Think I've written off my car! 😔

[ChrisEdu]

Did you drive it home afterwards? That would be a good indicator of any issues there.

If you've just surfed the barrier and not hit any hard ground objects on the way through, I would be surprised if it's anything more than cosmetic.

There's definitely an issue with the wheel / steering. Car drifts to the right with steering wheel level, and at near lock it feels as though there's a juddering.

Also, all the associated systems, eg cruise control, ESP, etc have warning messages showing.

 

[ChrisEdu]

The car would need a lot of paint once the bodywork was fixed. Presumably the entire right side from rear bumper to front.

It is worth getting quotes though and if you do then make it clear that the work is private and not insurance funded

My indie reckons circa £2k for paintwork.

 

[DSM10000]

There's definitely an issue with the wheel / steering. Car drifts to the right with steering wheel level, and at near lock it feels as though there's a juddering.

As said, probably a bent tie rod and / or control arms.

Worth an inspection and appraisal of cost.

 

[ChrisEdu]

Agreed.

Personally that seems like quite a straight forward fix. A decent PDR man will have most of that out ready for paint.
The wheels look straight? Are you sure the suspension is damaged? Even if it was, it’ll probably just have bent an arm etc…

Front offside wheel isn't pointing straight.

 

[DSM10000]

My indie reckons circa £2k for paintwork.

I wouldn't doubt that. Certainly more than the £1000 someone was suggesting.

I would imagine for £2000 it would include damage repair.

Again, worth a little of your time to get quotes

 

[fabes]

Unless you want or need to stash the cash and now is the right time to trial being one car down of course ....

 

[Will]

From what I can see, the damage doesn’t look too bad in the pics.

If the car is worth £3/4k let them write it off, pay you out and buy the salvage as part of the settlement for a few hundred £££.

Depending on your plans I’m sure you could have that roadworthy and presentable for a relatively low cost. Advantage being that you know the car is otherwise good and have spent out on it recently.

 

[markjay]

The insurer will offer you book value, which is in fact the trade-in value of the car.

Your argument will be that restitution means that you'll be able to buy with the money they give you a similar car, and of course no one sells cars for their trade-in value.

And, you were not looking to sell the car before the accident, and so now you're looking to buy another car as similar as possible to the one written off.

Look for ads of cars of similar make and model, mileage, condition, etc, on Autotrader and Gumtree etc. Private sale only (this way the insurer can't say that buying fir a trader is in fact betterment because the trader provides a warranty by law). Then go for the average asking price for similar cars.

The insurer might respond with a few ads showing a similar car for sale cheaper, in which case check the location - you can rule out cars located far away because you can't be expected to travel across the UK to buy a replacement.

That been said, keep in mind that when claiming against your own policy (as opposed to claiming on another party's policy), you're bound by the T&C, which may dictate how the car value is calculated.

 

[Londonscottish]

Tried AT - can't get a valuation as over 15 yrs old.

I guess that must mean it's a valuable classic car now!

That happened to my wife's Clio. It dropped to £250 on WBAC then disappeared altogether. Kept going for another five years. Proper zero depreciation motoring.

 

[ALFAitalia]

The insurer will offer you book value, which is in fact the trade-in value of the car.

No its not....its the Glasses Guide Book Retail value of the car....trade in value is based (unsurprisingly!) on the Trade Price in Glasses Guide. They have to provide you with enough cash to buy a car of equal age/spec to the lost one....you could not do that with the trade in price. You always need to haggle and provide proof of the cost of equivalent replacement cars....unless you are very lucky.
When I wrote my bike off (well a myopic lady in a Volvo estate did to be accurate) Id only had the bike 24 hours....so the insurers had no choice but to pay out what was on the 24 hour old receipt!!.....but that's a rare occurrence!!!

 

[markjay]

No its not....its the Glasses Guide Book Retail value of the car....trade in value is based (unsurprisingly!) on the Trade Price in Glasses Guide. They have to provide you with enough cash to buy a car of equal age/spec to the lost one....you could not do that with the trade in price. You always need to haggle and provide proof of the cost of equivalent replacement cars....unless you are very lucky.
When I wrote my bike off (well a myopic lady in a Volvo estate did to be accurate) Id only had the bike 24 hours....so the insurers had no choice but to pay out what was on the 24 hour old receipt!!.....but that's a rare occurrence!!!

True, though, the situation is different when you claim on your own policy (as opposed to claiming off the other-party's policy), because you're bound by the policy's T&C and generally have less wriggle room. However, even so, there's still some room for manoeuvre when negotiating a settlement.

 

[ChrisEdu]

Okay, checked the codes and, as expected, found 4D2E and 7266 both relating to stuff to do with rotation of the wheel.

Took wheel off and here are the photos

 

[ChrisEdu]

 

[ChrisEdu]

Does anyone eagle eyed spot anything untoward?

Having looked at the wheen, it just looks badly kerbed, but no visible signs of any cracking.

 

[ChrisEdu]

Just been for a test drive - aside from alignment issue, everything else seems fine. The cruise control, brakehold, etc...were all working fine, no warning messages or lights showing. Also,no juddering under hard steering, which makes me wonder if that was simply down to a wet and slippery road surface.

 

[W1ghty]

Just been for a test drive - aside from alignment issue, everything else seems fine. The cruise control, brakehold, etc...were all working fine, no warning messages or lights showing. Also,no juddering under hard steering, which makes me wonder if that was simply down to a wet and slippery road surface.

Maybe put the car in for a 4 wheel alignment on a Hunter type machine . That should tell you something ?
Cost £80 ish

 

[grober]

Most of the front suspension arms are attached by bolts through rubber bushes which may have been damaged by the impact allowing greater movement-- or the suspension arm/s may be slightly bent or the body mounting brackets they attach to. The suspension strut might be bent also- none of this would be immediately obvious to visual inspection unfortunately. Crucial would be any damage to the steering rack or its mountings. Tracking down the problem is often the greatest cost to any repair- hence the insurance companies tendency to write cars off with minor damage.

 

[Jobsworth]

The most likely is that you have bent the tie rod that connects the track rod end to the steering rack. The rest is stronger, but the rod can bend real easy. It’s sometimes hard to see, but if you can drop the track rod end from the hub and twist it around you’ll see if it’s bent. Not a big deal to fix.

 

[Jobsworth]

Track rod end could also be bent. Compare it to the other side. They should be a mirror image of each other.

 

[Trickythemerc]

Nothing jumps out as being bent, although one end of the steering rack looks a bit strange, but that could be the suspension with no load on it. I would go for a hunter geometry check and see what that shows.