So my Skoda Octavia got hit whilst it was parked and no one left a note.

However, thankfully my insurance covered it so it went to a bodyshop as it was pretty much all cosmetic damage.

When they'd finished (did a good job) they told me they put it on wheel alignment and it was 'massively out' - i've got the printout of it.

 

They also told me the 'Active cruise control' had come up on the diagnostics as being faulty about a month before the accident. So they reset it.

They then investigated the reason for the cruise control fault and the wheel alignment being out so much and presented me with an estimate for repairs needed of a bit over £1700  - the list of work and parts is two pages long!

I declined.

Could anyone recommend somewhere i could take my car to in SE London/North Kent that will be able to explain what's wrong with it and fix it for a fair price?

…which i assume, considering what i've read on and around here will largely exclude dealers? :)

 

5 hours ago, pauldogg said:

So my Skoda Octavia got hit whilst it was parked and no one left a note.

However, thankfully my insurance covered it so it went to a bodyshop as it was pretty much all cosmetic damage.

When they'd finished (did a good job) they told me they put it on wheel alignment and it was 'massively out' - i've got the printout of it.

 

They also told me the 'Active cruise control' had come up on the diagnostics as being faulty about a month before the accident. So they reset it.

They then investigated the reason for the cruise control fault and the wheel alignment being out so much and presented me with an estimate for repairs needed of a bit over £1700  - the list of work and parts is two pages long!

I declined.

Could anyone recommend somewhere i could take my car to in SE London/North Kent that will be able to explain what's wrong with it and fix it for a fair price?

…which i assume, considering what i've read on and around here will largely exclude dealers?

 

They are having a laugh.

Doea the ACC work? It might have just had a hissy fit and spat it's dummy out. If it doesn't work then you proably do need though is the laser aligning and that can only be done at certain vw, audi and skoda dealers who have the equipment. Some independent VAG specialist have the equipment but it is very expensive so there are very few. If you have access to vcds or obdeleven it will probably tell you on there what the fault is.

 

Take it up with your insurer.  The body shop that was approved to do the work should have included in the price they had approved by the insurer full electronic check and alignment of steering as and then before doing bodywork could have had full alignment checks done.  They under quoted for the job that they had to do. 

My take on this.

 

Even if you do not use the ACC, if it was faulty you would have had an error warning on the dash. Did you?

 

Is it possible that the wheel got hit in the incident?

 

If not, and the alignment "was massively out" I think you would have felt the car pulling to one side &  have uneven wear on the tyres.

 

I have a nasty suspicious feeling that your insurance company told the repair company to fix the fault as cheaply as possible - based on mileage and the age of the car.  The insurance assessor is under strict instructions from their managers not to go past certain values and if a repair can be made to work with minimal costs, they will go that way.  However, that repairer sounds well dodgy.  I agree with previous postings that with ACC, your steering does need to be properly aligned - its a case of doing the wheel alignment and then telling the car the new values and making sure it all matching up electronically as well as physically. 

 

Is there an issue with the steering rack as well?  The authorised repair shop should have replaced that; getting you to pay for half the repair job (unless it is in your contract with the insurance company) is not playing fair.

The bodyshop should have done a full body geometry and steering alignnent check as part of their assessment before they quoted. Your cosmetic damage was evidently far more than that. The body was distorted, so the steering geometry is out and the ACC would be rendered inoperative.

 

Afaik there is no such thing as a log of when the ACC went faulty, only that there are errors associated with it.

 

They have not done their job properly and now realise it, trying to pass the buck as the insurance has all been agreed based on the bad quote and work done.

 

Get the insurance involved and complain the job has not been done properly.

 

I dont think any adjustment is possible at the rear if its like our fabia which has a fixed rear beam axle welded direct to the body. They would have to pull the body back into shape, not always possible even if they have the equipment, so it could even be a write off insurance wise.

 

Edited 5 August, 20214 yr by xman

We've all given our opinions, but until the OP replies with exactly what happened & where the damage was no more can be done.