Roughly 13 days, 1 hour and 20 minutes after driving my nice shiny new Octavia out of the dealer the front bumper looks like this....

First impression is I'll need a new one, any idea how much this is going to set me back....

Then Ill add the cost of decent bloody tyres as the Dunlops fitted to it as delivered are shocking at stopping in the wet!!!

That's just the worst thing to happen after so short a time.

No idea on cost I'm afraid, but I had something similar happen to my Golf when I got it 5 years ago. I can't quite make out if the bumper is dented in any way - but I used Chipsaway; and when the guy had finished you would not be able to spot the repaint in any way - perfect. That cost about £100 - but it was 5 years back.

Doesn't look that dented, but looks like it's been pierced by what I assume is the mounting... If it was just scratched I would be calling Chipsaway et al. in the morning... 100 quid I could live with but suspect this is going to be quite a lot more

Will look properly tomorrow in the daylight but am now back home drinking a beer

That is a shame, but you will soon get it fixed.

I know how you feel i did similar to my Superb 2 with a few months of ownership , bumper repairs arent that bad you have two choices new bumper £1k at least fitted and sprayed i reckon or that one repaired mine cost £80 and was far worse than that so perhaps a little good news

My friend has a Race Blue pre-FL and had a cracked bumper (stupid tow bars) and it's gonna cost him £360 i think, or might of been £320. That's a all in price, bumper, painted, labour etc. Done by a company in dunstable who used to do all of Subaru's work before they moved.

Had a quick look at the bumper in the customer's car park this morning and not sure now... I've a feeling this is repairable and won't need a replacement... Think I'll take it into a bodyshop somewhere for a quote... Just waiting for the dealer to call me back with a price on a new bumper...which may make the decision for me

If I manage to get to the Midlands meet on Tuesday then I'm sure I'll get plenty of second opinions

Update - Estimate of about £460 all in for a new bumper from the dealer :'(

Edited 25 January, 201016 yr by Raglits

Good grief! Sorry to hear about your car. Any idea who did this to your car? Or was it some inconsiderate **** who drove off without a care or consideration to the damage they had caused? My car was dented in the rear wing by the same sort of person. Big dent/scrape/gash down to the metal covering an area of about 9" x 6". Got it repaired through insurance. My excess was £210 total bill was around £690. I'm now paranoid about where I park my car and always looking at it from my window when others park nearby. Sad or what ?

Good grief! Sorry to hear about your car. Any idea who did this to your car? :

Er... Me :(

Slid into the back of the guy who started to move and then slammed his anchors on as a copper came out of nowhere the other way... I had my brake pedal buried into the carpet and was down to about 5mph or so when I crunched into the back of him from all of about 15mph... Figure there was oil or diesel on the road as the car should have easily stopped in the distance....

My Excess is £400 so am waiting for the estimate from the other guy before deciding whether it's an insurance job or not...

You will get that repaired at a good body shop for less tan £250 so I'd go that route.

What was the damage to the other guys car?

Also I hate to say it, but I doubt it's anything on the road. More likely the fact that it takes you a certain amount to realise the brake lights have come on, then you press your brakes and it's wet.

Ah! Ooops!

Well if you are going to have to pay for his damage as well as yours then its going to be way more than your £400 excess I guess. Have you got protected NCBs on your insurance? Hope it's not too painful for you.

unlucky I hope you get it sorted. I have to say I've had a few very close calls due to not being 100% used to the DSG yet. I find the braking on the DSG to be very weird or atleast compaired to a manual car.

If the other guy/gal is going to claim then go down the insurance route if not say thank you and pay for it yourself.

Ah! Ooops!

Well if you are going to have to pay for his damage as well as yours then its going to be way more than your £400 excess I guess. Have you got protected NCBs on your insurance? Hope it's not too painful for you.

The other guys bumper will almost certainly only be a trip to the body shop for a respray, he has my number and will let me know when he's had a quote... So if his is about 100-150 and mine is 250ish then it's definitely not an insurance job...

Yes to the protected NCB, but I'm more concerned about the premium going up after making a claim...

I reckon if the total is less than about £6-700 then I'm not using the insurance...

So far, the other party has been fine about things so will just wait and see

Er... Me :(

Slid into the back of the guy who started to move and then slammed his anchors on as a copper came out of nowhere the other way... I had my brake pedal buried into the carpet and was down to about 5mph or so when I crunched into the back of him from all of about 15mph... Figure there was oil or diesel on the road as the car should have easily stopped in the distance....

