Will they write it off?

[mn1981]

Minding my own business stopped at a set of lights coming off the M1 the other day when suddenly ended up 1.5 car lengths into the roundabout! Needless to say got hit quite hard by a Pug 206 up the backside and left me working at home for a week with whiplash etc.. now car (2003 Mk1 Octy vRS) is at the garage and being assessed for repair, I had a look at it before it went and its got reasonable damage - the boot lid was staved into as far as the CD multichanger in the boot (about 5-6 inchs), rear bumper flattened so that parking sensors pointing skywards, rear lights smashed, rear side panels (both sides) bent, on the drivers side body work pushed up to rear door so no gap round the door and crease in corner of sill when opening door (so in effect drivers side is about 1cm shorter than passenger side) It was drivable but juddered round corners slightly and gears were not right.. when put £10 quids worth of petrol into tank to limp it home had to point the nozzle the opposite way to normal to get the petrol in!

So the question is, do you think it will be a write off? (I'm guessing bent chassis) and if not, shall I just part ex it anyway as I'm not convinced its going to be the same car again? ...

most gutting thing is I only bought it 8 months ago for a shade over £5k with 34,000 miles on the clock, i've put 2,600 miles on it (its my weekend car) and I doubt I'll get much of a payout on it if it is written off :'(

[MoggyTech]

Hard to say without pictures, but going by your description, yes it will be a write off. Whiplash aside, at least your OK which is the main thing.

[mannyo]

I'd go with write off, especially if the floor pan is damaged because in that case the roof and C pillars are also likely to be bent.

[mn1981]

Hard to say without pictures, but going by your description, yes it will be a write off. Whiplash aside, at least your OK which is the main thing.

Yeah, agree with you, can repair metal and all that... i've tried to up load the pictures but new briskoda isn't working in my favour and i'm struggling with pics.. will have a go again shortly..

[mn1981]

ok, links, doesn't look so bad in the pics as does in the flesh (metal) ...

side view of back:

(rear side panel bends don't show up)

from the back:

rear door on good side of car:

rear door on bad side of car:

stupidly didn't get any from the inside but the floor pan was rippled in the boot..

[mannyo]

I'd say thats definately a write off, the door gaps give away a possibly bent chassis.

[mn1981]

for context, one taken not long after i purchased it

[mn1981]

I'd say thats definately a write off, the door gaps give away a possibly bent chassis.

I thought so, thanks for your opinion

got my eye on a 2002 V6 TDI Passat if this one is confirmed as a total loss...

[vRSLen]

Looks like a write off. Have you tried to remove the spare wheel?

[Dr Zoidberg]

That's not quite as bad looking as it sounded , but I'd expect that to be a write off on a car of that age.

If you look at the boot floor it will be all over the place.

[mn1981]

Looks like a write off. Have you tried to remove the spare wheel?

must admit i didn't try to get the wheel out, the boot was wedged shut, had to empty it via the rear seats..

[mn1981]

That's not quite as bad looking as it sounded , but I'd expect that to be a write off on a car of that age.

If you look at the boot floor it will be all over the place.

yeah, now i re-read it sounds like it was crushed in half.. the boot floor wasn't flat thats for sure..

[Dr Zoidberg]

My Mk1 was rear ended and shoved into the car in front as well.

It got repaired but it was much newer at the time.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/9167-sandwiched/page__hl__sandwiched__st__20

The first body shop did such a bad job that it had to go elsewhere to be fixed again and I think the total bill was about £5k!

[Nick P]

Don't buy the 2.5 V6 TDI. If you want a Passat, get a PD130.

[mn1981]

My Mk1 was rear ended and shoved into the car in front as well.

It got repaired but it was much newer at the time.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/9167-sandwiched/page__hl__sandwiched__st__20

The first body shop did such a bad job that it had to go elsewhere to be fixed again and I think the total bill was about £5k!

What car values mine just over £4k from a dealer, so i'm guessing won't take much to make mine write off from reading your thread. glad you were ok after that, sounded like a nasty shunt.. going to be a fun arguement over valuation i think!

[mn1981]

Don't buy the 2.5 V6 TDI. If you want a Passat, get a PD130.

