it's fixable mate, so, you could spend like £150 and fix it yourself or claim insurance, not that it should have even come to that stage though. but grill, bonnet, light bumper, and landing pannel, btw i have 2 head light you can have for free, but you'll have to swap the motors over

That is nothing....these cars are very tough.

I smashed mine harder than that....the left headlamp dissapeared,the battery moved about 1 inch,the AC radiator is a bit bent,but guess what.....doesn't leak,AC works well.

And I was impressed because the inside bumper is intact,not even a scratch

I will fix it by myself,Is not hard......yours is a piece ok cake

this is the only picture I have for the moment

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

This is all starting to sound much better to me now guys cheers. How would I go about replacing the crash bars behind the bumper, the bar is broken as I picked that up off the floor earlier...can these things be welded.

I guess I'm just being pessimistic by the sound of things

Sesachc thanks very much for the offer...I will probably take you up on that offer, I will be in touch with you though are you sure you don't want anything for them?

I guess I need to sleep on it and decide the best way forward, there's a part of me that thinks go through insurance as why should the other party get away with things and the car was in very good condition so I want it back that way. On the other hand do I really need the hassle of claiming and it costing me my ncb and increase in premium.

This is all starting to sound much better to me now guys cheers. How would I go about replacing the crash bars behind the bumper, the bar is broken as I picked that up off the floor earlier...can these things be welded.

I guess I'm just being pessimistic by the sound of things

Sesachc thanks very much for the offer...I will probably take you up on that offer, I will be in touch with you though are you sure you don't want anything for them?

I guess I need to sleep on it and decide the best way forward, there's a part of me that thinks go through insurance as why should the other party get away with things and the car was in very good condition so I want it back that way. On the other hand do I really need the hassle of claiming and it costing me my ncb and increase in premium.

Not at all dude, i just tossed them in the bin so i'll pick them back out lol..... i just bought projector headlights hence me not needing them, they are in alright nick, but you'll need to put the headlight motors and the wiring loom from your old ones into them as they are just a bare unit,

OH i forgot aswell i also have a full grill and wait for it, 9102 <-- silver :p so you can have that for free also, just dont wanna see a good low mileage care ruined cause of some ****

So get some glue and hold onto your vrs grill badge, your bumper is still saveable, just get an other rub strip from a breaker cause they are all the same, then all you need is a bonnet, and crash bar, and shes wont look as bad

How are the wings? The offside indicator looks out of place, but I guess that is due to the fact it is secured to the headlamp and that has definitely moved.

Not at all dude, i just tossed them in the bin so i'll pick them back out lol..... i just bought projector headlights hence me not needing them, they are in alright nick, but you'll need to put the headlight motors and the wiring loom from your old ones into them as they are just a bare unit,

OH i forgot aswell i also have a full grill and wait for it, 9102 <-- silver :p so you can have that for free also, just dont wanna see a good low mileage care ruined cause of some ****

So get some glue and hold onto your vrs grill badge, your bumper is still saveable, just get an other rub strip from a breaker cause they are all the same, then all you need is a bonnet, and crash bar, and shes wont look as bad

Brill, that's about the best news I've heard today. Thanks a lot for this and all the other help.

As for the wings I'm pretty sure they are fine, I will know better when I move the car to work and start going over every section then.

Thanks everyone, it's really cheered me up today knowing there are people to listen to my rants and offer help and advice.

I've got a silver front bumper but modified with open mouth and a crash bar

nice one guys! i have def fixed worse, so try not to worry! keep us updated with pics when you look at it better

glad i could help tbh, as the grill is sitting in my old orion doing nothing, and the headlights were scrap plastic to me, but atleast you can get the use from them

yup, i had a bit of damage to the front of my car. Not as bad as yours but it still looked a mess. Took the bumper off and found the crash bar was completely fine. Only the top bits that support the lights had moved slightly. Everything behind the bar had sustained NO damage. Fix the car yourself mate (will take less than a days work) and then make sure someone pays for this ****. Chase the police until someone gets prosecuted. Either they left the scene of an accident, DUI, stole the vehicle, or lied in the case of the dealership.

Cn tuning, I really like the wide mouth look....soo you seriously need to move to the midlands so I can get parts from you lol.

Oet, thanks buddy I'm just looking at worst case so anything else is a bonus.

Sesachc, thanks mate...it's a great help knowing there are parts I can get and also in the

Yesiamtom, thanks for the advice I appreciate it from you and everyone else.

Quick update guys, I contacted insurance just to cover myself and they've called me today. At the moment they don't want me forcing the bonnet as it may affect any claim if I course further damage.

