MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Coming back from shopping earlier today, waiting at a roundabout and some youg lad in a Tigra bumps us from behind ( luckily in my wifes car ).

He was hardly moving ( was sat waiting for a gap, and pulled forward without checking to see if we'd gone ) so didnt do much damage, just a couple of small cracks in the bumper, and no damage to his car.

Anyway, he said he wanted to pay for it himself as he's already paying £2500 insurance and didnt want to claim. Checked with our local dealer and it woudl cost around £450 to put right ( bumper is colour coded to the car so needs a respray as well ), so rang the lads dad and told him.

He's now decided he cant afford to pay for it himself, so is going to have to put it through the insurance company. As he's got 0 ncb, and is really young driving a 'sporty' car he checked with his insurance how much his premium will go up by next year because of the claim.

Answer : £1500 - yet for some reason he still wants to do that rather than just pay it himself, which would save him £1100, plus maybe a bit more because he'd have 1 year ncb ( assuming he doesnt hit anyone else ).

Pretty expensive lesson to learn for not looking ahead of you before pulling into the gap on the roundabout.

midget1500

surely his excess will be ~500 anyhow?

The Rani

Someone ran into the back of me about 4 years ago and their insurance company wanted to write my car off - repaired it ourselves for £20! And when I said I wanted to drop the claim, they asked me what I was going to do about the damage to their client's car - cheeky barstewards!

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

True, I couldnt really understand why he wants to go through the insurance - unless he's planning on getting rid of the Tigra before next years insurance is due and getting an old banger or something.

His dad did say they were worried about agreeing to pay for the damage in case there was more hidden damage than just the cracks in the bumper, but the speed he was going and the fact nothing on his car was damaged ( not even a mark on his bumper ) I cant really see it would have done.

Thing I cant understand though is paying £2500 a year on a car that isnt even that amazing - surely he'd be better putting up with a Corsa or something to get a few years ncb under his belt first.

They do live in quite a posh area though, so unless the car was a present from daddy and he's paid the insurance for him ?

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Worst thing is my wife has been hit from behind ( no funny comments please ! ) 3 times in 3 different cars, all at this same blxxdy roundabout - the 1st time wrote off a Fiesta, the second time caved in the back of an Escort and cost a couple of grand, but this time it was next to nothing ( in fact, when it happened, I though she had just stalled or something the impact was that small ).

There seems to be a rear ending almost every day on the same exit of this roundabout, so why they dont put a sign up or something is beyond me.

The Rani

The roundabout where my little accident happened was that bad they put traffic lights there in the end - still doesn't stop the accidents though ..... on the traffic news round here nearly every day

PG

The wife had her car hit twice in 2 weeks by people who said they wanted to pay for it and not go through insurance.
Ended up the first one was circ. £120+vat and the guy fooked us off and said that there was no way he did that much damage (was dark and the car was filthy when they looked at it). There was no witness (although one could have been aranged) so that came to nothing I do however have his address and reg no. !!
The second one was on Xmas eve outside her parents house ! was the nextdoor neighbour's young lass this time it was a bit worse ! Door, mirror, moulding and paint. Got a price circ. £500. He then took the hump !!!
**** it ! Put it through HelpHire. **** ya' it's going through your insurance if you like it on not tw@t !
Why are folk such ****s when it comes to a pound note ?

rr_ww

I went the other way. I bumped a ratty old D reg cavalier back in 99. Offered to buy the car outright for £500. In the end I paid £250 and they (the couple) kept the car. Got them to sign a disclaimer, and gave them a cheque so it would be traceable.

Used to drive past it for years afterwards, and it was never repaired as far as I could see. But that was up to them.

sociopath

She is probably just one of those hesitant drivers that manages to cause carnage around them without it ever 'legally' being their fault....

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

The last thing anyone would call my wife is hesitant if they saw her drive shes got an MGF, which while not a Ferrari is pretty nippy and she doesnt hang around ( and I'm the one who always ends up saying slow down when she drives my Impreza )

In any case, she was standing still at the junction waiting for a gap - the car behind that hit her was also standing still - and should have been waiting until he was at the actual junction to get onto the roundabout before pulling away onto it.

Doesnt really matter if the driver in front is hesitant or not, you should look AHEAD as well as to your right when going onto a roundabout so make sure you arent going to try and defy physics by driving through a solid object.

Its the roundabout though, there are so many accidents there, all in exactly the same place - I've come close to be rear ended there a couple of times by people who have slammed the brakes on when they realise there is a car in front of them.

Leslie

Cant believe they want £450 to do such a minor repair. Thats what I call a real rip off. Like Rani I could probably do that job myself for a fraction of that cost, and you still would not know it had happened.

Les

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Its not such a minor repair, its a new MGF bumper ( a proper MGF one that fits, not a pattern part, which is £250 ) plus respray to match the car plus fitting etc....

The kids insurance ONLY use Ford main dealers for repairs apparently, and the local one doesnt have a bodyshop, so it would go out to the local MG dealer to get it done.

If it was just a patch up job and spray over the cracks I'd do it myself and it would cost a couple of quid, but if its someone else paying you'd want it doing properly wouldnt you ?

pugoetru

is there such a thing as an mg dealer now that rover is down the pan?

