Snow eh...

[SparkoJon]

Well what a great weekend - mine and my wifes car happily parked outside our house as usual - then some great dingo decides to dent my doors (both offside) and my wifes rear nearside....simply by wanting to turn around right outside our house...in the snow - which hasnt been gritted

Now she's put in a claim for her car - but should i claim for mine? I mean it is an old Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zetec (96)....

Would the value of the doors be more than the value of the whole car?

 

[joinerjohn]

Hmm, unless you want to be driving round in a car with both doors dented?
Did you swap insurance details with the driver who hit yours and your wife's cars? If so, you'll be claiming off their insurance, not your own. As neither of you were driving at the time, there's no blame attached to you or your wife.
As to whether the doors would cost more than the value of the car, that's up to the insurance company. Nowadays quite a lot of cars are written off as , uneconomical to repair. A couple of new doors would perhaps cost a few hundred pounds each, but labour costs at a garage are prohibitive. That coupled with the cost of respraying the car probably mean it's uneconomical for the insurance company to do.
Perhaps you can come to some arrangement with the insurance company whereby they make a smaller payment to you and you keep the car. You can then trawl round the scrapyards for some undamaged doors from scrap vehicles.
Buy yourself a Haynes manual for your car, if you fancy doing the repairs yourself. Nothing better than stripping a car down when it's freezing cold outside.

 

[wotan]

If someone damages your car, irrespective of it's value, you have the right to claim off their insurance, to have the car returned to pre accident condition.

Wotan

 

[SparkoJon]

We got the guys details - someone we know... The wifes got her courtsey car while hers is in garage - as for mine - i'll get home tonight and see what the costs are...

Most scrappys around York/Leeds are slowly closing or stopping selling to us - due to ebay n online vendors.. So its gonna be difficult finding somewhere cheap.

i'll have to book a day off work to get this sorted then

 

[joinerjohn]

Well there ya go. Instead of trawling the scrapyards, trawl the internet. I'm sure you'll get a couple of doors fairly cheap. Couple of hours on Saturday morning (more like a full weekend)and a few cans of spray paint, some T Cut and a few choice utterances ,,, Bob's yer uncle.

 

[snico]

Try some of the online breaker sites, they are linked to very large vehicle dismantlers across the country.

Just fill in the details and you will recieve emails giving you prices of what you need. They all deliver nationwide

Chances are there will be a some doors in the exact same colour as you need

Try these:
http://www.247spares.co.uk/
http://www.breakeryard.com/
http://www.1stchoice.co.uk/

 

[RigidRaider]

My neighbour rebuilds insurance write-offs, he just gets the bodywork straightened or fits new doors and ends up with some fantastic cars. He built himself a superb Fiesta van by dismantling a Fiesta Ghia saloon and using most of the parts on a van. I've never known anybody who so casually pulls cars apart; some of the other neighbours complain about the numbers of cars he has parked in the street but we don't because he's such a top bloke that we want him to be happy and remain as our neighbour!

 

[Nige F]

I've never known anybody who so casually pulls cars apart;!

I have theyre called ******

 

[SparkoJon]

Cheers snico.

Contacted the Mrs who has rang Ins company - they contacted me about 30 mins ago to arrange. Might aswell get some new doors if the valuator says its worth it - if not - breakers online somewhere..

Im not keen on the onlien places though, as i had a bad exp with 247spares.. the part i ordered was nothing like i asked for... they accepted it back, but it put me off....

Ill try the others

 

[Whitespirit66]

Yes, put in a claim.

Few years ago, I had an old MK1 Carlton that I bought for £350. I drove it for 10 yrs, until someone nudged the back bumper with their van. Van was a right mess, but my damage was only obvious if you got down on your hands and knees.

Anyhow, in went the claim. Result economic write-off. Cheque to me for £350 and I kept the car, which I used for 3 more years.

Cheap motoring!

 

[libby lou lou]

either of you were driving at the time, there's no blame attached to you or your wife.


Still cost you more when you come to insure your next vehicle, your fault or not!

 

[joinerjohn]

Could well have protected NCD Libby.
Insurance will still go up though. Ins Co's are putting up the cost yearly now.
My last car cost me £250 to insure for a year (1900cc Peugeot). Just had a quote for a 1700cc Ford Mondeo and the cheapest quote is almost £400. Only 7 months since I had my last car, so still got 7 yrs NCD. Has car insurance gone up that much in 7 months?? One company quoted over £900, then had the cheek to phone later saying it was wrong,,, and they could now knock a hundred off the original quote.

 

[Mickymoody]

Well what a great weekend - mine and my wifes car happily parked outside our house as usual - then some great dingo decides to dent my doors (both offside) and my wifes rear nearside....simply by wanting to turn around right outside our house...in the snow - which hasnt been gritted

Now she's put in a claim for her car - but should i claim for mine? I mean it is an old Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zetec (96)....

Would the value of the doors be more than the value of the whole car?

I have doubts, about a Dingo denting a car, but a Dingo denting your wifes nearside? Isn't that attempted rape? Those Dingo's get everywhere!

Claim insurance. But I don't think Dingo's did the damage.

 

[wreckedit]

When I was working and had to travel several miles I never missed a day even in deep snow. I even walked past people trying to get there cars out of their drives unsuccessfully for them not to turn up at the same place.
Now I find that I cannot if I wanted to, use the conditions as an excuse not to get in, because we have only had 1-2mm up to now and its gone by lunch time.
.
.
Life's not fair!!

 

[Mickymoody]

When I was working and had to travel several miles I never missed a day even in deep snow. I even walked past people trying to get there cars out of their drives unsuccessfully for them not to turn up at the same place.
Now I find that I cannot if I wanted to, use the conditions as an excuse not to get in, because we have only had 1-2mm up to now and its gone by lunch time.
.
.
Life's not fair!!

When I was working, doing a driving job from 1990-2007, I also never missed a day due to bad weather, but I've always lived on a main road, that has been gritted, I suppose if people live on estates, that have a hilly access, then people would be stuck. I've been stuck for a short while, or had to divert or abort a job, due to motorway closures, but that was mainly caused by windy conditions, and trees blown over, not snow.