R9UKE's French Car Blog...

[R9UKE]

Thanks KP, looks like all the Clios they have have either no trims or the wrong ones. Very kind offer though, I'm sure I'll take you up on it for something else.

A guy who bought some wheels off me last night tried to flog me his Superb. Only 120k on his so it was barely run it. Taxi drivers seem to swear by them!

Well I got a bit of a kick in the teeth on the Mégane front today. Written off, I'm absolutely devastated, really don't know how I'll replace that car.

The settlement figure was outlined as £1400 minus £250 salvage transportation fee so.... £1150

Also no mention of compensation for the damage that was done while with the bodyshop, so it seems they're getting off scot free?

Some angry phone calls to be made!!!

[robert_e_smart]

Aouch, that is a real kick in the balls!

Did they give you a buy back option? Where did their £250 charge come from? No justifying it either.

[Citroenmad]

Somehow I dont see Luke in a manual diesel Skoda Superb and in basic spec too, can it be any further from your want list Luke?

WHAT!!! £1150 is a total insult!

They go for way more than that, surely that can not be anywhere near the right value for that car?

I would be fuming!

How did the angry phone calls go?

Real shame its written off, though your getting hard done by there. Surely an insurance pay out should be enough for you to buy an near identical replacement car, there is no way you will get one for anything like £1150. And the salvage transportation, what on earth, that should be covered by insurance and not taken off the value of the car.

What a situation, made so much worse by it not being your own fault. For that reason you should be able to get a car of the same age, year and spec for the settlement.

When our C5 got crashed into, the company dealing with it were very aware that we should come out with either the car restored to the condition it was before the accident or be able to buy one of the same year, model etc. They were also concious about not wanting to write it off as it was not our fault, so they put a slightly larger value on the car than it was really worth.

Hopefully you will get somewhere with that, but are you not tempted to buy it back and repair it?
Even if you did buy than 1.6 5 door Meg with all the options, it still has similar damage to yours so you might as well buy the car you know ...

[R9UKE]

Somehow I dont see Luke in a manual diesel Skoda Superb and in basic spec too, can it be any further from your want list Luke?

Too right! And nearly 400k worth of taxi driver arse vomit and hair.

Right, seems Mum misread the letter a bit. That salvage transportation fee is actually the value of the Mégane as it sits. So £1150 plus my car back which they value at £250 and have classed it as Category C. I'm happy in that I'll be getting the Meg back, I really did feel like somebody had executed a member of my family earlier on. I will put it in storage until I can afford to have the job properly done. But as you say Chris, it'll take at least £2k to buy one as well spec'd and well looked after. There's also the fact that the car has suffered further damage while in the hands of the body shop which I'll be demanding they either put right or give me compensation for, seeing as I'm getting the car back.

I have to go down tomorrow and get the tax disc to refund it and start the cherished transfer nightmare - it'll be going onto my ancient Clio I think!! Oh people will have a right laugh when they see my plate on that!

I've decided that there really isn't a car out there that can match the Meg for an all rounder in my opinion, not even a Vel Satis or Avantime! So I'll certainly be after another. This time with EVERY single option.

[RichardW]

Bad luck on the Megane, Luke... Almost certainly the insurers will try and write it off - that is easy £2-3k repair I would think, a proper reapir will involve stripping half the car and fitting a new quarter panel - and then offer you a derisory trade in value for it. However - you are not claiming off your insurance, so you have the right to be put back in the position you were in - that either means they repair it, or offer full market value in recompense. Fight your corner - hard! You should be able to get it sorted out.

Like what I said...this is the 3rd party and not your own insurers? Tell them to F off and make a proper offer or you will take them to the small claims - accept nothing less than full market value - and that £250 charge....go whistle springs to mind! The damage at the body shop is irrelevant if they won't repair it - you're claiming for the value pre the first accident. Might be worth asking the body shop direct if they will repair it for what price (a private repair will be a lot less than an insurance repair!) - then get the insurance co to give you full value, minus the scrap value, and get it straightened out. Don't roll over yet, what ever you do!

[Citroenmad]

So you get to keep the Megane, which is now classed as a Cat C and you also get £1150? To go towards repairs I guess. WHat was the estimate of the repair?

I would have thought the company insurance should be paying out for your additional damage?

So your going to buy another Megane and have this one in storage?