My Excess is £400 so am waiting for the estimate from the other guy before deciding whether it's an insurance job or not...

Gutted for you mate :(

Always frustrating but especially on a new car :( Take it to a decent local body shop and ask for a quote, while you're at it have a look at the work they're doing on other cars to gauge if you feel confident in letting them do the work.

Also without wishing to come across as harsh modern tyres from a reputable brand name are unlikley to be solely to blame for this, having done so little time in the car i'm inclined to think that the tyres still have release compound on them, your new disc's and pads won't yet be bedded in yet, the wet weather combined with the generally poor road surface and whatever it had on it in terms of contamination and a driver in a new car they aren't 100% familiar with possibly not factoring all of the above. Look on the bright side, it's a bumper and frustrating though it is it's repairable and hopefully not that expensive

Edited 25 January, 201016 yr by Avalon

Does the release compound on tyres take time or distance to come out? The car is only a fortnight old but is now on nearly 1200 miles...

I was just surprised at how little retardation there was when I hit the brake pedal last night, as so far, the brakes have felt at least as good as the ones I had on my last car, if not better (certainly in the dry, they seem to be bloody effective) so I'm assuming it's mostly the wet and/or crap on the road last night...

If I manage to get to the Midlands meet on Tuesday then I'm sure I'll get plenty of second opinions

You can be sure of that

Does the release compound on tyres take time or distance to come out? The car is only a fortnight old but is now on nearly 1200 miles...

I was just surprised at how little retardation there was when I hit the brake pedal last night, as so far, the brakes have felt at least as good as the ones I had on my last car, if not better (certainly in the dry, they seem to be bloody effective) so I'm assuming it's mostly the wet and/or crap on the road last night...

Mines a month old - same mileage and the brakes are spot on if that helps at all. So much so that the VW touran I got lumbered with the other day at work felt like trying to brake in my previous 16 year old car.

Edited 25 January, 201016 yr by Harlequin

Does the release compound on tyres take time or distance to come out? The car is only a fortnight old but is now on nearly 1200 miles...

I was just surprised at how little retardation there was when I hit the brake pedal last night, as so far, the brakes have felt at least as good as the ones I had on my last car, if not better (certainly in the dry, they seem to be bloody effective) so I'm assuming it's mostly the wet and/or crap on the road last night...

At 1200 miles it will be long gone, you are talking usually a 50-100 miles depending on how the car is driven.

I really thing it's just as i said above, late notice and a lot of weight.

no consolation I know but a mate of mine bought a brand new Citroen AX (many years ago). Collected it all nice and shiney and then drove it some 50 yards to the petrol station across the road - ponly to be reversed into, whilst stationary, by a wagon. Totalled the front end completely - about 10 minutes after collection!

The garage I bought mine from is on a reknown road for accidents, the dual carrigeway ends just before the bit you turn out of and has apparently had more than a few people get their brand new car written off just as it pulls out of the forcourt!

Er... Me :(

Slid into the back of the guy who started to move and then slammed his anchors on as a copper came out of nowhere the other way... I had my brake pedal buried into the carpet and was down to about 5mph or so when I crunched into the back of him from all of about 15mph... Figure there was oil or diesel on the road as the car should have easily stopped in the distance....

My Excess is £400 so am waiting for the estimate from the other guy before deciding whether it's an insurance job or not...

Looks like it's going to be an insurance job...

Just had a call from the guy I hit who tells me he's had 2 estimates both of around £600 for a new rear bumper so I may as well let the insurance deal with it... Wonder what courtesy car I'm going to get :'(

Looks like it's going to be an insurance job...

Just had a call from the guy I hit who tells me he's had 2 estimates both of around £600 for a new rear bumper so I may as well let the insurance deal with it... Wonder what courtesy car I'm going to get

Best let insurance deal with it then and take it on the chin. Bloody annoying all the same.

I did something similar when I picked up my Fabia vRS - I had the tiniest of scuffs on my front bumper, and the Megane infront was similar damage to the back bumper. I offered to pay for the repair but a 1mph or so shunt meant an injury claim followed, so I had to leave it to insurance to deal with.

I'm waiting for that one to come, there were 2 passengers in his car so what's the bet of 3 whiplash claims for a 5mph shunt?

I'm also convinced his could be repaired for £100 or so as it only looked scratched to me... C'est la vie...