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Car Forum / Peugeot Cars / April 2007Insurance: When is it considered a write off
My 17 year old lad has a 1997 Peugeot 106, 43k on the clock. Last night he reversed, not realising the passenger door was closed, and the door was damaged on a low brick wall. The door still closes, albeit now with a gap with the body that you can see daylight through. We took it to two garages, both said the door needs replacing. Which I can believe. It's badly crumpled near the hinges. We've already received the quote from one of the garages, £1168. Now, the car was purchased 6 weeks ago for 1350 (Private sale). If my lad claims, he'll have to pay 400 quid compulsory excess, and of course he'll lose any chance of his premium dropping next year (a likely drop of 600-800 quid). However, won't the insurance company consider a close on 1200 quid repair, on a 1350 quid (and the book price will be lower) car a write off ? The car's perfectly OK still to drive about, and whether he claims or not, it's going to cost him 1200 quid either way to repair. I think I'm answering my own question here, but you've not spent the day with a distraught teenager :-) Any advice or experience gratefully accepted !  SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. > Last night he reversed, not realising the passenger door was closed Eh? > Any advice or experience gratefully accepted ! Put the phone to the insurance down, and send your idiotic offsprog out to get a second hand door from a scrapper - A door from a Saxo will fit, too, I think - and a Haynes manual, and get him to swap it over himself. He might learn something, and he'll certainly save a shitload. > My 17 year old lad has a 1997 Peugeot 106, 43k on the clock. > > Last night he reversed, not realising the passenger door was closed, and > the door was damaged on a low brick wall. Good job he didn't have the door open or the dmage would have been terrible! > The door still closes, albeit now with a gap with the body that you can > see daylight through. > > We took it to two garages, both said the door needs replacing. Which I can > believe. It's badly crumpled near the hinges. We've already received the > quote from one of the garages, £1168. I bet you have. Main dealers do cost that much. > Now, the car was purchased 6 weeks ago for 1350 (Private sale). > > If my lad claims, he'll have to pay 400 quid compulsory excess, and of > course he'll lose any chance of his premium dropping next year (a likely > drop of 600-800 quid). That's why premiums go up for careless or dangerous drivers. > However, won't the insurance company consider a close on 1200 quid repair, > on a 1350 quid (and the book price will be lower) car a write off ? They wouldn't pay it as the repair doesn't cost that much. > The car's perfectly OK still to drive about, and whether he claims or not, > it's going to cost him 1200 quid either way to repair. Why? A scrapyard is not going to charge him £1200 for a door ! Some will even fit it for a small payment. >I think I'm answering my own question here, but you've not spent the day >with a distraught teenager :-) Well that might teach him a lesson. That's the last time he will be messing about with friends in his car. > Any advice or experience gratefully accepted ! Don't tell the insurer unless the owner of the wall is going to claim. Go to a scrapyard and get a new door. Either ask them nicely to fit it, or find an independant garage who will do it for you. > "Mark Carver" <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote in message >> Last night he reversed, not realising the passenger door was closed, and >> the door was damaged on a low brick wall. >> > Good job he didn't have the door open or the dmage would have been terrible! Not enough nots >> We took it to two garages, both said the door needs replacing. Which I can >> believe. It's badly crumpled near the hinges. We've already received the >> quote from one of the garages, £1168. >> > I bet you have. Main dealers do cost that much. That quote wasn't from a main dealer, still waiting for that > Don't tell the insurer unless the owner of the wall is going to claim. Go > to a scrapyard and get a new door. Either ask them nicely to fit it, or > find an independant garage who will do it for you. I had a beer last night, and suddenly everything came into sharp focus. You and Adrian are quite right of course, in fact I'm going to do even less than you both suggest. Nothing. It's common, practical, and economic sense. He can learn his lesson by driving around a 'less than cool' blemished car, with rain dribbling in, at least it matches all his friends vehicles now. SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. >> "Mark Carver" <mark.carver@invalid.invalid> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Not enough nots "Not" spelt differently becomes "ton" - as in "the ton of bricks" that he appears to have run into and that insurance companies will drop on his premiums if he claims.. >>> We took it to two garages, both said the door needs replacing. Which >>> I can believe. It's badly crumpled near the hinges. We've already [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > car, with rain dribbling in, at least it matches all his friends > vehicles now. And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on sight on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has had a beer.. Plus, if he has another accident, the insurance company may easily create problems because this accident clearly happened earlier and wasn't reported to them. Full disclosure and all that.. Having invested 17 years in him already, a few more hours taking him by the nose to a scrappie and getting the door swapped (so no one, including his insurance company, will never know) may just end up to your advantage, when you are old and dribbling.. SignatureSue > And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on