Jerry*

Whilst I think that people who do this are Wucking Fankers, and I know first hand what its like to find your car dented and no note under the windscreen wiper (on 3 b4st4rd occasions !!) - what happened recently shows why so many people do it...

On the saturday after Xmas I called at a mates house to pick him and go to the pub. His house has a shared driveway with his neighbour and due to it being a weekend they both had their weelie bins at the roadside. Due to the temperature being soo low my car was very steamed up and I had to slowly manoeuvre myself past the bins to get off the main road and into his driveway.

After picking him up I reversed out of the drive with my mind obviously on the bins, and turned across his neighbour's side of the drive way and clipped his ****ty old Pug 406 estate that was parked behind and to the side on its passenger door.

The Pug was parked at a slightly funny angle so I didn't notice it in my mirrors, and the driveway was very dark.

The speed on impact was probably around 4 or 5 mph and felt as if someone had booted the rear bumper of my car..in other words...the impact was barely noticeable...it wouldn't have knocked a deck-chair over. Doh ! What a silly bugger !! Anyway, just one of those things and you have to take it on the chin and deal with it.

Upon inspecting the damage to my car I could see a few small scuffs on the rear plastic bumper.. the muddy old Pug had a small crease in the door, a broken indicator lens and a scuffed side-strip. It looked as is someone had given it a good old boot.

Due to the relatively minor level of damage to the car (in my opinion - and I deal with this sort of thing for a living - around £450 tops !) I thought, no probs, I'll pay this out of my pocket and thus preserve my 5 yrs no-claims. Bit of a bugger but it could have been worse.

I knocked on the neighbour's door and he was very pleasant about all of it, we exchanged details and he told me that he was due to take it to the Pug dealer next week to get some other dinks looked at anyway...things were left that he would ring me later once he'd got a few estimates sorted.

Anyway, he called me the other day to say that he'd got a few estimates sorted and thought I'd better know that it was a lot more than he thought it would be. Ohh here we go...

The Pug dealer quoted £1000 and said that the car needed an entire new door because the whole frame was knackered and that the side-impact protection beams were smashed and all of hinges were broken etc...it went on. It wasn't all bad though because "another dealer had quoted £890 all in".... **** off !!

This happened to my girlfriend's Golf Cabrio last Autumn and a new door skin and respray cost £495 at a man dealer... and that was much more badly dented... hmm someone's having a laugh here..

Either I'd been unlucky enough to reverse into a door that was already dented..

....the garage has piled the labour costs of doing the other dinks and scrapes onto my bill..

....the neighbour had a heavy Christmas and fancied some pocket money for the January sales..

Either way I know I'm being had here, and feel that despite trying to be an honest member of society and doing the right thing... people still see this as an opportunity to take the pi55 !!

Anyway, it'll all be going through the insurance now and my no-claims will have to suffer... but due to their greediness it will take much longer to get sorted out (I'll make sure of that !) and they won't see any brass from me.

If a flimsy plastic Rover 200 rear bumper can mangle a metal door frame and its side impact beams at 4 mph, without even bending or cracking etc, I don't think I'll be buying a Pug in future... I knew that the majority of French cars were poorly built, but imagine someone hit that door in a road accident at 20 or 30 mph !?! Doesn't bear thinking about, unless of course its all bollox...which I'm sure it is !!

I could have easily driven off and not said a thing.. What would you have done ?

The_Gza

Well, personally I think you did the right thing. But either the garage or the neighbour are extracting the urine with that quote

Do you have any bodyshops that you would trust locally? If so, why not suggest to the chap that he take it there and get a quote to compare with the Pug dealers? Perhaps pointing out that you were pretty honest, and that you think the quotes from the dealers are a tad OTT?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Probably same as you mate, and been stung.:
What's the name of the Pug dealer? Senior-Cummin?
Alcazar

marty_t3

I would have done the same and told the neighbour.

