Will this be a write off? UPDATED - Buy back and fix? Break?

[mertzman]

I got hit by a lane changing truck yesterday on the M1 near Sheffield. Truck driver admitted liability at the road side.

I imagine this will be a write off?

suspension etc.. underneath seem ok on a slow drive off the motorway once the wheel had been changed. Not yet been on a ramp or a proper inspection tho. Just purchased the bits to service it yesterday too.  Sorry it's non-retro, it's my daily!

[igor]

I wouldn't have thought so. I've seen worse than that driving around.

[MK2VR6]

Assuming that it's around about a 15 year old BMW, I'd say that's a write off straight away. Looks messy where the arch is pushed into the door gap, the rear quarter will take some serious slide hammer action and even the door will need some work and paint. Add to that the fact the rear axle may have sustained some damage with what looks like a pretty heavy impact from the lorry corner. I'd be asking him for cash monies, if you wish to keep the car.

[contrarian]

Sorry to say but I think it probably is. As a facelift E39 it's at least 12 years old and the damage is pretty severe. It looks like it needs a quarter and a door at least. The quarter is pushed in quite a bit so the inner arch will be deformed. New wheel or maybe refurb plus obviously new tyre. The bumper might repair.

Best of luck with it and I hope I'm wrong. I had one of these myself until quite recently and it was lovely for eating up the miles.

Cheers

[dodgerover]

The wagon company will probably be keen to avoid going through the insurance, do you know anywhere that can repair it locally to you? Would proudly be worth getting a price.

[adamwatson]

Doubt the insurance will even send anyone out to see it. New door, wheel and rear quarter will write that off

[squonk]

Labour cost alone on that repair will be thousands!! Guaranteed a write off.

[mertzman]

It's going in for an estimate soon. I have all the accident forms from the scene with the other chap admitting liability.

[taurus]

As said above it will be written off, the only question is whether you buy it back and sort it and take the cash and buy something else. It depends what the rear suspension geometry is like as to how easy a repair it is - and whether you're worried about a perfect repair or just keeping it running.

I had a buy back with the whole side rippled that ran fine for years so long as you didn't need to use either of the nearside doors.

[mertzman]

I just want to be able to drive it. It's no beauty queen! I had a look at the underside and no obvious damage. I'm leaning towards just fixing it myself.

[squonk]

Jul 13, 2015 15:14:41 GMT mertzman said:

I just want to be able to drive it. It's no beauty queen! I had a look at the underside and no obvious damage. I'm leaning towards just fixing it myself.

Some insurers will not allow a buy back so it may be worth negotiating directly with the truck drivers company. It will probably cost them less than the increased premium from making a claim to just give you, say, 90% of the cars market value.

[mertzman]

Jul 13, 2015 15:32:45 GMT squonk said:

Jul 13, 2015 15:14:41 GMT mertzman said:

I just want to be able to drive it. It's no beauty queen! I had a look at the underside and no obvious damage. I'm leaning towards just fixing it myself.

Some insurers will not allow a buy back so it may be worth negotiating directly with the truck drivers company. It will probably cost them less than the increased premium from making a claim to just give you, say, 90% of the cars market value.

I'll look into it thanks. 

See what all the options are and go from there.

[Deleted]

Jul 13, 2015 15:32:45 GMT squonk said:

Jul 13, 2015 15:14:41 GMT mertzman said:

I just want to be able to drive it. It's no beauty queen! I had a look at the underside and no obvious damage. I'm leaning towards just fixing it myself.

Some insurers will not allow a buy back so it may be worth negotiating directly with the truck drivers company. It will probably cost them less than the increased premium from making a claim to just give you, say, 90% of the cars market value.

They will go through the insurance because even if they done a cash deal they and the car owner still have to declare it when they renew their insurance (Have you had any claims OR accidents in the past five years?)
The insurer will likely write it of as uneconomical to repair.

[squonk]

Jul 13, 2015 21:45:22 GMT @1300dolly said:

Jul 13, 2015 15:32:45 GMT squonk said:

Some insurers will not allow a buy back so it may be worth negotiating directly with the truck drivers company. It will probably cost them less than the increased premium from making a claim to just give you, say, 90% of the cars market value.

They will go through the insurance because even if they done a cash deal they and the car owner should declare it when they renew their insurance (Have you had any claims OR accidents in the past five years?)
The insurer will likely write it of as uneconomical to repair.

Corrected that for you!! Many do not declare. At what point does an accident become declarable? I saw a very tidy C-Class Merc in a dismantlers a few years ago that had been written off due to a deep scratch on the bumper. A new bumper, paint and labour was more than the car was worth. The damage was probably caused by a parking scrape - would you call that an accident? Would you declare it on an insurance proposal? I would never have claimed for or declared that and just driven the car as it was. So should every minor parking ding and scratch be called an accident and declared then? Pretty much any damage to a car over five years old would then cause it to be written off with the end result that all of our premiums would skyrocket!

[Deleted]

Jul 13, 2015 23:46:24 GMT squonk said:

Jul 13, 2015 21:45:22 GMT @1300dolly said:

They will go through the insurance because even if they done a cash deal they and the car owner should declare it when they renew their insurance (Have you had any claims OR accidents in the past five years?)
The insurer will likely write it of as uneconomical to repair.

Corrected that for you!! At what point does an accident become declarable? I saw a very tidy C-Class Merc in a dismantlers a few years The damage was probably caused by a parking scrape - would you call that an accident? !

If you hit another vehicle or say lamp post then unless you done it on purpose then by the very definition of the word it is an accident and legally speaking, because of the wording used by insurance companies it is declarable even if you don't claim but no I wouldn't had claimed for a minor scrape and I wouldn't tell my insurer.
Accident = an incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally.

[squonk]

Jul 14, 2015 22:07:13 GMT @1300dolly said:

Accident = an incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally.

Going by that definition, an incident in a car park that leads to minor damage qualifies as an accident!

[ChasR]

Jul 11, 2015 7:59:48 GMT igor said:

I wouldn't have thought so. I've seen worse than that driving around.

They probably did not declare it ; many people will just do a hit and run...

I am afraid to say that the car will most likely be a write off. Whether you decide to buy it back is up to you .

For the whole 'the car has to be declared' stuff, my Focus was written off through Elephant, they reinsured it for years without batting an eyelid over accident damage etc.

[mertzman]

Jul 16, 2015 17:37:06 GMT ChasR said:

Jul 11, 2015 7:59:48 GMT igor said:

I wouldn't have thought so. I've seen worse than that driving around.

They probably did not declare it ; many people will just do a hit and run...

I am afraid to say that the car will most likely be a write off. Whether you decide to buy it back is up to you .

For the whole 'the car has to be declared' stuff, my Focus was written off through Elephant, they reinsured it for years without batting an eyelid over accident damage etc.

I was impressed the truck stopped to be honest. 

I'm resigned to the fact they're going to Cat C it. Of that I'm absolutely sure. Liability may take up to 9 months to be sorted as it's a foreign truck. FML!

Good to know you can re insure no issues with Elephant. That's who I'm with.

[composimmonite]

When my bike was written off the other parties insurers dragged their feet in paying out. In the end my solicitor said "OK, what about £** a day for loss of use ?". They couldn't pay out fast enough when they realised every day they delayed was going to cost them money. Might be worth asking the other party if they intend paying for a hire vehicle until claim settled to see if that spurs them on.

[Deleted]

Another thing to be careful about is BMW suspension arms damage very easily so if you keep the car get all four wheels tracked.