sight > on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has had a > beer.. Plus, if he has another accident, the insurance company may > easily create problems because this accident clearly happened earlier > and wasn't reported to them. Full disclosure and all that.. I take your point, but how is a likely non matching (colour wise) door going to attract less attention ? As it stands, the only external sign of trouble is a dent behind the mirror. At first sight you don't even notice it. For the record the wall is totally undamaged, and the wall's owner (his mate's father) is not fused so no problem there. > Having invested 17 years in him already, a few more hours taking him by > the nose to a scrappie and getting the door swapped (so no one, > including his insurance company, will never know) may just end up to > your advantage, when you are old and dribbling.. As long as the car is roadworthy (MOT etc) do the insurance company care what condition it's in ? SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. >> And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on >> sight on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > notice it. For the record the wall is totally undamaged, and the wall's > owner (his mate's father) is not fused so no problem there. Sorry, a few words paint a thousand pictures..I'd got the idea the damage was rather more obvious. As to the colour match, I thought there was a fair chance that you could get one to match a 97 106. >> Having invested 17 years in him already, a few more hours taking him >> by the nose to a scrappie and getting the door swapped (so no one, [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > As long as the car is roadworthy (MOT etc) do the insurance company care > what condition it's in ? IIUC, the damage was done to a car and by a driver that they are providing cover for. Pretty hard to argue that couldn't affect a decision about whether to continue providing cover and on what basis that cover would be provided. It was clearly a "total fault" non-trivial accident caused purely by his carelessness. It certainly alters the value of the item at risk and what they would pay out in a future total loss claim. IIUC, it isn't likely to stop them paying a future 3rd party claim - but could quite possibly cause them not to pay out on his own loss in that claim and could cause them to decline to insure him in the future. If that accident is down to him and involves a BIG third party payout, it could all get *very* "involved". The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is repaired/changed. They quite possibly will file it and nothing else will result and the premium be unaffected. But, if you aren't going to do that, keeping the evidence of what you haven't told them does seem a little, "brave".. SignatureSue > Sorry, a few words paint a thousand pictures..I'd got the idea the > damage was rather more obvious. As to the colour match, I thought there > was a fair chance that you could get one to match a 97 106. Metallic green [snip] > The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and > get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is > repaired/changed. They quite possibly will file it and nothing else > will result and the premium be unaffected. But, if you aren't going to > do that, keeping the evidence of what you haven't told them does seem a > little, "brave".. Understood. I can see where you're coming from. Based on the cost of repair of this minor incident (and any claimable repair would have to be done by an 'expensive' outlet (?)) any future accident that would involve damage to a third party, is likely to be considered a write off ? So I guess by informing the insurance company of this accident now, they will only devalue the vehicle from their perceived current value, to that minus the repair cost, i.e. a couple of hundred quid. So that's all they'd pay out for any future 'write off' claim ? I've already resigned myself to the fact, that assuming no more accidents, this car will end its life with me taking it to a scrapyard, my only concern is to keep within the law, and to make sure that liability to third parties involved in any future accidents is protected, so to be bomb proof I need to write to the insurers ? Will that affect his premium next year though, even though no claim is being made ? Sorry if these seem naive questions, but I have no personal experience of making car insurance claims (yet!). SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. >> Sorry, a few words paint a thousand pictures..I'd got the idea the >> damage was rather more obvious. As to the colour match, I thought [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > to that minus the repair cost, i.e. a couple of hundred quid. So that's > all they'd pay out for any future 'write off' claim ? Assuming the next accident doesn't hide the existing damage - the value would be based on its previous damaged condition anyway. It isn't likely that the present damage will be attributed to the future accident, because of its nature. So, if you leave it unrepaired, that's going to be the state that it will be valued at, whether you tell them or not. > I've already resigned myself to the fact, that assuming no more > accidents, this car will end its life with me taking it to a scrapyard, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > Sorry if these seem naive questions, but I have no personal experience > of making car insurance claims (yet!). To be "bombproof" you have to tell the insurers of everything that affects their risk. However, lots of people don't - as Steve (IIRC) correctly pointed out. Obviously if there isn't an accident later, it isn't going to be a problem at all and most people don't have series of accidents in the same car. But, if you are going to hide things from insurance companies you do need to be reasonably