure that someone else’s insurance company is going to be paying then think hard about pursuing them directly (either yourself or via an accident management company) rather than going through your own insurance company

I wouldn't know about any hidden damage, I only recently progressed to checking my own oil at the age of 30 so would have no idea what to look for!

I'm 100% certain the other car will admit liability, it's a pretty cut and dry collision plus I have independent witnesses that were in his car (a taxi).

Too late about pursuing it directly as I have already informed my insurance company. What would have been the benefit to me of pursuing it directly then?

colino

If you are going to get a hire car as part of the deal I think it is entirely possible that the car will be written off. The bonnet is creased, so is the slam panel damaged/moved? Pound to a penny both the headlight mounts will be broken too.

cyclonebri1

It's a FIAT, why bother? :o


Seriously, diy and breakers parts, only way to go if this is outside of insurance. Ring around for current prices.

vaio

spookylukey wrote: »

......Too late about pursuing it directly as I have already informed my insurance company. What would have been the benefit to me of pursuing it directly then?

If you claim on your own policy then you will get treated in accordance with the terms of it, if you go after the other drivers insurance you are entitled to be returned to the position you were in before the accident happened with no cost to you.

In an ideal world the two should be the same, in the real world you could well find that your company will, for example, limit the amount of time you get a courtesy car (lots limit to 7 or 14 days, what happens if your car is in the body shop for a month awaiting parts?) , excesses is another issue, your company can insist you pay it up front/deduct it from your payout, also some policies end on a total loss payout so if your company write it off then they’ll also end your policy and you still have to pay the full premium.

All these uninsured losses are ultimately recoverable from the third party company but, (assuming they do admit responsibility), if you go to them directly you shouldn’t have to pay them in the first place which is a lot less hassle than paying and then reclaiming.

trubble

Modern plastic bumpers can flex quite a bit - you need to get underneath and see if anything structural is bent.