Xantia rear-ended

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 11 Jul 2010, 11:50

Well thank you H

I've just reminded myself precisely what the fastening is on the hinge and
of course it's a pair of nuts holding the hinge 'box' on either side not Torx
as I mention earlier. The Service net illustration shows how the hinges pin
into the roof (item 2) locating the tailgate even after their fastening nuts
(item 79) are removed (IIRC 10mm). I'd leave item 4 well alone! There is
a large spreader washer (item 5) that needs to be prevented for dropping
into the roof box section.

Andrew

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 12 Jul 2010, 08:03

Andrew

Many thanks for the detailed guide and the drawing - "a pictures worth a 1,00 words".

The work will be done by a small bodyshop a few doors away. Steve the owner will do anything from cheap and cheerful to meticulous - dummy seams right down to reproduction spot welds! I'm sure he'll be glad of a decent-sized job where cost isn't the only consideration.

Guy

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 15 Jul 2010, 07:42

UPDATE

Before the assessor came yesterday , I got the tailgate open by undoing the staple bolt - there was just enough room to get a 13mm open-ended spanner on it. For the benefit of anyone who can't get a tailgate open, try levering up the plastic 'threshold' trim (that holds down the rear edge of the carpet) rather than attacking the tailgate interior trim.

Damage is limited to the area immediately around the staple - and two slight ripples in the boot floor just in front of the forward lashing points in the floor. Not sure how significant they are - Steve the body man reckons no distortion elsewhere and they will tap flat. £500 plus parts and paint (and I know he'll do a really good job.
A suspension alignment check first I think.

Thought I had sourced a s/h tailgate and bumper, but that's fallen through - I am now considering buying Ex-Xantia's VSX to break if it's still available.

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 16 Jul 2010, 22:33

I've now quickly cobbled up (my excuse for a sloppy job) a page of pictures for the morbidly curious.

Seriously, I'm amazed at how little damage there is to the steel body shell. The tailgate and the bumper have taken almost all the impact - something rather more solid than the rest of the front of the van impacted just to the N/S of the staple.

Interestingly, once I had undone the setscrew holding the staple, a couple of heaves upwards on the tailgate - after the first attempt I put the suspension on HIGH - it opened and more or less straightened itself. I've been driving around for the last few days with the tailgate 'locked' with a ratchet strap to the centre lashing eyes.

I'm still in search of a tailgate and bumper if anyone comes across one or other not too far away from Gloucestershire.

andmcit · Unread post by **andmcit** » 16 Jul 2010, 22:56

You're lucky! The taillights, numberplate and rear glass are are still reusable!!

I pictured a far worse mental picture in my mind from the original posting!
The worst damage is clearly the floor which appears to have simply peeled
over rather than rippled - you mention a ripple further forward on the boot
floor - how pronounced is that?

The hinges on the top of the opening could very well take well to a subtle
bludgeon with a 5lb lump hammer before a non shattered green tailgate is
offered up too.

Is the towbar toast?

Andrew

dieseldoggy · Unread post by **dieseldoggy** » 18 Jul 2010, 02:45

Hi sorry to hear about that oldguy.
Edwardes at billericay i think still has few zanty estates in that colour last time i was there and he does courier stuff if your stuck?

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 18 Jul 2010, 08:52

Thanks for the info dieseldoggy.

Andrew - you and me both! I could see that the tailgate moulding had lots of impact fractures and I expected to be unable to re-close it. I'd have to be very desperate to try and repair it even though it has sprung back more or less into shape, is more rigid than I expected and fits quite well. Steve the body man reckons a long prybar into the old hinges to re-align them.

Family gathering this week-end, but I'll add a couple of pictures of the floor ripples in a couple of days. This means the blue Xantia is here, so I can take some pictures of hinges for comparison.

The impact was mostly absorbed by tailgate and bumper. There's something not quite right about the N/S tailgate light cluster and at least one of the number plate lights is bust - but who cares if I can get a complete tailgate at a reasonable price. Looks as though I may be collecting a complete car (choice of two possibilities at present). There may be a whole load of other bits available.

Towbar has shifted on its O/S mounts by just enough (1-2m) to be visible just taken up the slack in the holes I hope. Appears to be undamaged. It's got to come off to deal with the rear damage - time for Hammerite (black or dark green - hmm?)

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 26 Jul 2010, 18:47

Further update.

