Is This Terminal ?

[P_Monty 2]

I had an 'oh s***t' moment on the way home from work on Friday. At first glance, I think the car looks fixable (almost certainly a cat c/d write off - but it means a lot to me and I want to fix it if poss).

 

However, the view underneath is less rosy - will the bent floor elevate it to a cat B ?

 

I know I should consider myself lucky as I walked away from it, but right know I don't

[Ryan 99]

Having seen the trivial damage it takes to get cars written off, I'd imagine that's going to be a cat-C minimum, before they even see the dented floor.

[Toddy 7]

Are you sure the floor damage wasn't there previously eh!

 

If it only affects one side you could park that side against a wall come inspection time.

 

Can you tell us the rest of the story of how you ended up in the woodland?

 

Cheers

[welshpug 1,657]

that curve in the floor is there as standard, if the doors are opening and closing fine don't worry about the dent.

 

I wouldn't bother claiming unless it involves another party, so the category thing doesn't come into it.

[P_Monty 2]

Well, I'm not 100% sure what happened - a car pulled out in front of me in an NSL where I was doing around 50. I had the choice of hitting the brakes or going round them. As there was nothing coming the other way, I went round - as I pulled back in, the back suddenly stepped out and next thing I know I'm in the shrubbery ....

 

I'm sure the floor wasn't bent before - and its both sides. Both doors open fine, but the drivers side won't stay closed. The insurance already know, as I had to go through them to get it recovered - still doesn't mean I have to claim I guess.

 

Seriously, about the floor, would that make it an 'unsafe to ever go on the road again' job ?

[GLPoomobile 958]

WP is right that there is an upwards curve on the floorpan a standard. It's a little disconcerting, because to the uneducated eye it does look at first like the floor is dented (I'm talking about 205s in general here, not yours). But - and it's difficult to tell from the photo - yours does like like pointing up more than it should, and looks like the exhaust is bent too. Just give it a more thorough check.

[judley 3]

You may want to edit the photo to remove the registration mate. If you end up breaking it I would be interested in the bonnet if its not too badly damaged.

[pugpete1108 62 1 Cars]

The insurance already know, as I had to go through them to get it recovered - still doesn't mean I have to claim I guess.

 

although they may not write it off this will still need declaring in the future, just to make you aware

 

i got stitched on my last policy where i got an assessor to check over an accident but i never made a claim and it still went down as an accident (no other cars were involved)

 

a little off topic and makes no odds on this car but its something to think about for future insurance.

[Simes 248 2 Cars]

looks like a Cat B to me, floor pan is damaged.

Buy it back and reshell.

[welshpug 1,657]

mine had similar damage from being forklifted when it was recovered after being nicked, just kicked the dent back down

[luke1987 5]

Just hope your ok mate cars can be replaced.

[blue_haddock 2]

I think if you have involved the insurance to recover it then it may be too late to stop the claim process unless you pay the recovery cost yourself.

[dave richards 26 1 Cars]

going to ask the question, what tyres have you got on the car?

[welshpug 1,657]

going to ask the question, what tyres have you got on the car?

 

 

looking at the pic, P6000's at the front, DOH!

[P_Monty 2]

maybe I'm being dumb, but I can't see how to edit the picture - or even delete it ....

Re-shelling sounds great, but I haven't got the space or skill to do it (or a spare shell)... Anyone want to do it for me ? (for a fee)

[Leon 24]

Reshell sounds a bit dramatic to me! Unless there is significant damage to the chassis "leg" that supports the inner wing I can't see why you would want to reshell that.

 

I wouldn't worry about the floor, just give it a hefty belt from above, they are very easy to dent.

As for the door not staying shut, usually the outer handle sticking is what causes that. Give it a wallop with the palm of your hand a few times and flap it open/shut a few times and it will probably be okay.

Edited April 29, 2012 by Leon

[omega 82]

looking at the pic, P6000's at the front, DOH!

 

you must have eyes like a sh@@house rat!

[allye 530 3 Cars]

What I would say is that you spend all the time and money fixing the dents and all the broken bits and still end up with a car that doesn't doesn't feel quite right and could quite possible be slightly bent just like my Rallye and the sorrento Anthony recently part'd.

[P_Monty 2]

That does worry me, so I guess I'm just going to have to see what the assessors say. I can't help but wonder now if something failed catastrophically anyway as I wasn't going fast (50 ish) and there's no sign of skid marks from a lock up or similar on the road..

 

As for the tyres, yes they are Pirellis, but I'm not sure which model.

[steve@cornwall 100]

Bare in mind, that any shell nowadays may well have had significant repairs that aren't apparent to the eye.......

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

Bare in mind, that any shell nowadays may well have had significant repairs that aren't apparent to the eye.......

 

Valid point! Ive only just today noticed (after owning this car nearly a year) a few chunks of glass under the carpet, hinting at either a break in, theft or accident at some point. Doesnt bother me in the slightest, at the end of the day, if it's you fixing it, or paying for it to be fixed, you know exactly what the score is, whereas when you buy a car and somebody else has done repair work, you dont know whether they've do a top notch job, or done a 'wheeler dealers' special!

[allye 530 3 Cars]

If your wondering whether that's going to be a right off or not it seriously is, no doubt about it.

 

Saying that I had my Rallye repaired to the value of £2000 when it was only worth ~£750, although that was because I was rear ended and was in no way my fault, so I don't think you'll be so lucky.

[johnnyboy666 195 1 Cars]

my rg got written off for a dented bootlid and slight crumple to the boot floor. Which then took me about an hour to swap over and de-crumple. I then repeatedly kicked myself for even mentioning it to the insurance company.

[DanteICE 72]

I used to work in salvage and have a good idea of what category a car should be; get me some more images and I can give you my best guess. But be aware that there is no real guidelines and I've seen old cars with worse damage given better ratings than newer cars; maybe the inspectors have a soft spot for old classics.

 

Geoff

[P_Monty 2]

Thanks for the offer Geoff, I'll resize them and put them in a PM. Its interesting what you say about old cars - I wonder if its because newer ones are designed to crumple more ?

 

Paul