What i would do in your situation now is ask for the full report on all the little "dinks" your neighbour is having fixed and see if it tally's up. Also get a quote for a new door yourself and see how much it comes in at.

Let your neighbour know that you now have to put it through your insurance and that they will be asking questions as to how you scratched the plastic on your car yet his is almost a financial write off???? Throw in the words "fraudulent insurance claim" next time you speak to him, just to remind him of what he could be getting himself into if he really is messing you around.

Another thing you could do is explain to another garage what has happened and see if they will have a look at the door and see if the damage was actually caused by you.

Neil Smalley

I would have told him, you work in the insurance industry and get it fixed quicker and better than he can from a dealer. Then use one of your friendly bodyshops to get a more suitable quote.

He probably told them it was an insurance job, so they stacked up the costs..

se6b

Yep, I think once you tell a garage its an insurance job or someone else is paying for it they take that as an invitation to quote ludicrous amounts of money for minor repairs. I borrowed my dads car not so long ago and some stupid tart in an Escort Cabriolet sraped the side of the car with her door, admitted fault and exchanged details. The main dealer quoted £250 to repair what was literally only a two inch paint scratch, others quoted slightly less. It turned out she'd given me a false name and address, so when the insurance company finally tracked her down through her reg number we went with the higher figure. Another incident was when the insurance company had no choice but to write off my mates old Sierra after the some toerags broke into it using the tried and trusted 'bending the door frame in half technique'....garage knowing it was an insurance job quoted £1000 for a new door for a Sierra?!?!?!

Jerry*

Nice to see that you blokes agree that its a **** take !

I will be talking to him again very soon and will suggest many of the things above.

The general opinion from the bloke is that he doesn't want any old garage to look at it... he wants a main dealer job if poss.

The car is a nasty grey 406 estate on a 1997/R plate... okay not that old but it looked to have seen better days (despite my efforts on it !).

Our claims bod here has various sources within the trade and got me a "worst-case scenario" quote for a whole new door...including labour, parts, extras etc... at £750.

Looking in the Parkers and Glass's Guides at market value - a minter Pug 406 of this age would be worth around £3750 today.. this certainly wasn't mint.... do you think if I did the same to one of the other doors that it'd be an economic write-off ??!?!

I will suggest getting an estimate myself and see what they think but if he insists upon a main dealer job I'm afraid that my insurers will be paying this bill and not me...

I may egg the windows of the local Pug dealer for fun and will let my dog pi55 on the Pug next time I walk him..

Might go some way to making me feel better...

se6b

To be honest I can see both sides of the argument. Whilst to you his car might be a piece of crap, to him it could be his pride and joy, and if thats the case you can't really blame him for wanting the job done properly. Unfortunately for us all, garages like to really take the pi$$ when they smell the possibility of insurance money. I guess you'll just have to drive more carefully next time.

P1Fanatic

Agree with se6b. If someone reversed into my car and did damage Id want a main dealer to sort it and not some local bodyshop you recommend to me.

Heres another similar story. My housemate was minding his business driving to work (G reg 200k Escort bag of crap) when another person from work crashed into him in a BMW. Smashed a hole in his BMW. Other guy didnt want to claim on his company car ins so said hed pay cash for repairs. My mate left it in his hands to get repairs. The next day he called back saying he could get a new bumper for £50 and would fit it himself. My mate was like no chance and then booked it into local Ford Garage via his ins. His car maybe crap (although it runs mint for a 200k miler) but he did nothing wrong so he shouldnt lose out. The person who crashed into him had the chance to sort it out with minimal fuss but decided to take the **** anyway.

Simon.

mik

This happened to me about 2 years ago, except whoever hit my car didn't hang about. Cost me approx £350 to have my door fixed at a local garage, from my own pocket [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

I considered going through the insurance, but they only used main dealer or A.N.Other (specified) body shop ~ both knew fine well it was "an insurance job" and quoted > £800. Greedy 4uckers. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

I personally think you're a gent for admitting your error, and it's entirely possible his quotation sources are simply takin' the p1ss (since he's probably explained what happened, and that he isn't forking out).

