My time with the Skoda family has been painfully short lived, just under a month I had my fabulous fabia sport , I actually loved that little car, looked good drove well and sipped fuel . Taken away whilst parked outside my house by a drunk driver , looking like a total loss, I suppose it’s lucky he hit my car and not a living being, I didn’t speak to him just called the law , now it’s a fight with insurance to get what it’s worth. Below is before and after.

And after:(

Ouch!  Just be glad you weren't in it at the time ...

 

Oh hell, thats not good.

 

What's the insurance situation with drunk drivers? I'd have thought they won't be insured for their own loss but hopefully they'll still be covered 3rd party.

 

Only advise I can offer is to start searching for as near a like-4-like replacement a.s.a.p. so you have evidence at hand on what your total losses will be.  If it is a write off ( it does look like it - sorry ) then when claiming against the other insurer, I wouldn't be so much interested on what my car was worth rather how much it'll costs me to maintain the status quo.

You can get an idea of the market value with a free valuation from Parkers here.

 

Another route is via Autotrader.

Edited 2 August, 20205 yr by StickyMicky

I remember you posting when you first had it!

 

WTF can't people sip a beer at home or get a professional to take them home for the price of an additional two beers, which clearly they had well more over the limit of? 

That looked like a well-looked after car and being a diesel, it won't surprise my if the insurance people assess it well under its actual worth! In my experience, I would suggest you clean it before they come, hoover, wash, etc making it look as pristine as possible prior to the accident as I am really sure they knock down every little flaw they can, in order to suggest it it worth less.

 

It will almost certainly be the third parties insurer doing this as they want to lower any payment and I recon they are under guidelines to scrap diesels or reduce their values in order to reduce them on the road bit, by bit!

 

The better the wreck looks, the higher the opinion of the car will be. I had mine quite dirty as it was parked up for a air few weeks, and had an old vinyl roof sticker, to protect the paintwork from a roof box but I think they looked at that as damaged paint and not protection (?) along with scratched wheels, etc that are really quite simple to renovate or even swap. When it came to having a new battery, an engine with 50,000 miles less then the clock stated, genuine arm rest, many dealer extras, they were overlooked with a statement of they don't add anything after a cession period of time and the engine no longer ad a warranty on it so the rest of the car had travelled that distance... They stab your back with the bad things and don't even offer a plaster, when you point out the good things. 

This was despite my argument that the lower mileage engine and all the extras, made the car more desirable when offered for sale and harder to replace, like-for-like, which is what is supposed to be offered. 

 

That said, they well over estimated the cost of repair so when they paid me the (low-ish) value, I had it fixed and had the wheels painted along with a few small dints and it looked better afterward and I made a few quid! (I only had a dented passenger door and broken mirror, which they then said wrote the car off).

Hi , thanks for your reply mate , well a couple of things in my favour (I think) it’s my insurer who is having it assessed and valued , my insurer has been excellent so far I have a dedicated claims handler who has been in constant contact with me keeping me updated and being very supportive with chasing the other insurer for add missions of liability so I will have no excess. She also said she will text me an offer but if I’m unhappy to contact her with a counter offer with reasons . She will do her best to match it . 
The day before the incident the car was polished and vacuum. It was looking mint and the recovery driver who collected it said it was obviously in great nick . 
that car and model with that colour is rare .

my fingers are crossed all that puts it at the higher end . Despite it being up on  miles . According to Parker’s the range is 1750 to 2495 based on 110,000 miles  mine was 131000 but as I said mint plus rare . 
im hoping for And will ask for 2200 will take 2000 . 

51 minutes ago, Plymnick said:

im hoping for And will ask for 2200 will take 2000 . 

 

I suggest you ask for top book, citing the clean condition of the vehicle and its rarity.  Make them do the work of bidding you down and remember you can always say no to their offer, which will increase their costs (more time and admin) thus encourage them to come to a settlement.

 

Be firm but reasonable.

 

Also, you should be offered a replacement vehicle at their cost whilst your claim is being sorted out.

You lost your negotiating position when you allowed them to take the vehicle away.

 

Hopefully the offer will be what you wanted, having bought it so soon before should prevent them from being too silly.

Not strictly true, J.R.  Mine was collected, although drivable with a  dented door and  broken mirror, when they did the assessment, I was able to either accept the offer in full, losing ownership or keep the car, with around £300 less for scrappage value. (We all know you can't even get a decent engine for that)! 

I wanted it back and although that was no problem, I then had to go to them and drive it back myself! They said they were not insured to drive it back, despite them driving it away and despite me saying I am a driving instructor and anyone can drive, with my permission. They had no gain to be made so did not want to comply, the five knuckle shufflers!

 

In Plymnick's case, he will almost certainly need to arrange his own recovery back to his address, if that same situation arises. He could keep the scrap and dismantle it for spares, I guess. 

 

My guess is the damage IS too much to be economical, though. I recon he should hold out for £2500.

Edited 3 August, 20205 yr by mrgf

Well I got the first offer today , derisory is what I said in refusal , £1700.

they said they would review it . 
im not losing money I will go to small claims if I have to . I had it for three weeks and if you take off the excess (145) I’d lose £500 in three weeks for something not my fault (drink driver hit it when parked) . Apparently I get the excess back when they pay my company back . 

Second offer jumped to 2250 , I accepted. That brings an end to my short stay in the Skoda family. Hope to be back in the future.

@Plymnick See you soon. It's always interesting to see damage though. You can think what if I or someone was in that side etc. Such a shame though as that looked a lovely motor.