Bye Bye landie

You might find you're lucky and that the rusty bit took the impact and the rest of the (presumably more solid) chassis is straight. You just need to see if you can get a repair section for the bent part, otherwise you'll end up putting a lot of time and effort in making parts up from scratch...

Time to get the ruler out and start measuring things to see how bad it is...

Paul

Yes it is not as bad as it looks, now I have partially got the bumper off (need to take a saw to a bolt with a rounded nut now) the dumb iron has crumpled, and the spring folded, if that is replaced with a new spring it will probably be OK, then another wing and bumper of course, though I guess you could straighten the bumper with a press.

Question is how will it be like to drive with one front wheel somewhat behind the other one in geometry as my recovery does not cover from home.?

Twas Sun, 11 Apr 2004 10:19:56 +0100 when "Larry" put finger to keyboard producing:

I once limped a car 5 miles home after a crash, one of the front wheels was pointing out and set about 6 inches further back. Once I'd beaten the bodywork back out of the way it drove rather well considering, though I kept it to 10-20 MPH as it felt unsteady and cornered interestingly.

PS, sorry mum :o(

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

mrniceATmrnice.me.uk 110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

On or around Sun, 11 Apr 2004 10:19:56 +0100, "Larry" enlightened us thusly:

not the sort of press most people have access to...

bumpers are cheap from the nice people at Paddock. as are body panels.

check yer steering bits, if the bumper gets bent round enough to hit the wheel it can bend the track rod as well.

The wheel has been pushed back but the track rods look ok and it does steer.

Wouldn't want to slam the brakes on in a hurry though as the back of the spring is pushed up right against the chassis, and obviosly the suspension is not going to be working at its best.

I am not after a new wing, or bumper, scrap will do fine. I could get away with the wing as it is for some time until the MOT when the headlamp alignment will be out.

If you are going to go through your insurance, firstly, stop taking it to bits, the assessor will want to see it in the state it was in at the time of the accident, secondly, your insurance will pay for the cost of having it recovered.

Usually the best bet in cases like this is to let the insurance write it off, then buy back the salvage and do the repair yourself, but be careful it doesn't get categorised as unrepairable, or you will not be able to get insurance on it again.

"SimonJ" wrote in news:c5bj1h$27u$ snipped-for-privacy@sparta.btinternet.com:

What is the definition of that? Surely everything is "repairable" -- it's just a question of economics.

"Beyond economical repair" is another definition that's as long as a piece of string.

Derry

Your claim is against the other driver's insurance, you should be able to negotiate the cost of the damage less residual value. Then it is up to you whether you repair it. With this amount of damage, unless it is a newish vehicle, it is almost bound to be "beyond economic repair", so most likely to be a class C write off. If the damage is worse then I think they can classify it as class A or B, IIRC Class A cannot even be used for spares. Be aware it will need a vehicle inspection before you can put it back on the road, this is to check things like engine, chassis and VIN numbers are genuine.

Your choice but if you fail to report the damage to your insurers it could well invalidate later insurance, if you do report it they are almost bound to send an engineer around to inspect it. When some small rover totalled itself on the towball of my hilux, with no apparent damage to the hilux, I was required to replace the towball in case it was invisibly damaged.

AJH

Does that mean they caught the miscreant 'what'did it ?

Peter R.

Twas 11 Apr 2004 14:16:43 GMT when Derry Argue put finger to keyboard producing:

write-offs classed A or B are not insureable, ever. Class C or D can be insured once that have passed an inspection.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

mrniceATmrnice.me.uk 110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

When the insurers write a car off, they will categorise it as A, B, C or D. A is the least damaged (minor dents/scratches), D is the worst (you mean that mess was once a car?!?). If it's a C or D then you'll struggle to ever insure it again, if it's an A or B you won't have an issue.

I think. That's from memory, if it's not that it's something close.

Paul

Twas Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:31:07 +0100 when Paul Everett put finger to keyboard producing:

i think it's the other way around, A or B will never see the road again, C or D can be restored.

-- Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.) ___________________________________________________________ "To know the character of a man, give him anonymity" - Mr.Nice.

mrniceATmrnice.me.uk 110 CSW 2.5(na)D___________________________________________________________

On or around Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:31:07 +0100, Paul Everett enlightened us thusly:

trouble is, a Land Rover ain't a car. You can buy a complete replacement chassis for well under a grand for a SWB, and second-hand body panels are no problem, so you really can rebuild almost anything.

a seriously crunched "modern" car could well be beyond repair - there's a limit to how much you can straighten the structure, and a limit to how much it's safe to straighten it.

Its far from beyond repair, just a matter of a bit of cutting and welding, which would probably have to have been done for an mot at some point in the future anyway. However I would like to have chosen my own time and place.

What other driver what other insurance, this is the wild west out here. Sounds to me like I want to avoid the insurers at all costs. What is the insurance engineer going to make of my bulkhead and all the jury rigged repairs that +ave accumulated in there over time ?

I want a servicable land rover, and I do not want to lose the investment I have already put in it to have to find another one which will like all old motors start costing me from the word go, better sticking with what you know.

How about getting the insurance to write it off & pay up, then buy it back off them?

Too much hassle it'll take them forever to get an inspector out even.

If I am not back on the road in a week I shall be right pissed off, besides too much of a risk for future insurance.

OK, but there is a scheme by which all of us that are insured subsidise damage to third parties by uninsured criminals.

Your call, 'cept you did ask on a public newsgroup and ignorance is no......

Sorry I did not spot the sig, being a S3 the write off residual value will be a pittance and not figure in the loss adjustment.

Nought if it previously was street legal.

You need something with coil springs then ;-)

AJH

On or around Sun, 11 Apr 2004 16:56:11 +0100, Mr.Nice. enlightened us thusly:

wot I said, though, there should be no such thing as an unrebuildable land rover. They may not want to do it on economic grounds, if it was badly damaged, but as regards the actual repair process, you can replace anything including a twisted chassis, if you *want* to.