car written off. What now?

This is the Forum for all your Citroen Technical Questions, Problems or Advice.

Moderator: RichardW

Post Reply
AX_Man
Posts: 66
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 09:57
Location:
My Cars:

car written off. What now?

Post by AX_Man »

My wife had a crash with a telegraph pole yesterday caused by the weather conditions.
Thankfully she and my 1 year old are ok

The Saxo is a complete write off though.

However what is the procedure here?

Do I wait for insurance company to offer paltry cheque? My worry is their valuation won't be based on its very low mileage (a 2001 Y reg, only done 40000).

Also anyone recommendations for a 5 door replacement car under £3000?
A quick search has found
2000 Peugeot 206 1.1 LX
2001 Cit Saxo 1.1 Desire (The same as we had although sale price is a joke)
2001 Cit Xsara 1.4i LX
2002 Volks. Polo 1.2 SE 65

We both loved the Saxo and found the boot to be well designed, although slightly larger would always be useful.

Thanks
1996 Citroen AX Debut and 2001 Citroen Saxo.

I love Citroens!
TehAgent
Posts: 232
Joined: 03 Oct 2006, 20:00
Location: Northamptonshire
My Cars:
x 1

Post by TehAgent »

You can pick up a good xantia from any were between £400 and £2000

Check Ebay and also MSN motors. its low insurance with the right people as well, has a huge boot, and the car is about the same size as a Xara.

Added plus side, more people own a Xantia on the forums than the others. and help is always at hand. If your after a car that can be cheap to put right when things go wrong, get a Xantia, also very comfortable ride.

I would go for the 1.9TD SX if you can get one. they cost less to fix if something needs it.

Things to look out for when purchasing them.

-Front struts . check the front struts for the seal between the top of the strut and the body work. make sure that its not coming away from the car as this can lead to them being put through the bonnet if they fail.

-Check for ABS sensor fault. if the dash board ABS light stays on once the car has been started. or comes on, on a test drive, one of them will need replacing, easy job and you can get a working ABS sensor from a scrap yard.

-Check the heater blower if going for one before the face lift, Mk2 started around 98 - 99 (if I'm wrong someone will correct me)

Im sure someone else can give more pointers than me for getting a Xantia.

be sure to take it for a test drive, it should have a fairly "magic carpet" ride about it, unless its an activa and then you can also hear for any clunking going around corners and see how well it starts.

These cars love long distance stints and are very comfortable.

With a baby on the way, I'm looking at replacing my Xantia with another one purely for the ride quality, I'm sure my baby will sleep better with its "magic carpet" suspension rather than it being on normal shock absorbers.

Regards
Ian
1990 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo (The Fast One)
fourwheelsteer
Posts: 19
Joined: 04 Nov 2006, 13:09
Location:
My Cars:

Post by fourwheelsteer »

If I were a gambling man I'd put money on the first offer from the insurance company bearing no relation to the value of your car. Be prepared to argue your case and don't back down until you're happy. Have a look on Auto Trader etc for similar cars.
1987 Citroen BX19TRS auto

My Blog: http://fourwheelsteer.blogspot.com/
fourwheelsteer
Posts: 19
Joined: 04 Nov 2006, 13:09
Location:
My Cars:

Post by fourwheelsteer »

If I were a gambling man I'd put money on the first offer from the insurance company bearing no relation to the value of your car. Be prepared to argue your case and don't back down until you're happy. Have a look on Auto Trader etc for similar cars.
1987 Citroen BX19TRS auto

My Blog: http://fourwheelsteer.blogspot.com/
Brian UK
Posts: 124
Joined: 06 Dec 2005, 00:07
Location: Deepest, darkest Surrey
My Cars:

Post by Brian UK »

fourwheelsteer wrote:If I were a gambling man I'd put money on the first offer from the insurance company bearing no relation to the value of your car. Be prepared to argue your case and don't back down until you're happy. Have a look on Auto Trader etc for similar cars.
I wouldn't need to be a gambling man to assume that. I never bet on certainties.
Brian.
deian
Posts: 1729
Joined: 26 Feb 2006, 10:53
Location:
My Cars:

Post by deian »

Maybe try a Xsara or even a ZX, if you go down the ZX route, you can pay for the telegraph pole yourself, and not even go thorugh the insurance (unless you already done so), hence you keep your no claims. You will get a nice ZX for £1500.
AX_Man
Posts: 66
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 09:57
Location:
My Cars:

Post by AX_Man »

deian wrote:Maybe try a Xsara or even a ZX, if you go down the ZX route, you can pay for the telegraph pole yourself, and not even go thorugh the insurance (unless you already done so), hence you keep your no claims. You will get a nice ZX for £1500.
Unfortunately we have had to go through the insurance as a resident called the police who actually were fantastic. They called paramedics out and arranged recovery.

problem at the moment is that paramedic at the scene said wife was OK but she has now developed unbeleivable pain in neck and back. I drove her to the GP this morning who reckons she has bad whiplash and needs urgent physiotherapy. Trust me to work for a company with no health insurance :(

That bit of road is a notorious accident spot as the road surface is poor even in good driving conditions. Add heavy rain and the road is undriveable.