certain that they aren't going to find out.. Me, in his circumstances, I would probably stick another (matching) door on it and not notify them. Even if (very unlikely unless left a different colour) it was noticed, it could easily have been done whilst owned by someone else.. What I wouldn't do is drive around with clearly visible unreported accident damage in the hope that the next accident will be in the same spot or that the loss adjuster won't tell the insurance company that there appears to be damage from a previous accident. If the insurance company did make a fuss about it, they would win... SignatureSue > What I wouldn't do is drive around with clearly visible unreported > accident damage in the hope that the next accident will be in the same > spot or that the loss adjuster won't tell the insurance company that > there appears to be damage from a previous accident. If the insurance > company did make a fuss about it, they would win... Actually, the visible external damage looks more like vandalism, where someone might have kicked the panel in, than accident damage. The actual point of contact with the wall has only lost a small patch of paint, and has a tiny fold. He's been talking with his mates about it, a couple of them are apprentices at local garages, or have older brothers that are, so the 'scrapyard' solution seems to forming without any help from me.... SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. > > What I wouldn't do is drive around with clearly visible unreported > > accident damage in the hope that the next accident will be in the same [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > Mark > Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. Get the scrapyard door, get it fitted, then get someone to spray it if you have to - don't tell the insurance. They'll never know (you could have bought the car with the slight colour mismatch on the door which you will undoubtedly have after spraying), and would only use the fact that you informed them as ammunition against him some time in the future. They rip the arse out of us all the time; don't help them to do it! >> Sorry, a few words paint a thousand pictures..I'd got the idea the damage >> was rather more obvious. As to the colour match, I thought there was a [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > Sorry if these seem naive questions, but I have no personal experience of > making car insurance claims (yet!). Write offs tend to occur at around 70% of the Glass' value of the car. That's because the insurer will try and palm you off with around 70% of the Glass' value. At worst, with this car (I'm assuming it's insured fully comp, or you wouldn't be worrying about claiming), they'd offer you cash in lieu of repair. I've not worked at an assessors for a couple of years now, but it's basically what they think the car's worth, and you can go and see if you can get it repaired - the car's not written off, not registered as written off, and still completely roadworthy even if unrepaired IIRC. As others have said, get a matching door from a scrappy / ebay / wherever - look hard enough and you'll find one, and it'll be not much over a hundred quid even if you pay a garage to unbolt the old one and swap the door cards, rubbing strips and locks for you... As for the value of the car, if you repair it with a matching scrappy door, it'll be worth the same. If you leave it as it is, it'll be worth a hundred or two less. As it stands, I'd not bother with fully comp being as it's a fairly low value car and any claim will be made back on your future premiums... [snip] > As for the value of the car, if you repair it with a matching scrappy > door, it'll be worth the same. If you leave it as it is, it'll be worth > a hundred or two less. As it stands, I'd not bother with fully comp > being as it's a fairly low value car and any claim will be made back on > your future premiums... Thanks, interesting. When we signed him up, options for 3rd party didn't seem to exist, and where they did the cost was only 30 quid lower than the Fully Comp price. I agree, I was 3rd party at his age, but today with that small difference it didn't seem worth the hassle. SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. > [snip] >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > Fully Comp price. I agree, I was 3rd party at his age, but today with that > small difference it didn't seem worth the hassle. Weird. I've never bothered getting a quote for FC as far as I can remember, but I've always known that I'm very unlikely to claim - the first couple of years of NCB is very important to your premium IMO. > The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and > get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is > repaired/changed. They quite possibly will file it and nothing else > will result and the premium be unaffected. But, if you aren't going to > do that, keeping the evidence of what you haven't told them does seem a > little, "brave".. Sod that. I've only ever had one accident - it was fairly big, but still not worth doing on my insurance. I didn't tell them as it wasn't something that they needed to know, IMHO. I've also had theft damage incidents that I've not bothered to tell them about. It happens all the time, so I wouldn't worry about it. SignatureSteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo' www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC # >> The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and >> get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > It happens all the time, so I wouldn't worry about it. I had a lovely big accident. I informed my insurers, told them I wasn't going to claim, and guess what. They didn't give a f.ck, and neither did any insurer I've had quotes from since. What they give a f.ck about is claims. > The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and > get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is > repaired/changed. Oh please. The damage was there already or just appeared in the night didn't it? Can the current door hinges be pulled out? It might not take too much to jsut make the door shut properly. >>The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and >>get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is >>repaired/changed. > > Oh please. The damage was there already or just appeared in the night > didn't it? Do you disagree with this being "The safest option"? Presumably you are advising that, if the insured is asked, he tells the insurance company that, "The damage was there when I bought it", or "It just appeared in the night"? The damage was caused by the door being forced open beyond its normal limit. A bit difficult to argue that "just appeared" in the night.. There are bound to be witnesses to the damage not being there when purchased and even to how it happened. Charges of attempting to obtain pecuniary advantage by deception, perjury, etc spring to mind.. Would the neighbour (whose wall was hit) go along with the lie? Would the previous owner/seller? Would the OP want a jail term, as well as the son? The very, very small chance of this happening has to be weighed against the trivial amount of money involved.. > Can the current door hinges be pulled out? It might not take too much > to jsut make the door shut properly. A different question. I'm sure that the damage could be put right by a couple of hours of expert panel-bashing work, followed by a bit of respraying. However that, if you have to pay for it, is going to cost rather more than picking up a scrapyard one. SignatureSue > >>The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and > >>get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Do you disagree with this being "The safest option"? So you make a claim for something and they come back to say "oh there's some damage to the car so we're not paying out"? >>>>The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not claiming and >>>>get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or not the door is [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > So you make a claim for something and they come back to say "oh > there's some damage to the car so we're not paying out"? Even if not disclosed, if the policyholder made a claim the car would only be valued at its (damaged) state - prior to the accident causing the claim. Only if the latest accident obscured the previous damage, would the policy holder benefit. Or the insurance company finds out from the damage report that there was a previous (undisclosed) accident and yes, writes back to say that they aren't going to pay out. Insurance companies have a right to full disclosure of all matters relevant to their risk and the value of the insured property. SignatureSue > A different question. I'm sure that the damage could be put right by a > couple of hours of expert panel-bashing work, followed by a bit of > respraying. However that, if you have to pay for it, is going to cost > rather more than picking up a scrapyard one. Latest development today, a local 'no questions asked' chap who a number of people have recommended when they heard my story, will take a look at it. He's not seen it yet, but the consensus from some car enthusiast colleagues is the door can probably be crafted back into shape by him, and a very respectable appearance, for around 100-150 Quid. Thanks to all for helping me up the learning curve. >>> The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not >>> claiming and get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > The very, very small chance of this happening has to be weighed > against the trivial amount of money involved.. Sue, you're being way too over cautious her, should I tell my insurers if my number plate gets cracked? what about a punture, will I declare that? SignatureThePunisher >>>>The safest option is to notify them in writing, even if not >>>>claiming and get acknowledgement in writing from them. Whether or [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > Sue, you're being way too over cautious her, should I tell my insurers if my > number plate gets cracked? what about a punture, will I declare that? Erm, who wrote: "Me, in his circumstances, I would probably stick another (matching) door on it and not notify them." Your puncture (unless you continue to drive on it) or cracked number plate do not significantly alter the risk being carried by the insurance company. Damage so severe that the question,"When is it considered a write-off?" - is a different thing altogether. A driver who carelessly does such damage is a significant risk factor also. Whilst there are certain advantages in driving a wreck (drivers are more likely to give way to something that may easily not be insured...), IME, they do attract the police on a boring quiet night shift. Which we have many of in Devon..YMMV. IMHO, it is far better to avoid being asked awkward questions than to have to avoid answering them. And never, ever, lie or your tongue will go purple.. But, if you are determined to, at least make sure that the gain outweighs the risk factored by the cost of being found out..It very rarely does. YMMV. SignatureSue > Your puncture (unless you continue to drive on it) or cracked number > plate do not significantly alter the risk being carried by the insurance > company. Damage so severe that the question,"When is it considered a > write-off?" - is a different thing altogether. A driver who carelessly > does such damage is a significant risk factor also. Ah, hang on, it's not the *damage* that's severe, it's the cost of having that damage repaired at an insurance company 'approved' repair centre. There seems to be an awful lot of speculation in this thread as to the level of damage incurred Here's a picture:- http://www.markyboy.net/P4230089.JPG (700k) I hadn't