It doesn't look like the third party has insurance (unless the car is owned by the dealership in which case it's trade insurance). If that's the case and there's no cover then I will do all the repairs myself and as such I will be begging all of for bargains please :-/.

I've looked through the grill and the crash bar is broken and also the rad is dented, the wings etc all look fine. This is fixable as you've all said but obviously it would be better if I can get the 3rd party to cough up. I'm not after something for nothing just think the culprit should pay!

as far as insurance goes, you have absalutely no chance of making a claim unless you can PROVE who was driving at the time of the accident. As far as wether or not the other vehicle is insured, all insurance companies share a data base where the details of all insured persons/vehcles are held, trhey can get the information within 5 minutes if they can be bothered, they can also make investigations themselves.

reading the story so far, vehicle is still owned by the garage and taken home by employee/boss. If it was an employee then he was acting with the owners permission and the garage owner should in theory pay up. It might be helpfull to the citizens advice burau and asking them (one you have owners details) about taking him/her to your local county court, you don't need a solicitor and you can present your own case it is not only decided on evidence but wether or not the court believe the other party.

One number you must get is the insurance ombudsman and speak to them, they realy can offer good advice and if you go into dispute with your insurers the ombudsmans descision would be final and the insurance companie would have to obey the ruling and as mentioned above also get intouch with the MIB they are there to help you not just the insurance companies.

Just a quick idea ask around, or read local press, see if there are any other none stop accidents reported in your area, you never know if there are then maybe one of the victims may have usefull info for you. good luck and i hope you get your motor back on the road again shortly

Thanks radioman, I understand what your saying about the driver and insurance however assuming the car is dealership owned then it will be trade insurance which is a different database and further to that if it is a company (dealer car) then it doesn't matter if they say they don't know who was driving as it then goes down as the owner of the company was driving, we have recently had this problem at my work place and it went to the owner until someone else admitted driving.

One way or another the car will be back on the road even if I just fix it myself.

The saga continues, it seems the car dealership 'sold' the car and recently bought it back as a part ex. They then sent it for a mot this weekend and the mot centre was broken into and the car along with 2 others was stolen. So now my insurance are saying that there is no insurance to claim off (I have them looking into the not centres theft insurance ). So I will be doing the repairs myself it seems.

Cntuning, how much is the silver bumper you have please with crash bars? I'm not sure how I will be getting it from you but it looks like I do need it.

I'm going away for work today but will look under the bonnet on my return home to see the rest of the damage.

If any of you guys have some cheap parts around please let me know and thanks to all of you for the help.

why do you change the crash bar? Mine was hitted much harder than yours,but the crash bar is good,only the upper thin part is a bit bent,but I can straight it up .That thin part supports the bumper,is not neccesary to be perfectly staight ,the bumper will fit perfectly any way.

And if you really change it YOU MUST go for the OEM one because aftermarket is rubbish,soft .

[/url]

Edited 29 January, 201313 yr by IulianE

sounds like they are passing the buck, what a total pi55 take

why do you change the crash bar? Mine was hitted much harder than yours,but the crash bar is good,only the upper thin part is a bit bent,but I can straight it up .That thin part supports the bumper,is not neccesary to be perfectly staight ,the bumper will fit perfectly any way.

And if you really change it YOU MUST go for the OEM one because aftermarket is rubbish,soft .

[/url]

i think hes meaning the landing panel/radiator surround

oook....but the differences between these 2 are huge :think:

this is the front pannel

The black bar in the centre of the car, around the grill area, it's only a thin bar but I thought it formed part of the crash bar, the bar I'm talking about has snapped off so I guess I could get someone at work to weld it but I thought it formed crash protection?

sounds like they are passing the buck, what a total pi55 take

Completely agree with you there as firstly they didn't mention buying the car back. I don't mind fixing her myself, my issue is with having to fork out for the damage that someone else did. If I had hit a tree or something then I could take it on the chin and learn from it.

If I have to do the repairs myself, I may as well try and improve the car lol....any suggestions of better parts to fit or mods worth doing while she's off the road? Cheers

Sounds like a good set of lies from the garage..... If someone had stolen the car why would they lock it up and go off with the keys, surely they would just run off.....

Sounds like a good set of lies from the garage..... If someone had stolen the car why would they lock it up and go off with the keys, surely they would just run off.....

Exactly, a few local people have warned me about this garage but from a legal point of view as the car was 'stolen' there's no insurance to cover repairs.

I'm sure with the help of a few good people I can sort this out and get the car fixed cheap ish so as long as I'm back up and running soon I will just suck it up.

Thats why you pay legal cover so the insurance go after who is responsable even if they are not insured

I've got a spare drivers side headlight if you need it, Gav