Does this look written off?

Gavin78

Any mechanics on here thinks this 63 plate C4 Picasso exclusive might be a write off or can be repaired. Speeding driver hit our car while it was parked up and knocked it a good 10 feet back shoving the back end up the enbankment as you can see from the angle of the photo. The image appears to be the only damage. no warning lights are flashing up on the dashboard after it took a hit.

If it's a write off we paid £6800 for it a year ago currently this model sells with 65k for around a bit more now 7k-8k looking at auto trader would the insurance company offer us around that mark for it? Its been a long while we have had to claim for a car like this.

Herzlos

It depends if theres any damage to the frame I think, and part availability. But it's probably repairable.

New bumper, wing, wheel and brake/suspension components would only be a couple thousand to an insurance company.

If it was pushed that far the other wheels may be knocked out of alignment or damaged too. 

CKhalvashi

To me it would depend on whether there is structural damage, which isn't clear from your photo.

Dealers may be looking at £7-8k for a similar car, however to me personally a 9 year old non-premium family car is worth no more than £3k, if that. The average age of a car at scrappage in the UK is about 14 years, so this is a car reasonably 2/3 of the way through it's life with no reasonable warranty or guarantee options.

Ultimately if there may be other exposure to the insurer (such as a replacement vehicle) it will likely become easier and cheaper for them to write the car off as quickly as possible to minimise this exposure.

DullGreyGuy

Gavin78 said:
If it's a write off we paid £6800 for it a year ago currently this model sells with 65k for around a bit more now 7k-8k looking at auto trader would the insurance company offer us around that mark for it? Its been a long while we have had to claim for a car like this.

Insurers just put the details of the car into the Glass Guide or Cap etc and that software tells them the value of the car considering mileage, preaccident condition etc. The guides are based on actual sales whereas what you see in auto-trader are asking prices and if you wanted to advertise your car for £15k auto-trader aint going to turn down your ad. 

The guides used to be updated monthly but I believe the mainstream ones are more frequent now, Parkers for older cars is still monthly, and therefore they reflect the recent spike and subsequent slip in secondhand car prices. 

Herzlos

CKhalvashi said:

Dealers may be looking at £7-8k for a similar car, however to me personally a 9 year old non-premium family car is worth no more than £3k, if that.

C4 Picasso is a pretty decent family car and the larger family cars carry some premium (because if you need the space you don't get much choice), and the market for used cars is crazy at the moment, so you've got no chance of finding anything but a total banger for £3k. That'd sell for £8k easily on a forecourt.

CKhalvashi

Herzlos said:

CKhalvashi said:

Dealers may be looking at £7-8k for a similar car, however to me personally a 9 year old non-premium family car is worth no more than £3k, if that.

C4 Picasso is a pretty decent family car and the larger family cars carry some premium (because if you need the space you don't get much choice), and the market for used cars is crazy at the moment, so you've got no chance of finding anything but a total banger for £3k. That'd sell for £8k easily on a forecourt.

Sorry Herzlos, I was pointing out that different people value cars differently. This is likely to be important when dealing with insurers who will have different objectives to the OP.

What a vehicle would sell for on a forecourt would not necessarily be the replacement cost for the insurer nor would it be what some would necessarily be willing to pay. Assuming that's the 5 seat version there should be plenty of choice in that bracket.

daveyjp

Could be close, depends on damage to front wheel suspension components and of course any unseen damage to the rear wheel, hub and axle from mounting the kerb,

New bumper, wing, wheel, tyre, arch liner, suspension components, paint etc.  Labour, courtesy car for a couple of weeks.  Soon up to £4-5k.

Herzlos

CKhalvashi said:

Herzlos said:

CKhalvashi said:

Dealers may be looking at £7-8k for a similar car, however to me personally a 9 year old non-premium family car is worth no more than £3k, if that.

C4 Picasso is a pretty decent family car and the larger family cars carry some premium (because if you need the space you don't get much choice), and the market for used cars is crazy at the moment, so you've got no chance of finding anything but a total banger for £3k. That'd sell for £8k easily on a forecourt.

Sorry Herzlos, I was pointing out that different people value cars differently. This is likely to be important when dealing with insurers who will have different objectives to the OP.

What a vehicle would sell for on a forecourt would not necessarily be the replacement cost for the insurer nor would it be what some would necessarily be willing to pay. Assuming that's the 5 seat version there should be plenty of choice in that bracket.

But then what you'd pay for it is irrelevant either. As said, insurer use a book value based on sale data, and there is some scope for appealing it if you can evidence forecourt prices of equivalent cars.

I'd assume that if the OP paid £6800 a year ago, it's likely to have a largely equivalent replacement cost.

Flight3287462

OP the first thing you need to know is (as mentioned above) is the steering, suspension and gear box OK if not the costs could potentially be high.  The rest looks fairly cosmetic and should be easy enough to repair, but age will be against it.

You could think of buying the salvage back and having it repaired if you know a decent repair place assuming no real damage as mentioned.

Nobbie1967

I suspect it is a write off. You say it was shunted 10 feet backwards, so there was a very sizeable impact onto that wheel which could have cause damage to steering rack, driveshaft, brake components, inner wing and gearbox. It may just be easier for them to write it off rather than risk repairing it only to find further damage that wasn’t obvious from visual inspection.

CoastingHatbox

I don't think it's possible to call it without investigating the underside of the vehicle. The cost of repair will very much depend on how much damage has been done to the sub-frame mounts and monocoque.

The insurer will probably take possession before it is assessed. If you have any notion of buying the vehicle back and repairing it yourself, you need to check with your insurer what their procedure is here. They may ask for the V5C when they take posession leaving the ball entirely in their court.

In terms of what the insurers are willing to pay, they will probably low ball you with the CAP residual/trade-in value as the starting point. You can haggle with them, and assuming that the other party has exchanged details with you was was insured, it will be the other parties insurer that has to pay for the claim. Your insurer may be willing to push them to agree a larger claim figure in order to mitigate your financial loss.

I'm sorry that you have had this inconvenience.