I CAN'T BELIEVE IT.......WRITE OFF!!!!!!!

[Vindezal]

Hi Bobby sorry to hear about your car. Last time I spoke to you was years ago down the halfway house. Ive had my car over 6 years so know how ya feel.

[toxo]

Nice one, that's good news. I had a similar problem when I got driven into on the M1, my car started off as a write off and then they slowly realised how much it was worth. I ended up with a cash-in-lieu settlement which meant I could source all the parts myself and get the work done at a bodyshop of my choosing, as well as getting a load of other work done at the same time

Thats EXACTLY what has happened. Best thing is, despite people continuous jibing at insurance companies, after a little evidence from myself, they completely agreed on my valuation of the car to the penny!!!

The assessor said that his insurance company now regards these cars as "future classics" and sees them as what they call "desired cars" so try to keep them on the road as much as possible.

For those who want an insurance company they can count on when the going gets tough, My brokers are Swinton Specialist with the actual insurers being Groupama.

Amen.

I'll give you my story then

Mine was still driveable after my crash, so eventually an agent from one of the insurers approved garages turned up, gave me a courtesy car and went off with my car. I took a contact number so that I could find out how things were progressing.

Next thing I knew I'd contacted the garage and they told me the car was a write off. In their eyes the car needed £1850 worth of repairs and the Glass's guide price was £1750 for a 1994 MR2. I said 'thanks very much, I'll contact the insurance company and let them know how to proceed'. They took my courtesy car off me and left my broken MR2 with me.

The insurance company actually contacted me before I'd had a chance to call them back, to let me know that they would have an independent assessor view the car, as the insurance value on the policy (£4500) and the valuation from the garage didn't tie up.

I then got a call from the insurance company's assessor, who told me that he was aware of the mistake the garage had made, and knew that the car was 'an import model with all the trimmings'. I explained the difference in engines etc, and the chap went on to say that he had looked around a few import sites, autotrader etc. Fortunately I had also looked around a few import sites (NVI, JM, Newera) and found some tasty models. He explained he'd found models from 1992-1993 for around £3000. I pointed out that 1994 was a facelift year and his response was "Ah, I thought you might say something like that. You clearly know more about these cars than I do!".

Net result: £1850 in my wallet.

[Bobby (aka Shaggar)]

Glad it worked out for you in the end mate. Mine was a little simpler if delayed due to the timing with Xmas and NYE.

Contacted Swinton who put me through to 'Drive Assist'. They confirmed that it was easilt a non-fault accident and that they woudl arrange a replacement hire car for me as mine was undrivable. Car arrived a couple of days later at the arranged time.

Over the next few days they tried to contact the third party but wasnt answering his phone, so they contacted his insurance company direct who confirmed his policy and details were all legitamate. They then said, that they would continue to try and contact him but as they hadnt got immediate contact, I should call the insurers direct and inform them direct.

Called Groupama who again confirmed it was an obvious non-fault accident adn would proceed with things. They would arrange an assessor from their own engineer's dept to come over. He couldnt make it before Xmas but came round on the 30th.

.....his visit was friendly straight forward and he knew his stuf about cars, especially japanese cars and imports. Even likes watching the skyline cream the V8 boys at Santa Pod!!!!

He said he'd research prices for his report but asked if I could do the same. Found plenty of comparative models and sent them to him via email.

30 minutes later!!!!!...he responded with his report agreeing with my price.

Jobs a good'un!


B

[Bobby (aka Shaggar)]

Hi Bobby sorry to hear about your car. Last time I spoke to you was years ago down the halfway house. Ive had my car over 6 years so know how ya feel.

Nice to hear from you mate. Yes I remember both you and your car. We met just after you had bought that car. Glad to see it still looks immaculate.

Do you guys still do the Halfway House?



B

[Vindezal]

Hi Bobby sorry to hear about your car. Last time I spoke to you was years ago down the halfway house. Ive had my car over 6 years so know how ya feel.

Nice to hear from you mate. Yes I remember both you and your car. We met just after you had bought that car. Glad to see it still looks immaculate.

Do you guys still do the Halfway House?



B

Yeah still the same tho dont wash it as much, (mainly the pipes have frozen on the outside of the house) lol
Had gear oil,engine oil and coolent changed recently and it runs like a dream.
My car has a couple of bits where it could be sorted but its ok done 100k miles in it now.
Drove past halfway house yesterday. Dont really go to meets much.

Good your car back on.

[Bobby (aka Shaggar)]

OK guys, even though I'm now just waiting for the cheque from the insurance company, it doesnt look good for the shell of my car. Closer examination has revealed some structural damage. Althought he suspension all seems correctly placed, the front panel (behind the bumper) is crumpled adn so the inner wing has also been bent over too. So not sure but there isa slight chance that the chassis is out of allignment. Its going to cost a lot to do the chassis and I'm wondering just how straight the car will be even after this.

So.....

How much would the car be as a whole to someone. Thats a very good spec with naff all milage on a fully forged engine and brand new top spec Fensport turbocharger. Thousands spent prior to the smash plus lots of nice extras like the wheels, Sard side extensions, HKS limited edition turbo timer, etc etc etc (check out my spec tot he left).......

