My '97 BMW E39 got crunched the other day when parked up. Looks like a flat bed truck or whatever hit it - a deep groove in the rear door at handle height. Door still works perfectly, though. Took it in for an insurance estimate, and the garage reckons it will be marginal as to if the car is a write off or not.
I've had it from two years old, am the second owner, 80,000 miles, serviced on the dot regardless, fully loaded and near immaculate apart from the dent.
Was it an insurance approved bodyshop ? ...If so a case of the cost against the value and not what the van means to you . I suppose you could leave it as it is if it is secure and legal or find some small bodyshop to see what they would charge . It's a pain in the ass..at least when my R reg Mondeo got hit by a lorry I was able to find out who did it and they eventually admitted liability .............new windscreen,bumper,number plate .indicator and spraying and a hire car ( 10 days so far)
I'd stick +ACI-bmw breaking+ACI- in ebay and see what pops up, you never know your luck, there might be one nearby in the right colour ? :)
Sorry to hear that. Estimate sounds a bit OTT to me. I can't see fitting a s/h door the correct colour or respraying one exceeding the value of the car.
If you want to keep it, it shouldn't be a prroblem to get some sort of payout from the insurance Co, and then fixing it yourself if it's just the door that's damaged.. Mike.
Insurance companies won't fit secondhand parts, IMHO. Had that when the rear screen on the SD1 shattered, and the glass people said they couldn't get a new one. I found a secondhand one easily - but they wouldn't fit it under the insurance.
My understanding if I go down the route of accepting a payment while keeping the car it becomes a cat. whatever write off. So it may be more prudent since I'm thinking about selling it to not involve the insurance company.
My specialist service place who farm out body repairs. Used them before with the same insurance company and they did a superb job.
I dunno what a good secondhand door would cost. I'm perfectly willing to swop it and fit my door internals and trim if needed. Be nice if I could get one the same colour - it's a fairly common one. Assuming it would match well.
Not necessarily. My Rover didn't, when the other party's insurers decided the repair cost more than the car's value. They just made me an offer based on my discussion with the assessor and reassured me over the phone that it wouldn't be marked up as a cat... anything.
For a single secondhand door, I'd tend to agree. How much is your excess anyway?
Just had my old 97 astravan declared uneconomical to repair after some numpty hit me in the side (just pushed the bottom of drivers door in). Wasn't going to bother with ins. but the git who hit me got all arsey trying to blame me so let insurance sort it out and confirmed he was to blame. Engineer rang monday to ask what I wanted to do. I said I want the van back regardless as it's sentimental to me and a damn good runner. Said ok then I'll give you a cash offer of £550 + you keep the van. Didn't mention anything about declaring cat but can't grumble as it was worth probably sod all on paper anyway. And seen as every other panel is dented it just adds to the character and would look stupid with a new shiny door on :-)
Not at all. When my aged Metro got pranged up the arse by a Saab driver at a junction it was worth bugger all and a write off based on the damage but I just asked for a payout and carried on running the car. Never bothered fixing the damage as it wasn't worth it. The tailgate still shut and nothing leaked so basically it was a free payout. Five or six hundred quid as I recall.
A friend of mine lives in the country, the posty drives into his field to deliver the post (as he often does) while turning round in this very clear field he backed into a Volvo estate parked in the field. The Post Office first asked for my friend's insurance details, which he refused on the basis that the car was not on the public highway, they then wanted to write the car off and take it away, which he refused, eventually after much shouting they agreed to pay my friend to repair his car himself with a secondhand door which he did and he did get paid.
Sadly the damage was cause by a hit and run. Same as every other time this car has been bashed. About 6 times and counting...
100 quid with a protected no claims bonus.
Couple of years ago my Mondeo got scraped along one side by some car reversing out the street but at least he had the good grace to stop and leave a note ....His insurance company were going to fix it but as some other work needed doing as well they didn't want to wait and just gave me the dosh....about £350..and I just used T-Cut and more or less sorted it and pocketed the money.
That'll have been a Ford Transit or similar then. The lowest part of a flatbed truck is at waist height. If it had been the rear bumper bar, it'd have been a groove about 4" wide.
But the underlying premium tends to go up when you have a claim. How else could they give you a protected NCD?
You pay extra for the protected NCB. Only do this with the BMW since it gets damaged so much. And not by me. The SD1 has only had one repair in my
25 years of ownership - and it's done far more miles than I've done in the BMW. I have no idea why. They are both parked in the same street and likely to be parked elsewhere in the same way. I usually park at the back of supermarket etc carparks - I'm not one who has lost the use of my legs and must park as close as possible.Had a quick look on Ebay and it seems a door costs about 40 quid. I'll wait for one of the correct colour - I don't mind paying to have the outside resprayed to give a perfect match - but would rather not the internal bits.
Sorry, that was a rhetorical question. Believe me, the premiums also change if you claim much.
Whether it goes up with protected NCD probably depends upon your claims history and/or your insurance Co. My premiums have been unaffected by 3 'no fault' claims over a period of years. The most expensive being about £1000. Mike.
Shocking that is!
Sorry to hear of the bad luck Dave aswell. Its a shame it didn;t happen to the million and one bangers on the road in Balam? always nice motors that gets banged up.
I know the feeling having your motor crashed into.
Nice opportunity for a new project car maybe :)
Been there, done that. Get another door secondhand, get it painted in correct colour. The insurance excess on my car was around £600 plus loss of NCB, so it wasn't worth while claiming it.
What I'll do. There are about 5 suitable doors on Ebay from about 40 quid upwards - but I'll wait 'till one of the right colour comes up - although I'd be happy to have the outside sprayed.
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