Anyway with the insurance I took a policy that protected my no claims, allowing 3 claims I think.
1996 Citroen AX Debut and 2001 Citroen Saxo.

I love Citroens!
Cpt_Spalding
Posts: 63
Joined: 14 Aug 2007, 11:15
Location: Glasgow
My Cars:

Post by Cpt_Spalding »

If you can go long enough without a car or if you are buying before you settle with your insurers...

Refuse the first two offers talking up the plus points of your car, low mileage, long MOT, FSH, new tyres & other components etc, basically everything you can think of. You looked after the car better than our old mother, sob, sob, etc.

If you go on to refuse the third offer it will get litigious.

As for the whiplash thing, I'd have thought that your doc's report would be enough evidence to claim
'98 Xantia 1.9TD Tempt 2 Estate.
Had an M reg long ago as co. car & been curious about owning again ever since.
What have I done????
shaker
Posts: 29
Joined: 25 Jan 2007, 21:43
Location:
My Cars:

Post by shaker »

AX_Man wrote:
problem at the moment is that paramedic at the scene said wife was OK but she has now developed unbeleivable pain in neck and back. I drove her to the GP this morning who reckons she has bad whiplash and needs urgent physiotherapy. Trust me to work for a company with no health insurance :(
Had whiplash myself once, she has my sympathy as the pain can be unbearable.

The thing about whiplash though is that you don't feel anything when it happens - forget all those people who claim they have whiplash at the scene of the accident, you just can't tell - it's when the muscles relax later (normally when you are asleep) and they go into spasm. When it happened to me, I had no idea I had whiplash, I just woke up in excrutiating pain in the middle of the night. My wife had to call the doctor out as I couldn't even get out of bed, every time I moved I was in severe pain. Doctor told me straight away it was classic whiplash but I didn't believe him as I hadn't been in any crash or had any accident. He then asked me what I'd been doing the previous day and we retraced my movements. When I told him I'd spent a few hours at an amusement park with the kids, he smiled and asked me had I been on a rollercoaster. I said yes but I was fine after the ride, to which he replied that was no indication at all and that it was almost certainly the rollercoaster ride throwing my head about that had caused it. He said that you don't normally feel any pain straight away and it's only later when the muscles relax that you get the excrutiating pain.

The good thing is that the pain should subside fairly quickly with proper physio.
lolingram
RIP 2010
Posts: 550
Joined: 27 Dec 2006, 07:59
Location: France
My Cars:
x 1
Contact:

Post by lolingram »

How did the weather conditions get the telegraph pole into the middle of the road?
My wife had a crash with a telegraph pole yesterday caused by the weather conditions.
Thankfully she and my 1 year old are ok
R.I.P. January 2010.
XM 2.1 auto VSX 1996 - Bosch Inj, Xantia HDi 90 estate 1999, Xantia 1.9TD 1997
Previously...
GS 1970, Dyane 1974, Xantia 94 VSX TD, XM 94, 2.1 auto - Lucas Inj, XM 92 2.1 estate - Lucas Inj
AX_Man
Posts: 66
Joined: 10 Aug 2006, 09:57
Location:
My Cars:

Post by AX_Man »

lolingram wrote:How did the weather conditions get the telegraph pole into the middle of the road?
Well the water and the poor road surface caused either the car or the telegraph pole to aquaplane.
1996 Citroen AX Debut and 2001 Citroen Saxo.

I love Citroens!
Cpt_Spalding
Posts: 63
Joined: 14 Aug 2007, 11:15
Location: Glasgow
My Cars:

Post by Cpt_Spalding »

AX-Man,

Please keep us informed as to how the claim is going. I'm not a great soap fan but I always like to see the little guy win.

Ta :)
'98 Xantia 1.9TD Tempt 2 Estate.
Had an M reg long ago as co. car & been curious about owning again ever since.
What have I done????
Post Reply