car got broken into...

fairyfleur

Hi All,
My car got broken into but I had to rush off as I had a flight to catch. I'm not in the UK for the next week. The window isn't broken, they managed to use something to open the door...but they broke my steering wheel!! I can't actually drive the car It's a 1994 vauxhall corsa. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, it's my first car. Should I claim and will this affect my NCB? Is it worth getting it fixed myself?
Hope your holidays are going well
Fairy

andrew-the-cat

If you claim on your insurance, won't you lose your no claims bonus? Is it worth losing your no claims bonus over a 17 year old car which is no doubt worth a lot less than £1000?

When my first car was crashed in to, I didn't bother claiming as I know in the long run I would have come off worse. It was only worth about £400, my insurance premium would probably have increased by more than that and I would have lost my no claims bonus. Instead I fixed it myself for £100, drove it for another year, then sold it for £400 and bought a much nicer car, plus had 2 years NCB instead of none.

Also, older cars are inherently insecure. I am not a car thief or anyone who breaks the law regularly, but one time I demonstrated how easy it is to unlock a Citroen Saxo using only a cable tie and causing no damage. Modern cars are much more secure, since most now have deadlocking and different shaped or completely absent lock pins.

pendulum

Depends on your age really as to whether it's worth claiming. If you're old, it's probably best to claim because claims seem to have little effect. My dad has a Fault Accident on his record and speeding points and still gets sub £300 quotes on a gas guzzling BMW. I'm 26, and if I was to claim, it would still cost me hundreds extra each year.

Get a couple of quotes to see how much the repair is. If it's cheap, just get it done yourself.

Inner_Zone

OP, insurance Fully Comp or TPF&T. Either way probaly not worth claiming and if the latter they won't pay out anyway. Get a steering wheel from a scrap yard.

bengalknights

You should be able to either get scrap parts for it instead of having your premiums etc go up, or if you have a few quid stashed away then just get a similar corsa as it should be under 1k

Notmyrealname

A new steering wheel will only be £20 or so and they're not hard to fit - not even 30 minutes labour for a garage. However if they've rived the steering wheel in an attempt to break the steering lock you could need a complete steering lock and also a steering column. Again you're looking at not a lot of money, maybe £50-£80 and an hours labour to change it. Both solutions will be less than your excess, you'll not lose any NCB and the insurance company won't write off the car because the cost of repair with new genuine parts makes it uneconomical.

cyclonebri1

Wow a 1994 Corsa, :A, claim direct from VX, they would be both amazed and proud that 1 of their flock had survived that long only to be pillaged and defiled, and still the basis of an insurance claim.

Tongue out of cheek as said before, the car is effectively worthless, sorry, you no claims is worth more than the car.
Ignore the insurance and fix privately if you can, again as said.
Scuse the blurb, lasy xmas day and well "driven"

fairyfleur

Hi All,
Thanks for your replies
It seems they were trying to steal the car, however worthless it is. I'm 24 so my insurance is already high, don't want it to go higher and don't want to lose my 1 year NCB.
They broke the steering column, the steering wheel is fine. Where do I get a steering column from? I've had quotes up to £200 which I think is ridiculous. I want to get it fixed cheaply as possible then sell it and buy something much better.
Fairy x

scheming_gypsy

ebay for 'corsa breaking'. Pick up a second hand steering column and then just pay labour charges.

s_b

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

ebay for 'corsa breaking'. Pick up a second hand steering column and then just pay labour charges.

i agree
problem is ive just looked on ebay and cant find anyone selling the downshaft though without the electric power steering
it looks like it might not be such an easy fix if OP has to pay someone to go to a breakers take one off and then have it fitted to their car as its quite a long job as you have to get the shear bolts off the ignition barrel swap them over to the new downshaft and find bolts that can be used in their place (locating pins off mk2 puntos hubs are exactly the right thread pattern)
then rebuild all back up
its a good 2/3 hour job unfortunately
OP make sure steering wheel is ok too as these often broke internally after an attempted theft even though they look fairly intact outside
also irt is a good idea to change the downshaft because where the steering wheels bolt on the metal on the shaft here was quite soft and often the steering wheel would shear off with part of this shaft still attached so i advise not to drive the car till its been fully assessed

mikey72

Corsa B here

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-Corsa-B-1-4-16v-00-93-00-Genuine-IGNITION-BARREL-KEY-AND-COLUMN-/260910065155?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3cbf73a603

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VAUXHALL-CORSA-B-95-00-STEERING-COLUMN-LOCK-SET-/220919558528?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item336fd4f180