Hi, thks - what is bad about the 2.5 - i want something suitably torquey (and automatic as i'm feeling lazy / do some town driving) so felt the 1.9 might be a bit legless.. am i completely niave on this?

[Dr Zoidberg]

Hi, thks - what is bad about the 2.5 - i want something suitably torquey (and automatic as i'm feeling lazy / do some town driving) so felt the 1.9 might be a bit legless.. am i completely niave on this?

The 2.5 V6 is a pretty old design that isn't much more powerful than the PD130 but is a lot heavier on fuel.

That said , they aren't all that popular so you can often get a much newer car for your money than if you went for the smaller engine.

[mn1981]

The 2.5 V6 is a pretty old design that isn't much more powerful than the PD130 but is a lot heavier on fuel.

That said , they aren't all that popular so you can often get a much newer car for your money than if you went for the smaller engine.

many thks - i'll bear that in mind for sure, 1.9's more widely available but generally higher milage (reflecting popularity i guess!) on autotrader.. will have a closer look when the garage/insurance get in touch with the verdict!

[Dr Zoidberg]

What car values mine just over £4k from a dealer, so i'm guessing won't take much to make mine write off from reading your thread. glad you were ok after that, sounded like a nasty shunt.. going to be a fun arguement over valuation i think!

It worked out ok in the end. There was over two months of work getting it fixed , fixed again , re-assesed and then fixed properly and it still wasn't 100% perfect - the boot shutlines were slightly out.

On the up side I claimed for the (entirely genuine) whiplash , the PC in the boot that got trashed , and also for the reduction in value of my car so I "made" a couple of grand out of it.

Although I sold it three and a half years ago it's local to me and I still see it occasionally and it looks ok - the respray was a very good job.

[Choongmu]

Looks like a def right off. I think most insurance companies work on a half to 2/3 its market value, before saying its beyond economical repair. A full rear end respray will probably be close to 1k, labour at around 50 an hour, then it doesn't take much to quickly add up, and obviously thats before any parts, re jig of chasis etc.

Sorry to hear it before xmas, but as said above and no doubt loads have said, atleast your ok.

Its no comfort though as i'm sure your livid that your cars been smacked by some inconsiderate idiot not concentrating enough!

[mn1981]

Sorry to hear it before xmas, but as said above and no doubt loads have said, atleast your ok.

Its no comfort though as i'm sure your livid that your cars been smacked by some inconsiderate idiot not concentrating enough!

just found out my mate's fiance just walked out on him so I am certainly glad my only worries are a bit of whiplash and some bent metal...

I was pretty cross at first but the woman who hit me was distraught, very apologetic and clearly shaken (airbags deployed in her car etc), has also made it easy on the claim by admitting full liability, hard to stay cross in those circumstances.

[bond007]

dont be sure that this will be written off, just priced most bits up for it inc boot floor, 1/4 panels , tailgate, bumper, lamps and its only up to £1350, body parts for these are very cheap, a pull on a jig will sort out the door gaps and the rest is just panel work, i spent 4 years at a ADR accident repair before going to tps and i've seen a lot worse than this repaired, agreed the repair value will be close to the car value but in this penny pinching world insurance companies are favouring repairing cars to save on payouts.

[justinbarrow]

I'd expect that to be a write off on a car of that age.

If you look at the boot floor it will be all over the place.

The car isnt that old ...well compared to my 11 year old octy lol. What a shame it looks such a nice motor, at least you are ok just make sure you dont take any silly offers though from the insurance if they decide its a total loss. I rolled my metro 10 years ago on black ice all the roof was damaged and because of the time of year I accepted the first offer which looking back was not the right thing to do.

Bet the Pugeoet came off worse though

Edited 23 December, 2009 by justinbarrow

[mn1981]

Well - I thought i'd give the garage who has the car a call.. the bill so far is £3,233 for repairs, but not quite finalised. Now garage closed until 4th of Jan before quote goes of to the insurance but they think the insurance might ask for a repair on it, which is cool..

Looks like i have my uber-cool (?) corsa 1.2 hire car for a few more weeks then!

Thanks for all your thoughts, Merry Christmas all.

[bond007]

yeh i'd be inclined to say they'd go for it especially as you paid 5k for it not long back and they would base their payout on what you paid