D2 was rear ended at car wash. what's next?

[homer simpson]

Sorry to hear of your incident notorious, it's heart breaking when your pride and joy is damaged through no fault of your own. Some great advice has already been given so and I hope they repair it for you.

A re-shell will be no doubt be expensive. If the car is sentimental and perfect for you then be adamant that you want it repaired. If the worst case scenario does happen and it is written off, you could buy it back (if the price is right) and use the money to put it right. Obviously will be a Cat D but if you want to keep it you may have to accept that.

Originally Posted by Goran

I hear aluminium can be welded if necessary.

It sure can, I have had aluminium bits welded for me recently.

[moltuae]

Originally Posted by homer simpson

Obviously will be a Cat D but if you want to keep it you may have to accept that.

I could be wrong, but I don't think it has to be recorded if the damage is relatively minor/cosmetic, as long as the correct procedure is followed with the insurance company. My similar experience was several years ago (and a different car) so procedures and policies may have changed but I was allowed to buy the car back without any insurance category mark against it. IIRC, the car will only receive a Cat D mark against it if your insurance company is allowed to take over the whole process. The trick is (I think) to inform your insurance company but remain in control, claiming from the other driver's insurance directly.

[notorious]

Thanks everyone for your kind words!!

I notified my insurance company (Aviva) by filling form online describing situation.

Those who know the world of car insurance in the UK:

It looks like I'm about to claim against policy of the other guilty driver. His 3rd party policy should cover up to 'millions' of £££ of damage, but it looks like the claim will be capped by market value of the car (or was it 70% of market value). Is that correct?

Here is the hypothetic scenario:

I'm driving a worthless car with market value of £1,000
Someone smashed my car.
Since this is an old car the proper repair cost to original pre-accident condition will cost £20,000
Can I claim £20,000 from guilty car insurance driver?
From what I read here all I can have is £700 (70% of market value) minus excess?

Thank you friends!!

[Adrian E]

Originally Posted by notorious

It looks like I'm about to claim against policy of the other guilty driver. His 3rd party policy should cover up to 'millions' of £££ of damage, but it looks like the claim will be capped by market value of the car (or was it 70% of market value). Is that correct?

Here is the hypothetic scenario:

I'm driving a worthless car with market value of £1,000
Someone smashed my car.
Since this is an old car the proper repair cost to original pre-accident condition will cost £20,000
Can I claim £20,000 from guilty car insurance driver?
From what I read here all I can have is £700 (70% of market value) minus excess?

Thank you friends!!

That might be what they state in their terms and conditions for their insured driver, but you are not their insured driver so it doesn't apply. They can state what they like, but taking it to its extreme, a court may have to decide what is right and proper in the circumstances.

You do need proper legal advice to establish your options.

I'm aware of cars (admittedly proper 40+ year old 'classics') that've been badly damaged and entirely rebuilt at massive expense after accidents, purely because there isn't a pool of available cars to replace it. Most will have been on cherished policies, which I'm assuming yours is not?

Even if your car cost £20k to repair, if someone smashes up a year old modern Audi it'll cost £20k+ to replace that, and they won't quibble that in the same situation. It's all in the art of building an argument for why your car is unique.

[paulrstaylor]

I'm fairly sure that the concept that you can force a 3rd party insurer to repair at any cost is not fact.

If you can't come to a mutual agreement then it is likely that you will end up in the small claims court. Civil law limits the 3rd party liability at "market value" of the car prior to incident, the reason the write cars off at repair costs of 60-80% of that is by the time courtesy cars and any additional costs in that will equate to market value, so a simple financial call.

They key thing for you now is to establish market value for a similar car based upon pre-incident condition - which is highly likely to be a lot more than the book/trade value!

Do your research, bear in mind at this age condition is key in your search, not colour or even spec..... so you could argue that a clean 4.2 is closer than a shabby 3.7. Find some clean D2's for sale, and prepare to negotiate hard.

If you want to repair your car, then you can ask for a cash settlement or to buy back as salvage, maybe worth considering, but also maybe not depending on your outlook.

Good luck, and glad nobody got hurt

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Sergey,

What a heart breaking sight. I feel for you and the effort you've put in to the car. As MJ says if there is anything you need and can't get it from A8Parts let us know.

[notorious]

Thanks again friends.

The only viable technical option that I see is re-shelling from a donor with perfect bodywork.
As MJ is suggesting, it should be 3.7 donor with 75% of them already being rear ended in the past, with only 25% in good condition, which significantly complicates things.
This can now take years and years of waiting patiently.
Fortunately, I have place in the garage to keep it pretty much forever until a good opportunity emerges.

I'll see what insurance will offer me, but if compensation is capped at market value I don't even see a point of talking to these people. In terms of trying to demonstrate it was actually a 'cherished car' I see no baseline for comparison. A couple of examples were sold at www.4starclassics.com, but they don't publish prices for what those cars went.

[tonupkid]

Sergey I am so sorry to see what has happened to your car. There's plenty of sound advice here. As I see it you are now in a damage limitation situation and you will need to plot the best course through.
I guess that will be a write off pay out. Followed perhaps by re-purchasing your car and getting it back into the condition that you will be happy with.

My biggest shock with the entire thing is that you were actually sitting in a car wash!