Think it's a write off?

[salmonfin]

Hey all,

This my first post. Came across the forum while looking for people in a similar situation.

Basically, I was t-boned earlier today pretty hard. Pic below:

Luckily, I was about 100 yds from work and it managed to crawl there but the steering was all shot and completely useless. The guy who collected it seemed to think it would be written off? Its a 66 plate A3 sportback.

I was just wondering whether anyone had been in a similar situation? Do you guys it will be written off?

 

[Rob2k68]

Blimey sorry to see this mate not an ideal first post. What speed was the other car doing ?

Main thing is you're ok insurance will deal with the car.

Write off or not depends on what's going on underneath in a side pole crash test the load path is through the floor to decelerate and reduce cabin intrusion so if that's all damaged it's done it's job imagine if you had a passenger.

 

[cuke2u]

Any car written off that's less than a year old should have a replacement clause in the insurance policy which means the insurance company will replace it with the exact same at no loss to the owner.

 

[salmonfin]

Hey mate, thanks for the reply.

He must've been doing 20 or so. He pulled straight out of the junction without stopping turning right, went straight into the side of me - car lifted up and got thrown to the other side of the road pavement. I was impressed with how little it intruded the cabin to be fair to it.

Yeah, really glad I didn't have anyone with me. His insurance has taken it to the Audi repair centre at my request, so I should find out soon.

 

[salmonfin]

Will that depend on the third party's insurance? Or is it only if you write your own car off?

 

[Rob2k68]

Hey mate, thanks for the reply.

He must've been doing 20 or so. He pulled straight out of the junction without stopping turning right, went straight into the side of me - car lifted up and got thrown to the other side of the road pavement. I was impressed with how little it intruded the cabin to be fair to it.

Yeah, really glad I didn't have anyone with me. His insurance has taken it to the Audi repair centre at my request, so I should find out soon.

All the best mate - yeah good call taking it to an Audi repair centre.

I suspect it'll be written off from your description of the impact.

 

[salmonfin]

Cheers mate, I'll post an update here later this week when I find out!

 

[GSB]

Any car written off that's less than a year old should have a replacement clause in the insurance policy which means the insurance company will replace it with the exact same at no loss to the owner.

This.

Probably the better option too. If you insist on Audi doing the repairs (which is the sensible option anyway) and be the fussiest possible git during the assessment, the price'll be probably be so high that it'll be replaced for new!

 

[Flying Scotsman]

The steering was damaged and possibly the transmission along with a good whack to the uni-body...more than likely a write off.

 

[Sandra]

Ouch. As long as you ok, car can be fixed or replaced.

 

[TDI-line]

Ouch, sorry to hear this and welcome.

 

[OST]

As above, best of luck.

Now you can go and get an S3

 

[RichardT]

Will that depend on the third party's insurance? Or is it only if you write your own car off?

This is a common misunderstanding. Your insurance pays for any damage to your car, whoever is at fault. If it's the other guys fault your insurance company will decide whether to claim.

 

[paradigital]

This is a common misunderstanding. Your insurance pays for any damage to your car, whoever is at fault. If it's the other guys fault your insurance company will decide whether to claim.

That's simply not true, and indeed if it's a cut and dry "non fault" you don't need to involve your insurers AT ALL (well, other than informing them that you've now got an accident on record). In most cases the third-party insurer will love you for doing this as they get to control the entire ensemble of costs, no surprise extortionate hire-cars, no unforseen bills, etc.

 

[Jassyo06]

I had a similar experience with one of my cars 10 years ago,the insurance assessor told me the overall cost of repair had to be 60% and over for the car to be deemed written off, the cost of repair to my car was just under so it wasn't written off damn l was ****** raging as the car was never the same again

 

[salmonfin]

Thanks for the messages guys.

I suppose it does give me a chance at an S3

 

[maninthestreet]

None of the airbags deployed??

 

[salmonfin]

None of the airbags deployed??

No, none. I thought at least the passenger curtain airbag would go off.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

I had a similar experience with one of my cars 10 years ago,the insurance assessor told me the overall cost of repair had to be 60% and over for the car to be deemed written off, the cost of repair to my car was just under so it wasn't written off damn l was ****** raging as the car was never the same again

The 60% rule is pretty common across the insurance business.......in my neck of the woods you must declare an accident claim over 1500 quid when you trade in/return lease/PCP and believe me even a minor or major insurance claim has a huge hit on the value of your car. Also, you cannot lie about and state no claims, as "Big Brother" has details of any insurance claims made for that vehicle within the country with a simple computer check, even windshield claims will show up. This is for Canada and I do not know if the same applies in the U.K.
Nonetheless, if a car has received a serious shunt as @jassyo06 points out and your car is 1-3 years old, 40-60%% is some serious repair work and I would not want to see that car ever again for the reason he pointed out.