considered it in the least bit 'attention grabbing' until venturing in here :-) SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. > There seems to be an awful lot of speculation in this thread as to > the level of damage incurred [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > I hadn't considered it in the least bit 'attention grabbing' until > venturing in here :-) WHAT? Tell him to JFDI. Just... drive it. Maybe if you'd called the thread 'When is it even noticeable' people wouldn't be talking about it being a write off... > Maybe if you'd called the thread 'When is it even noticeable' people > wouldn't be talking about it being a write off... Perhaps, I think I was swept into his emotional response to the accident. Anyway, he's either going to get his garage apprentice friends to sort him out a scrapyard door, or the local panel beater. Whichever's the cheaper and least bovver. SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. > > Maybe if you'd called the thread 'When is it even noticeable' people > > wouldn't be talking about it being a write off... [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > a scrapyard door, or the local panel beater. Whichever's the cheaper and least > bovver. A crease that small should pull out easily. The problem is making good the metallic paint which isn't an amateur job. > > > Maybe if you'd called the thread 'When is it even noticeable' people > > > wouldn't be talking about it being a write off... [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > A crease that small should pull out easily. The problem is making good the > metallic paint which isn't an amateur job. It hasn't cracked the paint, so I reckon dentmaster might well be able to sort that for very little cost. They usually have someone set up outside Halfords at the weekends. SignatureSteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo' www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC # >> > > Maybe if you'd called the thread 'When is it even noticeable' people >> > > wouldn't be talking about it being a write off... [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > > They usually have someone set up outside Halfords at the weekends. They are also in the Yellow Pages and you can certainly try them, but I think you will find that it is too near the edge and double skinned so they can't get their little hammers on sticks at it, but at least if they can't do it they don't (IME) charge for saying so. And for the same reason you probably won't be able to pull all of it out with a sucker, though you might be able to improve it. However a tin of filler from your local accessory shop, the proper Peugeot aerosol from a dealer and about 30 minutes of actual work spread over a couple of hours or so should do the job. Ron Robinson >> Anyway, he's either going to get his garage apprentice friends to sort him out >> a scrapyard door, or the local panel beater. Whichever's the cheaper and least >> bovver. > > A crease that small should pull out easily. The problem is making good > the metallic paint which isn't an amateur job. The local guy I mentioned earlier is apparently a whizz with metallic paint jobs, I was shown one of his repairs this afternoon, it looked very good, but the scrapyard door plan might end up cheaper. SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. >>> Anyway, he's either going to get his garage apprentice friends to >>> sort him out a scrapyard door, or the local panel beater. >>> Whichever's the cheaper and least bovver. >> A crease that small should pull out easily. The problem is making >> good the metallic paint which isn't an amateur job. > The local guy I mentioned earlier is apparently a whizz with metallic > paint jobs, I was shown one of his repairs this afternoon, it looked > very good, but the scrapyard door plan might end up cheaper. Why the hell are you even thinking about doing anything with it? Just bloody leave it well alone and get on with life! Just wait till the summer gets here then work on it .in that way u can top up your tan and get the job done aswell. > Why the hell are you even thinking about doing anything with it? > > Just bloody leave it well alone and get on with life! I'd like to. Anyway, weren't you ever 17 ? SignatureMark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. >> Why the hell are you even thinking about doing anything with it? >> >> Just bloody leave it well alone and get on with life! > I'd like to. Anyway, weren't you ever 17 ? Yep. I drove a brush-painted 2cv. <thinks> Hold on a minute...I'm now 36... and driving several brush-painted 2cvs... > > Why the hell are you even thinking about doing anything with it? > > > > Just bloody leave it well alone and get on with life! > > I'd like to. Anyway, weren't you ever 17 ? Yes, I had a Suzuki GP100. Red, it was. Seriously, that's hardly worth bothering with if DentMaster can't do anything. SignatureSteveH 'You're not a real petrolhead unless you've owned an Alfa Romeo' www.italiancar.co.uk - Honda VFR800 - Hongdou GY200 - Alfa 75 TSpark Alfa 156 TSpark - B6 Passat 2.0TDI SE - COSOC KOTL BOTAFOT #87 - BOTAFOF #18 - MRO # - UKRMSBC #7 - Apostle #2 - YTC # >>> I'd like to. Anyway, weren't you ever 17 ? >> >>Yes, I had a Suzuki GP100. Red, it was. >> >>Seriously, that's hardly worth bothering with if DentMaster can't do >>anything. So did I - the disc braked original one - it would do genuine 80mph as well!!!! > Here's a picture:- > > http://www.markyboy.net/P4230089.JPG (700k) > > I hadn't considered it in the least bit 'attention grabbing' until > venturing in here :-) I've had worse done by the door getting caught by a strong wind.....global warming, don't ya know Can't disagree more NEVER contact insurance co unless you have to, never mind in writing. You have a duty of care to keep your losses to an absolute minimum so the scrappy would seem to be that route. Or look around other