[mrming]

My girlfriend drove my GTV into the back of an old 3 series BMW yesterday.

Nightmare. The b-m didn't have a scratch but the bonnet and front bumper on the Alfa are crushed.

We happened to be on the Isle of Wight at the time, and when I phoned my friendly insurance company to arrange to have the car picked up, they wanted to write it off as a total loss immediately, without even looking at it! Wow.

I eventually managed to persuade them that whatever their spreadsheet said, the car is valuable to me and I don't want to send it to the scrapheap over a low speed prang.

I managed to persuade my breakdown company (ETA) to recover it, and despite them making me pay the ferry fare for their lorry, the car is now on it's way back to my local garage in London.

I can't imagine a new bonnet and front bumper (not to mention the Cup kit front spoiler) are going to be cheap, but hopefully the work can be done for less than the insurance company's perceived value of the car (S reg twinny - 80k miles, all major jobs done - practically a new car at this stage).

Fingers crossed she'll live to corner another day. I would post a photo but it's simply too distressing - you don't want to see this, trust me!

 

[pkr]

Or buy it off them and fix yourself with a good used bonnet & bumper and a fibreglass Cup splitter off eBay. Try and get them not to record the incident as a Cat D or whatever though.

Worthwhile to check that there's no other damage ( crossmember, radiator, headlamps etc ) before committing.

 

[dougie_gtv]

This is precisely why my other half will never be allowed to drive my GTV!

Out of interest did the insurance company say how much they thought the car was worth?

 

[rmaxeman]

Silver GTV being broken here - http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...her-gtv-being-broken-all-parts-available.html

 

[mrming]

No - they wouldn't be drawn on that, but they did say that it would cost them £2k to get it off the island, and that wasn't worth it, so I'm guessing they must think it's worth slightly less than 2k.

My local garage (Firela in Stockwell) are going to look at it today - they've done quite a bit of work on the car including new radiator and front suspension, so they should be well placed to judge what's damaged and what's not.

If it can be fixed then I probably will claim on the insurance (£600 excess ) as I only have a years no claims. In that case the task will be getting as good a job done as possible for a sum of money that the insurance consider worth it.

Fingers crossed!

 

[mrming]

Silver GTV being broken here - http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa...her-gtv-being-broken-all-parts-available.html

Thanks!

 

[CG Trading]

Don't claim....

No - they wouldn't be drawn on that, but they did say that it would cost them £2k to get it off the island, and that wasn't worth it, so I'm guessing they must think it's worth slightly less than 2k.

My local garage (Firela in Stockwell) are going to look at it today - they've done quite a bit of work on the car including new radiator and front suspension, so they should be well placed to judge what's damaged and what's not.

If it can be fixed then I probably will claim on the insurance (£600 excess ) as I only have a years no claims. In that case the task will be getting as good a job done as possible for a sum of money that the insurance consider worth it.

Fingers crossed!

....not with an excess of £600.

If it's only the bumper & bonnet then, if you source the parts cheaply enough, even after paintwork(should not source the parts in silver) the whole repair should be less than £600 & they won't have to register it a Cat C or D write off.

Clive

 

[mrming]

....not with an excess of £600.

If it's only the bumper & bonnet then, if you source the parts cheaply enough, even after paintwork(should not source the parts in silver) the whole repair should be less than £600 & they won't have to register it a Cat C or D write off.

Clive

Okay thanks for the advice Clive - I'll see what their quote comes out as. Part of the problem is that it can't be driven until I get the front bumper off and under the terms of the recovery agreement I can only have it dropped off once. I guess worst case scenario I can get the garage to make it drivable while I source the parts myself.

 

[CG Trading]

Drive it home

Okay thanks for the advice Clive - I'll see what their quote comes out as. Part of the problem is that it can't be driven until I get the front bumper off and under the terms of the recovery agreement I can only have it dropped off once. I guess worst case scenario I can get the garage to make it drivable while I source the parts myself.

Tape or strap the bumper & bonnet in place & drive it home.

Their quote will be ridiculous..trust me.

Bonnet & bumper removal & replacement are easy if you have the correct tools & a spare pair of hands to help. Careful when closing the bonnet for the 1st time though...plenty of threads on here about what not to do.

Clive

 

[Ian Lusso]

So... How's your girlfriend doing?...

One day I saw someone on the shoulder of the road afterbumping his GTV into another car and damaging his bumper and bonnet. Poor guy looked gutted. I'd be the same way if it were my car!

Hope you get it sorted soon!:thumbs:

 

[mrming]

Haha - it was a relatively low speed shunt - all parties fine luckily - thanks!

 

[Stu GTV]

Hope there is a happy ending and you can get the GTV fixed.......:thumbs:

 

[mrming]

Garage have quoted £1300 if we pay ourselves and £2.5k (e.g. a write-off) if they use new parts for the insurance. Am going to go in and chat to them tomorrow morning. There's no way I'm paying that so we'll either have to work something out where I source the parts or we'll have to take it elsewhere. Unfortunately I live in central London and am parked on the street so I have nowhere to work on the car.

 

[Stu GTV]

Have you seen this one on ebay.....engine knocking but body looks ok, red interior would sell for near the asking price........not far from you in Reading.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Alfa...8688461?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35b4ecdc4d

 

[mrming]

Have you seen this one on ebay.....engine knocking but body looks ok, red interior would sell for near the asking price........not far from you in Reading.....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1999-Alfa...8688461?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item35b4ecdc4d

That would be the perfect donor - if I only I had space to keep it / work on cars...

 

[NineOneSix]

No - they wouldn't be drawn on that, but they did say that it would cost them £2k to get it off the island, and that wasn't worth it, so I'm guessing they must think it's worth slightly less than 2k.

My local garage (Firela in Stockwell) are going to look at it today - they've done quite a bit of work on the car including new radiator and front suspension, so they should be well placed to judge what's damaged and what's not.

If it can be fixed then I probably will claim on the insurance (£600 excess ) as I only have a years no claims. In that case the task will be getting as good a job done as possible for a sum of money that the insurance consider worth it.

Fingers crossed!

They used to be my supplier for parts when I lived in Brixton, always helpful too

Hopefully you'll be back up and running again :thumbs:

 

[Mr_Caine]

If there is no structural damage then removing the bumper is a 10 minute job. The bonnet is a heavy old beast. I reckon you might get lucky and get 2nd hand parts for a £150 for both in the right colour. An insurance company will quote new OE parts which will probably be quite expensive. You own the car not the insurance company. You could just ask them for a settlement fee, they don't have to write it off and I struggle to understand how they can write the car off without seeing it first.

 

[NineOneSix]

They were quoting 2k to get it back fro the Isle of Man, ott is putting it lightly

 

[CrispDust]

Just wait for the whiplash claim from the BM driver - it may not appear for many months.

 

[Starkers]

That would be the perfect donor - if I only I had space to keep it / work on cars...

Sorry to hear about your car Mr. Ming, hope it gets better soon.
Oh and you should take a picture, so that there is evidence of before and after!

If you're willing to do the work yourself but don't have the space, then have a look at the links in the following thread:

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/gene...rage-with-ramp-and-tools-share-in-london.html