I have bought Ex-Xantia VSX as a donor. It's rather scruffy and a bit unloved, a non-runner (cranks over but one cylinder is way down on compression), and needs 2 new front wings, bonnet, grill and N/S head-light so I reckon it's not worth repairing.

I borrowed a professional break-back trailer towed by a Land-Cruiser to collect it - 390-odd miles from Gloucestershire to Kent and back yesterday. Nearly 9 hours driving - am I knackered today! I haven't yet had the bill for the fuel!

I can see I'll be repaying this huge and very generous favour for some time.

Tomorrow, I have to get it off the trailer and I'll then be able to have a thorough look at what I've bought.

Obviously, the tailgate, rear-bumper and various other associated parts are spoken for, but my intention is to break the car for spares to offer to other members - see my post (in 10 minutes) in For Sale & Wanted. I need to make some money out of it just to pay for the fuel.

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 26 Jul 2010, 22:55

Are you doing the repair yourself? I thought you were going to get the 3rd party's insurance to set the car right?

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 27 Jul 2010, 09:56

The other party's insurers are adamant that they will write-off the car; the cost of a proper repair using s/h parts will be about the same as their valuation of £750, mentioned but not actually offered as I've had nothing in writing from them at any time.

I'm only the second owner, 99,000 miles with full Citroen service history to 67,000, and quite a lot of time and money spent on it over the last three years doing the usual major jobs (cam belt etc, spheres and flush, new front discs, drop links) as well as regular routine maintenance (oil and filters every 6 months).

The truly stupid part about the insurers' attitude is that cost of repairs plus s/h parts looks like being around the same figure (roughly half their estimate) as the valuation but they refuse to negotiate a settlement so it looks like I'll have to take the other party through the small claims process.

New tailgate mouldings don't exist, bumpers only 'available' from France so someone had to find a s/h ones somewhere - in addition a cut-'n-shut job on a the bit of floor around the tailgate staple may be easier and make a better job than trying to straighten the worst of the crumple, so a non-runner as a complete donor car is the best option.

I don't doubt I shall be out of pocket, but the alternative would be to let them write-off, and then be stuck trying to find a replacement car in a rural area without any transport!

Any replacement car for £750 would be worse than a pig in a poke - there's always a good (or should I say bad) reason why a car is being disposed of for that sort of money. I'd end up spending money on a car of unknown provenance instead of one that I've gone over thoroughly during the last 3 years.

Unread post by **Old-Guy** » 15 Aug 2010, 19:58

Update

The other party's insurers have admitted they notified DVLA that they had written off the cars as soon as they received the 'engineers' report. I've never had an offer from them just a cheque - vigorous complaints pending!

I've banked their cheque as it arrived the day the car went into the body shop.

To keep the cost down and to be certain of the electrics, I swapped the tailgates myself and left the trim off to make the body shop's job easier.

I got the car back Saturday lunch-time - a beautiful example of what a good panel-beater can do. Sadly the replacement tailgate had been leaking like a sieve (water-shield literally hanging off) and the high-level brake light was bust and leaking too - I've spent today re-fitting the trim and making a proper job of the tailgate. I'll write swapping tailgate and post some pictures later this week (working 10 hour days last week).

Guy

Unread post by **myglaren** » 15 Aug 2010, 20:04

That's a bugger, Guy.
Let them know in no uncertain terms that they have been far too precipitous and high handed, demand a withdrawal of the write-off notice as it will affect your future insurance premiums in a very derogatory way.

Just sue the buggers, it's all they deserve

Xaccers · Unread post by **Xaccers** » 15 Aug 2010, 20:18

Old-guy, Danielle who works in insurance says you should ask the insurance company for a copy of their SLA (service level agreement) and TCF (treating customers fairly) policies and advise them that you wish to make a formal complaint, tell them in writting (letter or email which would be better as you'll have a record and can put tracking on it) they have 14 days to respond otherwise you will be persuing the complaint with the insurance ombudsman which won't cost you anything.

addo · Unread post by **addo** » 15 Aug 2010, 23:41

If it's anything like here, once you lodge with the relevant Ombudsman the band starts playing your tune...

In one similar incident, I used a known "heavy" to value the car against the insurer's sum. Not a squeak from them afterwards - worth the the price paid.

citronut · Unread post by **citronut** » 16 Aug 2010, 07:57

the only prob i can see here, is once you bank the cheque that might be taken by them you have accepted there offer,

regards malcolm