 

[infernox]

Feel sorry for you man. I just had an accident myself but thankfully a lot less damage than you. Only the front grill got damaged and very minor, 100% the other drivers fault so thankfully no cost to me and keep my no claims. Anyone know if my car will be Cat D now and do I need to tell Audi finance about it since I'm on PCP? This was the damage.

 

[Tom.H]

Feel sorry for you man. I just had an accident myself but thankfully a lot less damage than you. Only the front grill got damaged and very minor, 100% the other drivers fault so thankfully no cost to me and keep my no claims. Anyone know if my car will be Cat D now and do I need to tell Audi finance about it since I'm on PCP? This was the damage.

Won't be a Cat D, that's nowhere near enough damage to write it off don't worry. Personally I wouldn't tell Audi about something like that, new grille and a bit of repair work to that chip on the bumper and it'll be back to how it was.

 

[infernox]

Won't be a Cat D, that's nowhere near enough damage to write it off don't worry. Personally I wouldn't tell Audi about something like that, new grille and a bit of repair work to that chip on the bumper and it'll be back to how it was.

That's a relief. I got the car 3 weeks ago today too, wasn't expecting some pensioner in a Jaguar XF to go through a red light at a roundabout. There's also 2 or 3 small but deepish scratches on the bonnet/bumper and some plastic bits on the front grille have broken. The right side bumper right beneath the light also popped out a bit but I just pushed it back in. Thankfully it doesn't cost me anything, just have to drive it 30 mins to the garage because that's the closest Audi approved specialist the insurance could find. Hopefully it's not a long repair and if it is they give me a good courtesy/hire car (RS3 please )

 

[KenL]

No, none. I thought at least the passenger curtain airbag would go off.

It might not go off if the passenger seat sensors know that the seat is empty.

 

[salmonfin]

Hey all, just to provide an update if anyone is interested. Got a call from the insurers, it is indeed 'uneconomical to repair'.

Right, how much for an S3...

 

[Chris43]

That's a good result for you as the car would have never been the same no matter how good the repairs where

How much for an S3..... and more to the point how long ! (I'd write your xmas list now )

 

[msdmjb]

Wowee some money to be made stripping that one (or bringing it back to life as a CatC/D). If only I had the technical ability to do these things as the labour saving would be considerable.
Presumably 3/4 of the car is untouched and the inside is all still intact?

 

[Rob2k68]

Hey all, just to provide an update if anyone is interested. Got a call from the insurers, it is indeed 'uneconomical to repair'.

Right, how much for an S3...

Thanks for the update - probably the best outcome barring the inconvenience factor.

 

[salmonfin]

Wowee some money to be made stripping that one (or bringing it back to life as a CatC/D). If only I had the technical ability to do these things as the labour saving would be considerable.
Presumably 3/4 of the car is untouched and the inside is all still intact?

You're right there! Although, I don't know how much damage was done to the chassis. Yep, only the portion photographed was damaged.

 

[Tom.H]

You're right there! Although, I don't know how much damage was done to the chassis. Yep, only the portion photographed was damaged.

An engineer friend of mine said parts prices are pretty horrendous, obviously insurance would only use original parts so that'd probably be all new suspension, wheel/tyre, wing, door all the associated liners, clips, bolts etc then labour and paint. Must have been a pretty hefty bill to write it off!

 

[salmonfin]

Yep, the engineer I spoke to said the bill was approaching £15,000. This was having repairs done at the Audi repair centre. The insurers were going to originally repair it at their own place like, until I said I wanted it done at Audi.

 

[msdmjb]

It used to be a general rule that the cost of building a mbike/car from the parts was 3-4 times the selling price of the vehicle hence the popularity of stripping machines, done honestly or dishonestly.
Everybody likes a bargain from internet auction sites eh?

 

[Tom.H]

Yep, the engineer I spoke to said the bill was approaching £15,000. This was having repairs done at the Audi repair centre. The insurers were going to originally repair it at their own place like, until I said I wanted it done at Audi.

I've used the insurances repairer in the past with no issues, they're VW/Audi approved though as well as other brands.

Audi would probably be around £50 p/h whereas their own repairer would probably be paid somewhere between £26-£34 p/h. They don't pay them much!

 

[KenL]

Ive used insurer repairer twice in the past - never again if i can help it.