Rear end shunt

Horizon81

diamond_dave wrote: »

Good thinking! Yes, a couple of weeks ago my DD called me out to a puncture. imagine me in the dark trying to wrestle with this release mechanism! My fault, as the Dad I should have checked things over and familiarised myself with the spare - which was flat by the way. Luckily, I had taken my pump with me so managed it finally. We've both got breakdown(Autoaid) and I also have AA(free with home insurance) -so ask me why I didn't use them. Answer: stupid, I guess!! will check the spare etc tonight.

Been in the same boat myself. Pushing down on the 'button' relentlessly made no odds. It was only when I pushed it on a funny angle (in anger) the spare wheel dropped down. The whole thing wouldn't be out of place on the krypton factor.

diamond_dave

the worse thing, Horizon81, is trying to pull it back! There is no way my daughter or most women would be able to return the wheel to its original position. I struggled for ages, then got mad and bingo. No chance of doing it in the wet and dark.

diamond_dave

Update: just returned from the bodyshop and I'm really glad we went the insurance route. The guy took pictures and looked underneath, etc, and the impact section behind the bumper is broken and will need replacing making the bill around £400!! I guess that there will be VAT on top of that. A litre of paint is around £200 so you can see what the whole job is going to be. I asked the guy what he thought a non insurance job would be and he said about £200. This just goes to show that if you are involved in ANY accident, big or small, get it checked out properly. As the accident was in the dark, anyone may have just said "no damage, don't worry about it".

Tilt

Just remember that when it goes in for repair, you should ask for a courtesy car. Admiral should provide you with one.

Also, any excess is recoverable from the TP (or their insurer).