Once the cheque arrives, Ill be getting it up on a ramp and rip some panels away to make sure but I alwasy said if this car got written off I'd move on. I'm just a sentimental old fool!

Any questions about the car please ask.

So come on guys, whats the love of my life worth?




regards,

B

[Si_Crewe]

S'cuse me if I missed any mention of this but I only read the first 3 pages.....

I hate to say it but I think you'll be better off with a different car.
Cars that're straightened rarely feel the same to drive and replacement panels tend to rust quicker than the original shell did.
If you get yours repaired you'll probably start to notice stuff like sills and suspensio towers going rusty within a year or so.

Have you asked about buying the wreck back from the insurance company?
Perhaps find a few adverts for tatty wrecked cars and use them to "prove" to your insurance company that the wreck is only worth a grand?

That way you can get the full payout from the insurance, buy yourself a sparkly new MR2 and then strip the useful bits out of your wrecked car.
Hell, you might even make a few quid by selling stuff like the interior, calipers, headlights etc on eBay.

Again, apologies if this has already been covered.
I can only say that I've been in the same position myself and used the money from an insurance payout to repair a cherished car, only to find that I was never really happy with it afterwards.

Basically, you should be trying to show your insurance company that a wrecked MR2 turbo is worth about £1k (or whatever you think is a good deal) in parts so you're prepared to buy it back off them for that sort of money.

If they say "Yeah, but you said it has £8k of mod's fitted" you can reply by saying "Fine but once you account for paying somebody £25 an hour to strip those bits off the residual value is only around £1k"

[Bobby (aka Shaggar)]

S'cuse me if I missed any mention of this but I only read the first 3 pages.....

I hate to say it but I think you'll be better off with a different car.
Cars that're straightened rarely feel the same to drive and replacement panels tend to rust quicker than the original shell did.
If you get yours repaired you'll probably start to notice stuff like sills and suspensio towers going rusty within a year or so.

Have you asked about buying the wreck back from the insurance company?
Perhaps find a few adverts for tatty wrecked cars and use them to "prove" to your insurance company that the wreck is only worth a grand?

That way you can get the full payout from the insurance, buy yourself a sparkly new MR2 and then strip the useful bits out of your wrecked car.
Hell, you might even make a few quid by selling stuff like the interior, calipers, headlights etc on eBay.

Again, apologies if this has already been covered.
I can only say that I've been in the same position myself and used the money from an insurance payout to repair a cherished car, only to find that I was never really happy with it afterwards.

Basically, you should be trying to show your insurance company that a wrecked MR2 turbo is worth about £1k (or whatever you think is a good deal) in parts so you're prepared to buy it back off them for that sort of money.

If they say "Yeah, but you said it has £8k of mod's fitted" you can reply by saying "Fine but once you account for paying somebody £25 an hour to strip those bits off the residual value is only around £1k"

Thansk for the input buddy but yes, this has all been covered and yes a resolution has been found. In fact the exact opposite to your method buddy. The car was not written off but a cash-in-leui settlement agreed. So in fatc I found the best most expensive example to ensure the highest possible payout which they agreed with instantly.

If you read the above post, from me, you'll see where I'm currently at.

regards,

B

[Si_Crewe]

Ah, okay...

Same nett result though... You still have the car and you're getting a reasonable sum of cash in hand?
Good stuff.

Do you plan to sell the wreck as a whole or strip it?
Frankly, I reckon you'd be cutting your own throat selling it as a wreck.
People will try and do what I just suggested. They'll say "Look, I can buy a wrecked tubby for £500 so I ain't paying £XXX for yours".

That leaves either stripping the car for parts and putting them in your new car or flogging the parts seperately.

If it was me I'd be taking the major lumps out of it and keeping them for myself (assuming another 2 is on the cards) and then flogging the rest on eBay.

Seriously though, if you have the persistence to rip it all to bits you can probably make a grand on just the "left-overs".

Only thing I can say for sure is that I'd never consider repairing a badly damaged car again. It just isn't worth the heart-ache in the long run.
I promise you, 2 years from now you'll be either worrying about rust or about why the tracking can't be sorted out or why it wears tyres on one side quicker than the other side and you'll wish you'd let it die in peace.

One other thing...
What are you doing about the work required to rebuild the car?
In the past I found that insurance payouts cover the tangible cash value but then you find yourself spending 200 unpaid hours building a car to the same standard as your old one.

Did you get a decent result on that front or are you being forced to suck that cost up yourself?

In a perfect world, in your situation the insurance company should really also cover the cost of fitting all the mod's back to your replacement car so you end up with exactly the same car you had.

Course, I guess the only silver lining is that if there's stuff you'd do differently next time around you get the chance to do it.

[Bobby (aka Shaggar)]

'Cash in leiu' mean they payout on the agreed value of the car minus thier fee they would get from the scrap dealer. As the car is not written off, it is then up to me to fix the car as I please, using who I please adn when I please. There is no further involvement or obligation from the insurers mate.

B