Side impact in Clio - possible write-off?

katebl

Hi all,

Am looking for some advice please - someone drove into the side of my sister and mum in my sister's car :eek: - caved in the passenger door, set off the airbags, and the bar underneath the door is slightly bent in but doesn't seem to have affected the panels underneath the car past the bent bar underneath the door. It's an 05 plate, insured as worth £3.5k - does anyone have any experience in getting this sort of damage fixed? Would the insurers deem it a write-off? And if they would, would it be worth fixing anyway?

He was driving a BMW 330 and seems to have hit her at some speed - made my blood boil as he tried to get them not to call the police even though they were injured - she took a left turn exit at a roundabout after checking there was no-one behind her - she had originally started in a lane that was meant to go straight ahead, but cleared the exit and then he steamed into her - seeing as she was clear of the roundabout and on the slip road, do you think this would be decided as 50/50 as where she started out shouldn't be relevant seeing as she was on the slip road having checked it was safe and indicated...

Sorry if it's garbled, but any advice would be great :beer:

vaio

Hope there are no serious injuries

Don’t know about fault but for a 6 year old Clio with what sounds like a bent sill and activated airbags you can be pretty sure they are going to write it off

katebl

Thanks vaio, the injuries weren't terrible thankfully, but worrying enough. I was thinking along the same lines too about the car , the thing it is has a lot of sentimental value to her so if there is any possible way of making it safe and keeping it on the road I'd love to know.

Am really hoping if anyone else has had similar damage fixed, or is it not worth considering?

colino

You really don't want back a car you've had a bad accident in. Unlikely though as a Clio needing jigged + hire car + personal injury claim is going to be keeping the two insurance companies busy for a while.
The accident does, in what you say, appear 50/50 as it is unlikely the beemer driver would "steam" into the side of a car just for a laugh, maybe the Clio made a late lane change?
Hope everyone is healthy and safe, don't take the first settlement offer and move on.

gaz_jones

Just to mirror what colino says, never take the first settlement. They'll always up the offer. And even if they don't, the offer won't get any lower


When my car was written off, I refused the first 3 offers and ended up with a decent sum of money for it. They even sent me a cheque for their first offer, then a follow up cheque for the rest once we'd agreed on a value.

katebl

Thanks all,

Apparently the car needs new airbags and seatbelts, a new passenger door, and a new door sill, plus some scratches out... But the chassis hasn't been touched so if it is a write-off, at least it is still structurally okay... right?!

Wee_Willy_Harris

There is no chassis, as such. The bodywork performs the task of what used to be called the chassis. As such, the sills are integral parts of the cars structure. Find out if the car needs to be jigged. If it does, I'd walk away.

Mankysteve

Agreed with above there no such thing a chassis in most modern cars. If they write it off she does have the option to buy back from the insurance company and paying for the repairs. But really do you want to driving a car that got had structural damage while repairs can be done quite well it'll always be a bit weaker on that side.

blue_haddock

Thats definately a write off - there is not only quite a few quids worth in panels that need replacing but the cost of the labour will mean it is not economical to repair.

KillerWatt

Mankysteve wrote: »

Agreed with above there no such thing a chassis in most modern cars. If they write it off she does have the option to buy back from the insurance company and paying for the repairs. But really do you want to driving a car that got had structural damage while repairs can be done quite well it'll always be a bit weaker on that side.

You'd spend almost as much money in parts alone when compared to what the car is worth, two airbags alone is going to put you in quadruple figures before you even buy the rest of the parts and pay for the jig time and other labour.

katebl

Thanks all, I'm pretty gutted for her reading this. I'd throw any amount of money at it if I could make it safe for her on top of what the insurance would pay. My Dad died last August having given her the car the month before for a 21st present so she's absolutely heartbroken at the thought of having to get rid of it. Oh dear...