bodyshops I'd have thought a new door skin and paint would be a max of 400 quid. We are talking pound notes of course don't expect a Vat receipt or be able to use your Amex to pay and make it clear this is the sort of transaction you're after. Good luck >>> And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on >>> sight on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >do that, keeping the evidence of what you haven't told them does seem a >little, "brave".. > > And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on sight > > on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has had a [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > Mark > Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. That's a low mileage and, if the vehicle is OK, it is worth encouraging him to go the scrappie route. And if the colour is wrong you can buy a few cans of touch-up paint. Or even get a quote to have it sprayed. Before I traded my 504 in on a 505 I left it with a panel beater to have one of his apprentices give it a touch-up - didn't charge much - and I got a good deal on the 505. (then, about three days before the 505 turned up, the 504, driven by my wife, was badly damaged in a collision about 300 miles away and it was not back on the road for about 6 months). When the dealer phoned to say: 'Your 505 is here!' I told him the bad news. But, as the repair was covered by insurance, he let the deal stand - so I was able to collect my family in a brand new vehicle and the smash hardly inconvenienced us. In the small town where the 504 was towed, the garage had a habit of collecting numerous damaged vehicles over Xmas, partially dismantling each, and then slotting in the work over the next six months. Nothing the dealer could do about it (except winge). And the repair mob did a first class job - in retrospect I wish I had kept the 504 for one of the kids. > I take your point, but how is a likely non matching (colour wise) door > going to attract less attention ? Oh, ffs... It's not as if they did 106s in a *shitload* of different colours... But - as a straight answer - plentymuch less. >> And risks a further "ton of bricks" because the police stop him on sight >> on too many boringly quiet nights and may find that he too has had a [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > it. For the record the wall is totally undamaged, and the wall's owner > (his mate's father) is not fused so no problem there. For safety's sake he probably should be fused if he spends time around teenagers. :-)) Steve > He can learn his lesson by driving around a 'less than cool' blemished car, > with rain dribbling in, at least it matches all his friends vehicles now. I agree with Sue that this may not be the wisest course. A friend of mine (very respectable widow) had a Mondeo that she seemed to be unable to avoid slamming into immovable objects. After a couple of years she was seriously upset at being unable to drive much more than a few hundred yards before being stopped by police. The car was always taxed, MOT'd and kept in good running order on a daily basis by her mechanic son. He just couldn't be bothered to sort out the dinged panels knowing that she would bend them again soon. One evening she was stopped twice and had a rant at the police officer who stopped her the second time. He very calmly explained that if she drover "a rogues car" she could expect to get stopped often. She changed the car that summer and adjusted her attitude about parking and ended up not being bothered at regular intervals. >> He can learn his lesson by driving around a 'less than cool' blemished >> car, [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > son. He just couldn't be bothered to sort out the dinged panels knowing > that she would bend them again soon. I had a car with a mismatched door. fairly big dents in the roof and generally tatty demeanour - not a whisper from plod, ever, despite the young scruffy looking male driver. I even drove it to Winchester a few times :-) cheers, clive > >> He can learn his lesson by driving around a 'less than cool' blemished > >> car, [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > generally tatty demeanour - not a whisper from plod, ever, despite the young > scruffy looking male driver. I even drove it to Winchester a few times :-) FWIW the car in question was in Manchester. > My 17 year old lad has a 1997 Peugeot 106, 43k on the clock. > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > Any advice or experience gratefully accepted ! Don't claim, do tell the insurers, scrapyard door. >My 17 year old lad has a 1997 Peugeot 106, 43k on the clock. > >Last night he reversed, not realising the passenger door was closed ? Do you mean open? >The door still closes, albeit now with a gap with the body that you can see >daylight through. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >it's going to cost him 1200 quid either way to repair. I think I'm answering >my own question here, but you've not spent the day with a distraught teenager :-) Get another door from a breakers. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190103141519 > We took it to two garages, both said the door needs replacing. Which I > can believe. It's badly crumpled near the hinges. We've already > received the quote from one of the garages, £1168. If it's just the door and the body hinges etc are ok you could save a deal of money by getting a secondhand one. With a bit of a search you should be able to even get one in the right colour. The interior trim - and things like electric windows, locks etc or not can be swapped from one to tother. I'd expect a good secondhand one to cost no more than 100 quid. Signature*A woman drove me to drink and I didn't have the decency to thank her Dave Plowman dave@davenoise.co.uk London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound.
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