Claudius

Agreed, he's a gentleman, one of the very rare^people of his sort still about these days...

I would tell the guy where to go get it fixed (the body shop guy who's seen me grow up and has been doing my cars for, well, forever, 10 years and I'd pay like £200. I'd tell him you bring it there, you pick it up when it's fixed and I pay the bill.

Claudius

Just to add I can buy a 406 door for like £100 here, WTF. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

P1Fanatic

Id like to see your face if someone smashed your car and told you where to go and get it fixed. Thats all well and good for you as you know its good but if they have had no dealng with them why should they trust your judgement. I know I wouldnt unless there was a comprehensive warranty on all work carried out.

Simon.

Neil Smalley

Another thought. Give him the choice.
Get it done just as well in a week, or take 2 months to fix it.

Mice_Elf

Jerry, I would get a couple of quotes from other garages, main dealers and bodyshops and then talk to him again. Say you are concerned that the prices seem to be so different and request a tally up of what his garage is doing to warrant that price.

Also - Suggest that it could be resolved within a week if you were to pay him cash now or it will take ages going through the insurance company and you will contest it, given the minimal damage to your car.


FWIW, I think you're a gent for giving him your details.

Robertio

iTrader: (1)

Jerry, do you have any mates who are mechanics? if so then see if he will agree to revist the Pug dealer with your mate who will know if they are talking rubbish.
The quote does seem ridiculously high, following an argument I had with a kerb / wall combination a few years back in a PSA car I had to replace 2 alloys, front bumper, headlight, fog light, grill, suspension arm, wheel bearing and have the bonnet both front wings, front bumper and rear bumper resprayed (I was only doing about 5mph when I reached the wall but did my best to damage as much of the car as possible) all this was done at main dealers (except for the purchase of the bumper which I got from a mate who got it discounted for me) and it cost me 1400 quid.
French car parts are very expensive and made of really thin materials but the quotes he has got are OTT, I can only guess he is getting you to pay for the other dings as well.

Jerry*

Thanks for all your input guys..

Some seem to be missing the point slightly..

I haven't once suggested where the bloke should get his car fixed... and I'd obviously expect him to take it to a main or reputable dealer..

My point of saying it was a sh1tty Pug 406 was that it was a basic spec car and not a 607 or a 406 coupe or a metallic or something which you would think would be slightly out of the ordinary to fix. It was also in a rather tatty condition. He also referred to it as "oh..that bloody thing again !"

The point really is that the damage is very minimal, although more than I expected considering the speed of the impact. Despite this, his estimate seems to be completely inconsistent with the level of damage and I'm sure any repairer would try and convince a prospective customer that they were doing him a favour by reducing his outlay for his own dents and srapes and pass as much onto me as possible.

Despite being honest, he's still willing to take the ****... his greediness will result in the incident taking much longer to sort out than if he'd been reasonable.

Anyway, its going through the insurance now and will be inspected by an independent engineer shortly.. I might tell the engineer to delay it a few days just out of spite....

To the people who say "you should be more careful next time" - no **** Sherlock.. but these sort of things happen don't they... don't tell me you've never done anything similar.

brickboy

Is it a 406, or an even older 405 estate?

Either way it's a **** take -- I did a similar thing 4 years ago, reversed square into a Fiesta that was the pride and joy of some 75-year old bloke. Dented & pushed in his door, multiple scratches and knocked off the plastic rubbing-strip.

I felt a right w*nk*r, so placated him and got our local idependent specialist -- a local garage that's been going for 30+ years -- to fix it. He did a great job, completely invisible repair, good as new for £100 cash. Everyone happy, I keep my no claims, old geezer doesn't have to worry about insurance etc.

Can you try and talk to the owner again? Even he must see that the damage is purely cosmetic ... Chips Away could probably fix it for £75 ...

[Edited by brickboy - 1/8/2003 3:46:17 PM]