Fiat Punto accident, Really need help! Please Read

Zoetoes

Hi

I have a P reg Fiat Punto which I bought in October, there was a problem with the front passenger door so I took it back to be re-aligned.

On Friday I was unable to open the door from the outside or the inside, I've been trying to phone the bloke all weekend but his phone is switched off.

Tonight my 13 year old son went to get his rucksack out of the car, it was on the floor in the front on the passenger side (the door that won't open) so he got in the back door and leant over to get his bag knocking the handbrake (the button presses in very easily), the car rolled out of the path backwards knocking the open back door against the gate post bending it back, my son managed to get out and I ran outside to see the car hitting the wall over the road.

My son is ok although very upset and shaken. The car door won't shut and is bent etc and where the back of the car has hit the corner of the wall there is a deep dent right by the petrol cap.

Any ideas how much the door could cost to be fixed? It is galvanized.

I'm only third party, fire & theft with my insurance.

balsingh

You're just going to have to get some quotes from local bodyshops and go with the best combination of price/quality of work. Try and ask people you know to recommend someone as there are a lot of cowboys out there. The safe but probably most expensive option is to go to Fiat themselves.

joshm_2

It's quite old so it's not necessarily worth getting the dent near the petrol cap knocked out unless you hope to sell the car on - I don't know the history of the car, condition & mileage so I can't say for certain but it's worth considering leaving that. As for the door, again it depends on how bad the damage is. I wouldn't necessarily worry too much about the aesthetics. I'd suggest calling around a few scrap yards and seeing if you can source a cheap replacement that you can get a local mechanic to fit for £50. Main thing is that no-one was hurt.

espresso

:doh:

No help with your present problem but it would not have happened if you had left it in gear when parked. Perhaps you will do that now.

johnmc

Spend a few minutes Googling for "fiat forum punto" and have a look in the classified ads.

There is a good supplier of NEW parts in Devon who will ship quickly and at a reasonable price. Email him here for a price mailto:enquiries@perfect-service.co.uk

Also take a look at Auto Trader Classified ads as well as ring around your local scrap yards.

Source yourself a local mechanic to fit it for you - and remember to not only apply the handbrake and leave the car in gear (opposite to the direction it's likely to roll - facing up hill, park in first - downhill, park in reverse) and turn the steering towards the curb so that if it DOES roll (or more likely, get shunted by someone else's bad parking) it ain't going very far.

Zoetoes

Thanks for the replies, the car is a write off.

mikey-mike_2

My oh had a hormone induced moment of brain fade once…….reversing, misted up rear screen, she held door open so she could see behind her and hit parked car with the open door. Damage was similar to how yours sounds, door & hinge bent back way past normal range.

The car was too old to be worth getting it repaired professionally, we did it ourselves using assorted blocks of wood and brute force. It never looked perfect but we did manage to get it to work and used the car for another couple of years

Might be worth a try

tomstickland

Personally I'd just have a 4 wheel alignment done for £20 and if it says the car isn't bent then I'd just drive it, maybe bending some bits back for cosmetic reasons.

mikey-mike_2

tomstickland wrote:

Personally I'd just have a 4 wheel alignment done for £20 and if it says the car isn't bent then I'd just drive it, maybe bending some bits back for cosmetic reasons.

Errrr Tom, read the OP

The wheels weren’t in accident, which was really slow speed and bent the door back.

The door now doesn't shut and properly functioning doors are a mot requirement to say nothing of stopping the kids falling out on the way to school

tomstickland

I assumed that

Thanks for the replies, the car is a write off.

was because the shell had been bent in the collision with the wall.

If it's just the door then get one from a scrap yard for £15 or whatever.

mikey-mike_2

I suspect that like ours the door and hinge post have been bent way beyond the normal place, so it’s not a simple bolt on bolt off job and needs the controlled application of some brute force.

The way we looked at ours was……its a write-off so we can’t make it any worse hence no downside to our attempts to bend things back so they worked.