Accident is costing me £3k

redux

ponkysnonky wrote: »

i was wondering whether I should accept it back from the repairers...

we had the car up for sale in a local dealers, and they won't touch it now, as it's been in an accident, which, although not written off, is bad enough to have placed it on a jig to bend it back to shape.

the Seat dealer told me he wouldn't put his family in it, and we should refuse to have it back...

This is starting to become clearer, that the Seat dealer isn't the same as the place repairing it.

You suggest that you can get the Seat dealer to put something in writing about the reduction in value. Try it. If you can get this last comment in writing I think he might be contacted by lawyers acting on behalf of the repairer for defamation.

As far as I can tell from what you've written so far the repairs have been undertaken with your agreement.

There are standards for work of this kind, and that is why some types of repairs are allowed and some are not.

If you refuse to sign the release, the repairer might not get paid for some time, so you won't get a car back in a big hurry, and if you don't have any support for this line, namely a separate independent report that the quality of the repairs is actually dangerous, this could drag on for a while.

I think you should have made your mind up sooner what you wanted, and you need to do some careful thinking before you embark upon this path now. You might need some good legal advice.

What do you think happens when new cars are delivered at the dealership, and someone accidentally damages it moving it from the transporter to the car park? Do they scrap the car because of that salesman's squeamishness, or repair it perhaps without even telling the prospective customer?

Avoriaz

ponkysnonky wrote: »

..the Seat dealer told me he wouldn't put his family in it, and we should refuse to have it back...

I wouldn't put my family in a Seat either. :whistle:

Lum

I've been through this one and there's not really a lot you can do about it, insurers T&Cs specifically state that they wont deal with loss of value or other consequential loss.

In my case the 3 month repair (of which 2 months was Churchill being incompetent and refusing to authorise the repair, and 2 weeks was Christmas) meant that I got it back just after the dealer warranty expired, only for me to have the primary turbo fail a week later.

I argued that had it not been for the accident the turbo would have failed within the warranty period and I wouldn't be out £900 for the repair, it got nowhere and I ended up paying for it out of my own pocket.

It's no wonder people end up claiming whiplash after every accident these days.

ponkysnonky

i'm not trying to get a new car.

my car was bought new. worth 9k on the forecourt pre accident, and now worth 6k post.

that's not my fault, and keeping quiet might well get me the right value, but is dishonest. the 3k difference is PURELY down to the accident that was caused by the other party..

surely it's simple - I sell the car at it's current worth, and claim the difference from the other party?

is that how I'm supposed to play this?

andygb

ponkysnonky wrote: »

i was wondering whether I should accept it back from the repairers...

we had the car up for sale in a local dealers, and they won't touch it now, as it's been in an accident, which, although not written off, is bad enough to have placed it on a jig to bend it back to shape.

the Seat dealer told me he wouldn't put his family in it, and we should refuse to have it back...

Just a few questions here.
If the car was up for sale in a local dealers, then why were you driving it around?
Why would you put your car for sale in a local dealers, when their commission taken away from the sale price would leave you worse off than you selling it privately?
Presumably your insurance company authorised the repair at one of their garages in your area, so they told you what would happen and you went ahead with it. Before this happened, you should have contacted the dealer to tell them.
If I were you, then I would have argued about the value of the car with your insurance company, and they may well have written it off.
However, you valuation of £9K may be based on what the dealer has told you, in which case it will be inflated to allow for a lot of haggling.
If I were you, I would get the car back and advertise it privately.

Horizon81

Can't say I'd be happy driving round in a car that had needed to be put on a jig to straighten the chassis. Was there no scope for getting it written off at the time? Anyway, too late now. You could continue to market it, privately, although whoever ends up buying it would probably get a check done which will tell them it's been in an accident. At least then they're making an informed purchase.

ponkysnonky

Horizon81 wrote: »

Can't say I'd be happy driving round in a car that had needed to be put on a jig to straighten the chassis. Was there no scope for getting it written off at the time? Anyway, too late now. You could continue to market it, privately, although whoever ends up buying it would probably get a check done which will tell them it's been in an accident. At least then they're making an informed purchase.

we asked why it wasn't written off, and they said the 3.5k it cost was cheaper than the car.

this doesn't take into account the value drop of an accident repaired car thou.

ponkysnonky

andygb wrote: »

Just a few questions here.
If the car was up for sale in a local dealers, then why were you driving it around?
Why would you put your car for sale in a local dealers, when their commission taken away from the sale price would leave you worse off than you selling it privately?
Presumably your insurance company authorised the repair at one of their garages in your area, so they told you what would happen and you went ahead with it. Before this happened, you should have contacted the dealer to tell them.
If I were you, then I would have argued about the value of the car with your insurance company, and they may well have written it off.
However, you valuation of £9K may be based on what the dealer has told you, in which case it will be inflated to allow for a lot of haggling.
If I were you, I would get the car back and advertise it privately.

it's our only car. It was advertised throu the dealer and they take a 5% commission on it. I was happy with that. I would be getting greater exposure to buyers as a result.

The insurance engineer just approved the work. They didn't let me know, and when I questioned why it wasn't written off, they said the repair was cheaper. Also I only found out it was going on a jig to be straightened part way through.

I did inform the dealer and he rung up the repairers, and got them to put on Seat parts, not pattern parts. Seems they were going cheap. I wouldn't have known and would have a car with non standard parts returned! cheeky blighters!!

The 9k is the price on their forecourt. It's now 6k. This is due to the accident information. The Seat dealership won't even touch it now as a result of this jig work, so it's definately had an influence.

I understand 9k maybe high, but it's the starting point on the forecourt, as is the 6k. I'd get >500 or so less and I understand that.

If the car comes back, I'd have to advertise it privately now, as any garage will ask about accidents - it's on their standard form when they buy them/ part ex them.

neilmcl

pgilc1 wrote: »

NOR are you obliged to disclose that it has been in an accident.

Unless specifically asked.

neilmcl

ponkysnonky wrote: »

it's our only car. It was advertised throu the dealer and they take a 5% commission on it. I was happy with that. I would be getting greater exposure to buyers as a result.

The insurance engineer just approved the work. They didn't let me know, and when I questioned why it wasn't written off, they said the repair was cheaper. Also I only found out it was going on a jig to be straightened part way through.

I did inform the dealer and he rung up the repairers, and got them to put on Seat parts, not pattern parts. Seems they were going cheap. I wouldn't have known and would have a car with non standard parts returned! cheeky blighters!!

The 9k is the price on their forecourt. It's now 6k. This is due to the accident information. The Seat dealership won't even touch it now as a result of this jig work, so it's definately had an influence.

I understand 9k maybe high, but it's the starting point on the forecourt, as is the 6k. I'd get >500 or so less and I understand that.

If the car comes back, I'd have to advertise it privately now, as any garage will ask about accidents - it's on their standard form when they buy them/ part ex them.

So the only thing you've really lost at this point is the ability to advertise the car at the dealer at your initially agreed asking price. You haven't actually lost £3K then, have you.