I need to replace my left-hand headlight and get the bumper realigned. I've had a quote for over £500. Does anyone have any recommendations in or near to Luton?

Edited 30 March, 20179 yr by martin1980
Punctuation

Hi mate, been in a very similar situation and can inform of all damage you will likely have -

 

Headlight

Bumper

Wing (although looking at the photo it'll probably be fine)

Arch Liner (possibly cracked)

Plastic bracket / clip (this is small and black and secures the bumper the wing and a metal bracket)

Metal bracket (connecting wing and bumper to chassis, likely crumpled, this is under the headlight)

Headlight bracket (this is a metal bracket above the headlight, likely deformed)

 

I'm not near very near to Luton but not far, so if you want advice etc, hit me up, I smacked a dear back in 2014 with similar damage and repaired almost all the car on my own which is why I know what's damaged in depth. 

 

The guy in an ideal world should strip the car down to get a better look at what needs repairing so you will probably be looking at more than £500 to be honest.

 

PFA

 

Edited 30 March, 20179 yr by Hyphons

He looked in the engine and no part of that is damaged. I suppose I was expecting labour to be cheaper, he quoted over £200. Do you have any idea how long repairs should take, roughly? 

24 minutes ago, martin1980 said:

He looked in the engine and no part of that is damaged. I suppose I was expecting labour to be cheaper, he quoted over £200. Do you have any idea how long repairs should take, roughly? 

It could be done in a day, really someone who knows what they're doing a moring, 3 maybe 4 hours if that, it's all well and good looking at the engine, but its what you can't see that could be what's damaged, good example is the metal bracket connecting the wing and bumper to the chassis, which is well hidden below the headlight. Despite my crash being in 2014, I genuinely only realised it was deformed last year, over 2 years on from the crash!

 

Part costs are (roughly estimated using eBay)

 

Bumper - £100 - 150 (you could find a right coloured match at a breakers or eBay) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-CITIGO-FRONT-BUMPER-2013-2015-GENUINE-SKODA-PART-G2-/302258041413?hash=item465ffbb245:g:FCAAAOSwA3dYV679

Headlight - £80 (eBay, brand new) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-CITIGO-2012-Headlight-LH-Left-NS-Nearside-Passengers-OEM-OES-/122213454279?hash=item1c747d51c7:g:0KAAAOSwA3dYggIM

Arch liner - £40 (eBay, brand new) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-UP-SKODA-CITIGO-SEAT-MII-2012-FRONT-WING-SPLASH-GUARD-ARCH-LINER-PASSENGER-/262737684266?fits=Model%3ACitigo&hash=item3d2c62e72a:g:TSsAAOSwj85YOyDq

Plastic bracket - £10 (I got this new from the Skoda garage, can supply part number as I have it to hand) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9453-DB1-11-16-VW-MOVE-UP-3DR-NSF-FRONT-PASSENGERS-SIDE-WING-BRACKET-1S0807183A-/262607755767?hash=item3d24a459f7:g:IXwAAOSwGtRXytwq (found this but appears to be the only one on eBay!)

Metal bracket - £30 (eBay, used, not seen so doesn't have to colour match, this will be a key in lining body panels correctly) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9422-DB1-11-16-VW-MOVE-UP-OSF-FRONT-DRIVERS-SIDE-METAL-WING-BRACKET-1S0821142-/262606127632?hash=item3d248b8210:g:kREAAOSw9IpXyYoD

Headlight bracket - £30 (eBay, used) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/9590-E6E-11-16-VW-UP-NSF-PASSENGERS-HEADLIGHT-TOP-MOUNT-BRACKET-PANEL-1S0805931-/262613294232?hash=item3d24f8dc98:g:nMgAAOSwFV9Xz9rb

 

All in looking at roughly £300 - £350 onwards for parts costs

 

To give you a base starting point, when I spoke to the Skoda approved repairer in my area, they were looking in excess of £1000+ alone for parts (that was just the wing, bumper and bonnet!)

 

So really, as long as the guy knows the car and knows what to expect that needs replaced and prepares for it, it's a good deal, but hopefully he knows what's needing to be replaced, the garage won't look very good if they pull the car apart and find parts that are damaged that they haven't got and won't be able to get a hold of for a couple of days at least and then leave you stranded without a car.

 

I know I'm not a garage or a mechanic or what have you, but just take it from the guy that's had an almost head on crash with a deer at 50mph and stripped the car and repaired it practically by himself with 0 knowledge of how to do it and with basic tools and then had the car wing and bonnet resprayed / repaired on the cheap (£200 iirc) and the job was shocking, not well masked off (over spray on the wing mirror plastics) incorrectly colour matched wing and bonnet, poor respray on the bonnet around the badge. Take it from the guy who had it done cheap first time round, if you find someone who will do it for more, generally speaking it pays to pay out more the first time round, than have it done a second time over because it's not done right the first time, look at the reviews, photos of his work etc. etc.

 

 

 

Edited 30 March, 20179 yr by Hyphons

Thanks for all your help. 

2 hours ago, martin1980 said:

Thanks for all your help. 

No worries mate, let me know how you get on

My repair cost £1500 for minor damage. The other driver pulled around another car into my left side. His insurance took over a year to pay all the costs.(day before court). 

Started getting phone calls already about "I believe you had an accident ". Well they can go away. Stop annoying phone calls now.

51 minutes ago, nbJubilee said:

Started getting phone calls already about "I believe you had an accident ". Well they can go away. Stop annoying phone calls now.

Were they calling after you uploaded the photo to the forum? 

Yes after the upload, however, I also just renewed car insurance. Data protection does not seem to exclude companies selling on my private information. I just try to waste their time and money by random conversation and lies. Whilst talking to me they cannot ring anyone else.