Are you not keeping your Avantime, your plate would suit that much better

[robert_e_smart]

Put the plate on the Avantime. Think of the £80 transfer fees. No point putting that plate on that s**t clio. You'll probably scrap it in 6 weeks time anyway, then need to transfer the plate again!

At least you are getting somewhere more positive with the insurers. Get SERE to repair the vandalism. Get the rear suspension geometry checked out and if its Ok, drive about with the bash in it and pocket the cash to buy some A1 tat, or get another Vel. You could just do a VIC on the Megane, and sell it on as is once SERE repair the vandalism, and have even more money to play with. Actually, get SERE to compensate you for the vandalism, and repair it yourself. A door handle and door glass all it needs?

[KP]

I think Xac has pointed this out in other threads before but in the UK they have to put it back as it were so you can reject the offer and get them to repair it and put it back on the road regardless if its a C,D or some places call them X now for some reason though i think thats a category for 'we cant be arsed with it'.

I'd fling it back and quite literally say on the phone to shove it and get the car repaired and to sort out between the repair place and them who funds what as you want the car back on the road as the structure is sound and its all cosmetic.

Give them the fingers luke and push for it to be sorted as your legally entitled to this even if it costs more than the cars worth to repair it you have the right to demand it be fixed.

[KP]

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/insurance-write-offs/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Case law to back you up Luke and still valid in NI as they abide by the Insurance Ombudsman still

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/blameless-crashes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Go get em Tiger!!!

Sorry bought the Superb, just though you could whack a seat cover on it, drive it for a bit and flog it on if it goes for peanuts and even if not its still cheap motoring, FROM THE DARK SIDE OF THE PUMPS!!! lol

[KP]

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Not sure if you've seen this one already Luke

[robert_e_smart]

That is a sight for sore eyes! Thanks KP. More Renaults self destructing in an unusual fashion.

[Citroenmad]

Not sure if you've seen this one already Luke

A great advert!

[KP]

It doesn't look too 'shopped' to me either which makes me wonder how the air crash over 2 other cars was planned...

[R9UKE]

Thanks for all the advice guys

The Renault Ballet is in my YouTube favourites - brilliant ad, never seen it on UK TV though

Well - KP - I have a bone to pick with you. Dropped the Chevy Spark off and got my next courtesy car........ A Skoda Superb TDi!!!

It's a VAG car and it's diesel. It's the 2011 one, which looks slightly better from the outside but still feels classic taxi driver - it even has the wiring for the thing on the roof!! I hate it that much that I'm actually just going to give it back on Monday and drive stuff that I have around. It's a brilliant reminder of crap diesels sound and feel - the rubbish start up noise, the constant vibration through the clutch. I Hate Diesel even more now! I honestly preferred the Spark.

The Insurers were pretty good about the settlement figure. I think they expected a refusal. I had to trawl through the net and find Meggys with the same mileage and age for sale. It seems £2000- 2200 is the going rate for 03s with around 90k. Hopefully they'll adjust the figure accordingly.

Meanwhile I popped down the body shop where the Meggy is yesterday to see what they were doing about the damage. They seemed completely surprised by the fact that I'm having the car back. I have a feeling they may have fixed the engineers report so that the car was written off and they wouldn't have to pay to put right what happened in their hands. I got a "Oh, we'll have to speak to the manage about this". I'm never usually rude, but I made an exception. Why should I have to spend a further £500+ putting right their mistakes???

Now comes to the part I should love doing, but it's proving a dilemma already. Shopping! I have three options:

Mégane: Another 2.0 VVT. 5 Door this time perhaps, but all depends on the spec - I want EVERY box ticked this time.
Avantime: A 2.0 T manual could be found for this money!
Vel Satis: 2.0 T auto, probably the cheapest option - leaving a little money for a Laguna V6 too

To be honest, I'm leaning towards the Mégane. It's honestly the best all rounder I have ever, ever come across. Such brilliant cars to live with, so good looking, all the gadgets, and it was my first love after all. It's trying to find the right spec that will prove really difficult, it's a waiting game more than anything. If this had a few more options it would have been perfect.

I love the idea of driving an Avantime every day, which I just can't with the V6. The 2.0 has to be bought in Dynamique spec which lacks quite a few luxuries I've become used to. Not sure I could manage turning my wipers on and using a key

Now the Vel Satis. It's been over a year since I've had one. Never had one which runs on the right fuel, and it's probably the most ideal candidate for munching up the 15k miles I seem to do every year.

HELP

[robert_e_smart]

Vel Satis!