Door Damage

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Merco

Active Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
382
Location
London or is it Surrey?
Car
C200 Exec SE Estate
Hi Folks - Had an awful day. The baby got sick, my phone got dropped in her bath while trying to sort her out and when in town I dinked the near side door of my lovely new car against a bollard in the car park. It looks pretty bad on the bottom of the door and the skirt/ trim is also scratched. :mad:

Have had 2 quotes - one from a local bodyshop guy for several hundred quid who reckoned he could tap it out and blend the paintwork in and another from a different local guy who said he needs to order a whole new door as there are bars inside and blahblahblah 'can't tap out these new cars mate' quoting me around £1200 if I paid and more if it was insurance!

Question is - do I need to go to an MB approved in order to maintain Mobilo/ bodywork warranty etc. I have over 10 years NCB and would rather not burn that as my insurance is already hefty enough. But don't want to knacker my warranty on a car I've only had 2 months. It was brand new as well. :wallbash:

Really not sure what to do so any advice greatly appreciated.
 
Sorry to hear about "one of those days". First of all, let's hope the baby is well! Second, it's annoying, but it can be fixed - assuming you have protected no claims, then certainly use it. If you don't, I'd pay up for the full works if under warranty conditions and then protect my no claims too.

Very soon, all will be well with your world again :thumb:
 
Thanks guys - appreciate the words. I do have 'protected NCB' but does it really mean that as any time you go for renewal they ask 'if you have ever claimed etc etc.' Surely the 'protected NCB' doesn't actually mean anything? Is my warranty affected if I go to the local dink-repair guy?

As for the little-un - poor thing is off food for a couple of days and on dioralytes only - too much puking and pooing. She's become a scrawny little thing and we've had a sample sent off but doc thinks everything should be fine in a few days, she's just very hungry and very unhappy. Poor thing. But thanks again for the kind words and support.
 
So - sorry to be a total buffoon about this - but do I then need to tell my insurance company that I want this work done at a MB deaership or will an insurance-approved bodywork specialist suffice for the MB Warranty/ Mobilo. I guess there are 2 issues here - one is the insurance vs. privately paid-for route; the other is the Warranty/ Mobilo issue although the latter may well inform the former... Cheers again for the advice.
 
I will try and post a pic tomorrow - although unfortunately my phone with the camera on is also kaput because of the bath incident earlier on today!

It was one of those 'not raining but pouring' days. My head wasn't screwed on right.
 
They will ask if you have had any accidents claims or convictions in the past X years.

If you say 'no', have the damaged repaired by MB privately your OK,,,,, as long as you dont have a ding that means needs work done again. Your private job will be on the MB system and knowing insurance company's as we do, do you think they will use this info to say you made a false declaration and refuse to pay?
 
Is it a ding or has is damaged the paint?
 
No, it's more than a ding. The paintwork is pretty badly damaged and the door has gone in a fair bit. The sill is also scuffed up. I made a proper job of it. Bad enough for one of the local guys to reckon a whole new door was required - that may well be justified but in my uneducated opinion may also be a bit excessive. Would have been possible to put a new skin on it if they did such things for this car but alas no such luck.
 
Hi Guys - anyone able to provide any help or info regarding the warranty/ Mobilo issue as above? Would be much appreciated,

Cheers.
 
Have had 2 quotes - one from a local bodyshop guy for several hundred quid who reckoned he could tap it out and blend the paintwork in and another from a different local guy who said he needs to order a whole new door as there are bars inside and blahblahblah 'can't tap out these new cars mate' quoting me around £1200 if I paid and more if it was insurance!


Pity you did not record this. As one of the reasons insurance is so high is these guys jacking up the costs to them for repairs with no need. If he can do it for you at £1200, why can't he do it for the insurance company for £1200?
 
Yes Zaphod (cool username btw) - I wondered this also and asked the chap about it. He said that he was reducing the labour charge per hour from £35 to £30 and gave me some other rubbish about how he was reducing cost as I was local and had come in to see him but that he had to stick with his advertised prices for insurance claims, hence the difference. Sounded like a load of rubbish actually and he was still claiming 18 hours labour to fix a door! I mean, even a motoring ignoramus like me knows that this is excessive! It can't take that many hours even if the new door is not primes/ painted. Hours that the car is sitting in the workshop without work being done to it can't surely be charged as labour hours can they!? Crazy.

Still waiting for any advice about whether private work done at a local bodyshop is ;likely to invalidate my MB paintwork/ rust/ corrosion warranty or Mobilo so if anyone out there has info on this it really would be received gratefully.
 
get it done at the indy who quoted you £700 to fix it up and don't worry about the MB paintwork / corrosion waranty - how long are you going to keep the car??

Re insurance - the Protected NCB is a scam - yes you save the % reduction of losing a years NCB (10 - 20%) but you have to answer 'yes' to the question have you had any claims - which bumps the premium up anyway!

from my experience, cars can often be damaged before the owner picks them up and if the MB dealer doesn't have a bodyshop they will punt them out to locals to get a quick fix before delivery - it might have been repaired before you picked it up!
 
Pity you did not record this. As one of the reasons insurance is so high is these guys jacking up the costs to them for repairs with no need. If he can do it for you at £1200, why can't he do it for the insurance company for £1200?

Because for the insurance company it would have to be a new door and not a repair.
 
get it done at the indy who quoted you £700 to fix it up and don't worry about the MB paintwork / corrosion waranty - how long are you going to keep the car??

Re insurance - the Protected NCB is a scam - yes you save the % reduction of losing a years NCB (10 - 20%) but you have to answer 'yes' to the question have you had any claims - which bumps the premium up anyway!

from my experience, cars can often be damaged before the owner picks them up and if the MB dealer doesn't have a bodyshop they will punt them out to locals to get a quick fix before delivery - it might have been repaired before you picked it up!

Thanks for this - I must admit, it's what I'm thinking. I was considering keeping the car for a long time actually and not returning it after the lease period. It's a nice car and I'm happy with it and so long as I don't have mechanical problems or the dreaded rust I was thinking of keeping it for a good few years. it's bought new so will have a lot of life in it I hope. And that's why I was worrying about the Mobilo/ warranty issue.
 
Is your insurance premium likely to increase by £700 if you put a claim in?

How much is the excess on your policy? That could also help make your mind up.
 
Good point - the excess is about £200. The insurance shouldn't go up by £700 so you are right. But it's more that this is the 'one shot' you get and do I want to use it up on this? If I did have another, more necessary insurance repair in the next 5 years then it is likely that the insurance renewal after that would go up a lot if I claimed on this too, do you think?
 
Good point - the excess is about £200. The insurance shouldn't go up by £700 so you are right. But it's more that this is the 'one shot' you get and do I want to use it up on this? If I did have another, more necessary insurance repair in the next 5 years then it is likely that the insurance renewal after that would go up a lot if I claimed on this too, do you think?

I wouldn't worry too much about accidents you haven't had yet. What I would be trying to work out is what the overall impact to your policy would be. As you need to declare the accident to your insurer every year for five years I would imagine that it could cost you £700 over this period (£100 per year plus £200 excess??)

I have no direct experience of this thankfully so don't know if that is realistic but I'm sure someone on here will have had a similar thing happen. I would think the level of your current premium may also be a factor
 

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