Ratspants

My P1 ended up in a field this weekend and i've already reported the claim by phone to my insurers. The damage looks fairly fundamental (although I'm no expert and the car can't be looked at by the 'authorised' people until Tuesday). Since this is my first ever claim I'm hoping someone might have some good advice on the following:

It's being recovered to an 'authorised' bodyshop on Tuesday where i guess the initial assessment will be made. Would it be reasonable of me to assume that they won't know much about repairing a P1? Should I get quotes from the repair shops that my two nearest subaru dealerships use - is this even possible if the car cannot easily be moved from the 'authorised' shop?

In the event that it is declared a write off I suspect that the insurance company will have difficulty giving me a reasonable value for it - mostly due to it's scarcity. Can I challenge them to find me one of the same condition/mileage for the value they have offered me? Parkers list dealer price at 19k and trade at 16k - a quick glance at autotrader suggests a very different story, and i believe the previous owner was offered 19k by a dealer (a bit too recently ).

Cheers,

R

simb 2

iTrader: (3)

Hi Ratspants, sorry to hear about your bad luck.

Regards the car being taken to the approved repairer, if it was my car I would prefer it to be taken to garage I know would do a good job, no disrespect to the garage in question but that would be my personal choice. Your insurance company won't mind it going to another garage but they will not pay more for your privledge, so you can either make up the difference or wait till you know how much the approved repairer is going to charge (ring them don't wait for insurance co to tell you), then approach the garages in mind and tell them what the insurance co is willing to pay, see what price they come up with then, if its lower approach your company. I would however explain what you want to do to your Insurance co know, it will do no harm.

In the unlikely event that you car is written off, Who knows what offer your get, its a bit hit and miss. Get a figure in your mind that you think is fair. When you get the offer and if it is not enough, do some research get some For Sale ads (as like for like as you can) from the Auto Trader, Top Marque etc and send them in, this should help in getting you a better offer.

Hope it all works out

Regards

simb

L555chris

I've often wondered about this, I've been unfortunate enough (my own fault) to have had to make a claim, the car (a saxo VTR) was taken to a National Accident repair centre where they took their time repairing it, but when it came back they had done an excellent job on it. No complaints about the workmanship (just the fact they kept putting the delivery date further and further back).
My point is, do you think the car would be best repaired at a Subaru body shop where they possibly don’t do that many cars and are probably more used to repairing paint scratches and the odd bumper or would it be best done at a reputable insurance company approved place where they are geared up for more complex repairs?

Chris H

simb 2

iTrader: (3)

Hi Chris, it comes down to personal preference at the end of the day, I would want my car to be taken to a garage I trust, be it a Subaru garage, an approved repairer or another independent garage. I don't think a Subaru garage will have less technical abilities, than an approved repairer, Remember the vast majority source of business will be from Subaru's, the approved repairer's will not.

This is just my personal preference and there are also disadvantages, for one an approved repairer will be able to authorise repairs immediately, to go for a garage of your choice you will need two estimates, of which the one you want must be lower than what your insurance co can do it for. With all of this equating to a significant time delay and inconvenience. Bare in mind the approved repairer (if your comprehensive and you have this beneift) must provide you with a courtesy car, so if you do take it to a garage of your choice, you will have to arrange this yourself.

Regards

simb

Glenn_R

Sorry to hear that m8 I did the same thing with a Renault 5 GT a few years back and put it into one of Hertfordshire's best fields (off Hemel to Leighton Buzzard Road!)

Unfortunately the car was written off. Insurance company offered me much less than the car was worth so I rejected their offers (you are within your rights to do so!) on 3 occasions until they came back with a suitable amount. Make sure you get good evidence (I used private sale ads in Autotrader) to argue that the payout they are offering does not enable you to replace your car for an equivalent model.

Hope it doesnt come to this for you tho. Best of luck

G

Alpine99

did the same as Glen above.. Keep rejecting until you get a reasonable offer, use trade ads as evidence.. You can always use the ombudsman if you really run up against it..

forest172

I wrote off my STI8 and at first they offered me £24000, I refused and said "I wanted new for old" a couple of days later they gave me the full new retail price. I know you won`t get that but refuse their 1st offer, if your not happy

Ratspants

Cheers everyone! Hopefully I get the assessment at lunchtime today - I'm running with the 'approved' repairer, I went down and had a look around and a chat to the assesser. Was a very large place and the bloke i was talking to was very knowledgable and helpful - didn't know specifically about the P1 so i filled him in and he seemed more than prepared to get the details from subaru and prodrive.

I've seen the P1 come up as just a STI 5(it think that's right) on subaru's own systems so i'm hoping it gets rebuilt as the right thing! To be honest, i think it's only the P1 bumper that's going to be the tricky bit, if he can sort that then the rest should be easy. Alu bonnet might be harder to source.

R

simb 2

iTrader: (3)

Should'nt be a problem, the P1 was origanally a STi 5 anyway, the P1 bumper is an STi 5 but with the lip spoiler.

simb

puma f1

I wrote my dads H reg 2.0GLSI lowered sierra off three weeks ago, its was worth £1500 worth of anyones money, It only had 45,000 on the clock and not a mark on it, so I guess they will offere you a lot less