The Rani

The car in question that time was a Capri hence the cheap repair. But my Fiesta was half killed by some silly biatch in a car park - not only did she hit the car but she rammed it into a wall. Didn't want to go through the insurance cos her premiums were sky high (hardly surprising, there was only one other car in the car park at the time, if that was anything to go by!), but when I got a quote through a member of the family in the crash repair business she went ape-**** at the price. So I went through the insurance company ..... and their nearest repair place to where I live was a Mercedes dealer ..... boy, did that cost and a couple of threats from the insurance company's legal department soon made her cough up my excess. If she'd have paid up in the first place, the repair would have been done to the same standard and she would have saved herself/her insurance company a cool fortune.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

There are still dealers acting as MG dealers for servicing and warranty work etc... the dealer my mrs bought the car from used to be a full Rover / MGF dealer, but now sell different brands of luxury cars, but they still do the warranty work ( think warranty work was always a seperate company from the Rover car sales side of it IIRC ).

It was only luck I decided I couldnt be bothered driving at the last minute so we went out in her car - otherwise I would've been a lot more pi55ed off about it ! If someone crashes into my car I want a full proper dealer repairing it with original parts, not some back street lash up place with a tin of filler and an aerosol from Halfords.

Anyway, heard back from the lad this morning, has decided he definitely wants to go through his insurance rather than pay himself.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Sometimes the inner bumper and polystyrene impact absorption lining get damaged Leslie. Often many poeple go around having 5mph-10mph shunts not see any damage and assume all is well when it is not

My dad did the same with the BMW when he was re-ended by a Nova, not a scratch on it, and he wasn't going to bother persuing.

However, the fact the bumper was 5mm out of line on the one side, meant that a)clips were broken (and/or what held the clips), b)outer bumper was distorted c) Polystrene lining was damaged d) Inner bumper had been bent.

Cost was well over £400 in parts along before any paint was applied!

Moral: no matter how "small" the impact or the lack of any apparent damage...if your the 3rd party, always get it checked out for unseen damage by a bodyshop.

Leslie

I can see the sense in that Ali-B.

Les

unclebuck

Crazy

Too late now though - he's alerted his insurance company.

jjones

does your wife hesitate unduly at roundabouts?

maybe the gaps that appear are so big the person behind makes the false assumption your wife will "go".

anyhow still their fault just seems a bit strange she has been banged 3 times at roundabouts.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Read the previous posts - no she doesnt hesitate unduly ANYWHERE - she was born with her right foot twice the weight of a normal sane persons

Shes been hit at the same place 3 times ON THE SAME ROUNDABOUT ( and funnily enough has never been involved in an accident ANYWHERE else in 13 years of driving ) - the fact she has to use it twice a day, 5 days a week means she is more likely to be hit there ( the three accidents are over the space of about 9 years ).

All 3 times the other drivers said 'sorry, I was looking for a gap and just pulled out without checking in front of me'.

Anyone who drives in Cardiff will know what the roundabout is like, there is a rear end accident there at least once every couple of days - all from muppets pulling out without looking to see if the car in front has moved first.

Its just dozey people who have no idea about observation and drive everywhere staring fixedly at the end of the bonnets ( which is why Mercedes used to have that little emblem there, so they had something to focus on ) and have no clue what is happening around them.

MattW

Left foot makes the car move

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Doesnt make it accelerate though ( smart *** )

MattW

Brendan Hughes

Er, not if it's extremely heavy it doesn't!

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

And besides, we're not here discussing my wifes driving habits ( god knows why I'm even defending her, I dont get nearly enough sex for that ).

Fact is - muppet hit her, muppet was rich daddys boy, muppet will now be paying £4000 insurance for a Vauxhall Tigra.

Hopefully muppet will pay more attention in future ( and stop driving a hairdressers car ).

jbryant

I stopped at some lights turning to red a couple of years back, and was subsequently shunted by some duff old Ford Escort. Got out and spoke to the tool driving it who said "I fort you was gonna jump the lights, mate".

Well the front of his car was totally munched, mine looked ok, but still had it looked over by a Mazda garage just to be sure. Agree wholeheartedly with the comments above about the impact-absorbent bumpers being potentially damaged even though they look like they've not even been scratched.

Joolz

Leslie

Looks like she has cornered the market in MGF rear bumpers then

Les

kammy

I knocked into a brand new Civic when I lost the back end of a 200sx.
smashed headlight, and scuff on bump. To fix it by our own means about £200 tops. From Honda......














£1500- how!

Norman D. Landing

Just a thought, were there any cars queueing in front of her at this roundabout any of the 3 times ?

I'm picturing your wife driving like a tit (which you admit) up to the roundabout too fast because theres nobody in front, slamming on just as the people behind her assume that she's going to keep going as she's going so fast ?

Can you guess what happens next ? 3 times ?

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Prior to her becoming first, yes there were other cars in front - this roundabout is always pretty busy. This time I would say our average speed in the minute leading up to the accident was about 2mph as we waited for cars in front of us to move off.

And if you read the other posts :

She was stationary, as was the kid behind. He pulled off from a standing start into the back of her. Even if she had hammered up to the roundabout and slammed her brakes on ( which she didnt ) he would have had to do the same and not hit her, then stop a metre behind, wait, and then pull into her, so how would that work ????

Each of the three times she has been hit, shes been stationary and has been waiting for a gap in the traffic, twice cars have pulled into her from them being stopped and waiting, the other time was a woman who just drove up to the roundabout and didnt bother stopping ( and she had been waiting at the junction, so hadnt just skidded to a halt Starsky and Hutch style ).

So can we stop speculating on if my wife is at fault for people who drive in a daze or have crap observational skills please ?

Or are the posters who keep on about this trying to justify their own reasons for having driven into the back of someone ? There is a reason rear end shunts are the fault of the person behind - either because they are driving too fast or arent paying attention. Remember when you learned to drive, you were told to leave enough room to the car in front to stop safely and to anticipate what other people are doing ? Even if someone slams their brakes on in front of you, you are supposed to be awake enough and have enough space to stop safely without hitting them.