Black ice crash (update)

C

Cornwall1888

Member
Set off for work this morning at 6:30 roads looks frosty, I have winter tyres so no big deal. What is didn't know was last nights rain had frozen and there was solid ice under the frost.

Get to the bottom of my street going down hill coming up to a t junction hit the brakes ABS kicks in straight away but I still have little control, oh oh. I then had a choice go through the blind junction and into kerb then wall or let off the brakes and steer into the trees on the right for a softer safer 'landing' I choose option 2

I was a mix of complacency going to fast with winter tyres and having no idea how bad the condtions really were. To give you an idea as it was just at the bottom of my street I was able to drive home, I could hardly get back up the hill with winter tyres, they're good but or pure ice.

The gritters hadn't been out at all. They usually put loads of grit on the hill just before that junction

It's Sunday so insurance companies are closed so I'll have to deal with them tomorrow, £300 excess and NCB back to zero, my first accident at aged 26.

Anyone any idea how much repairs will be? it doesn't look too bad but costs mount up fast, little bumps cost thousands. Thankfully the bonnet seems fine I know they cost a lot, I have no idea about 'internal' damage like suspension or the frame itself

If it's away for a few weeks and they give me a 1.2 corsa what I save in fuel will pay for the excess haha

I don't know whether to expect a like for like courtesy car but it's only worth about £6000 so doubt they'll give me a 3.0 E89, I want to keep the insurance bill as cheap as possible anyway

IMG_6535.JPG
 
If no other vehicle was involved I would get that repaired myself without telling the insurance co-it will cost you a bit more than £300 but your ncb will stay intact. 2nd hand wing/bumper & local body shop will sort that out and a four wheel alignment afterwards.
Rob
 
Yes I too would look at costing it up independently of the insurance for the reasons above, but also it is scary what they can write off a car for. The insurance claim for a new BMW bumper , poss' brackets , wing, spraying and blending into the bonnet and both wings could easily nudge 50% of the value of the car :| Sorry to see your Z damaged
 
Ouch. Bad luck fella.
Yep. Repair sans insurance company 'help', as above.
try and do as much prep yourself to keep the costs down. Sourcing parts, taking damaged parts off etc....
Good luck :thumbsup:
 
Cornwall1888 said:
The thing is I need a car for work, I don't get paid if I'm not there and £300 sounds extremely cheap for something like that.
Click to expand...


Yes from my view, the repairs if you do outside of the insurance are going to be a lot more than your excess, but I'd genuinely be really concerned about it being written off if you follow the insurance route.

Just had a quick look on eBay but they all seem to be rear quarter panels at the moment. But they do come up cheap. It's just a matter of timing though which is tough.

is the light ok? And is the front panel ok or is that needing work?
 
Unless you are gifted with a spanner that looks a £1k job once its back together & painted :cry:
Some parts here that may be useful , forget the 3.2M in description , i already rang about the bonnet & its not a M car :roll:
https://www.gumtree.com/p/car-replacement-parts/bmw-z4-car-parts/1212280991
 
-Tom- said:
Cornwall1888 said:
The thing is I need a car for work, I don't get paid if I'm not there and £300 sounds extremely cheap for something like that.
Click to expand...


Yes from my view, the repairs if you do outside of the insurance are going to be a lot more than your excess, but I'd genuinely be really concerned about it being written off if you follow the insurance route.

Just had a quick look on eBay but they all seem to be rear quarter panels at the moment. But they do come up cheap. It's just a matter of timing though which is tough.

is the light ok? And is the front panel ok or is that needing work?
Click to expand...

Light smashed, front panel unknown.

I don't really have the time or the patience or the know how to do all that stuff on the cheap, I'll just take the financial hit in exchange for convenience, having said that I've heard ensure are a nightmare.
 
Check on the clause on NCD, you might not lose out under certain conditions but otherwise go with self repair, there are plenty of parts around and check your local breakers, they don"t have everything listed on line
 
Hate seeing a smashed up Zed - real bad luck there :(
I'd go down the insurance route given the fact that you need a courtesy car for work and you're not a spanner head, plus the costs could rise quite high. Hopefully there's no damage to the wheel mounts/joints - it doesn't look like the impact visibly knocked the wheel out of alignment.
 
Marlon said:
Hate seeing a smashed up Zed - real bad luck there :(
I'd go down the insurance route given the fact that you need a courtesy car for work and you're not a spanner head, plus the costs could rise quite high. Hopefully there's no damage to the wheel mounts/joints - it doesn't look like the impact visibly knocked the wheel out of alignment.
Click to expand...

Ouch :cry:
For you I think Marlon's advice is the right way
 
As has been mentioned, the insurance might write that off..

New prices on bumper,headlight and wing are ridiculous..... Last time i priced up a Z4 headlight from bmw it was £1200 (xenon but no module or ignitor)..

You will have to see how you go,but with a little searching i bet you could get the panels in same colour.... There is literally half a day in that repair,as long as the front panel isnt bent beyond repair..
 
Just be patient and weigh up your options. If you claim through insurance then indeed they may write it off and every year for the next five years you will need to mention it if you change insurance companies so it will follow you around until 2022. The other option is to be patient and watch gumtree, ebay breaker link for parts. A second hand wing, front end and light fitting should cost around £300. You can fit them yourself or go to a local cheap bodyshop to get them fitted. Luckily the bonnet is undamaged. Found this front end on ebay for only £40 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Z4-E85-03-05-FRONT-BUMPER-TITAN-SILVER-NO-ACCIDENT-DAMAGE-/262824188491
Not exactly what you need but it gives you an idea of prices. Just a matter of time before you get the parts in your colour
 
sticky said:
Check on the clause on NCD, you might not lose out under certain conditions but otherwise go with self repair, there are plenty of parts around and check your local breakers, they don"t have everything listed on line
Click to expand...

I've been there, it's a con-they let you keep your no claims discount but raise the premium because you've had a claim.
The end result is you pay more, as already mentioned it's not for one year either but more like 5 years :x
Rob
 
My boss always used to say the first thing you do in a crisis is nothing!

Take a few hours to think about it but take the long view. So OK you need to work, you want to keep the Z4 not get it written off and have more costly insurance for the next five years.

What about something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mitsubishi-Carisma-2000-hatchback-1-8-petrol-manual-YEARS-MOT-/152412617593?hash=item237c7ffb79:g:r3oAAOSwt5hYi34B

transfer insurance and tax and take time with your Zed. We all had to learn spanner work at first and as a newbie my impression is that loads of members on here will be available to help you. You can take your time and look for new bits whilst stripping you Zed.

Worst position is that you have to sell the Zed for repair / spares but you get the value of the bits - not what you insurance company can clear them for quickly.
 
Insurance will write it off, or repair it and cat D it

Which will affect your resale value, increase your early insurance because if list ncb.

IMO no one is involved the cheapest way is to get spare parts and get a local body shop to repair it.

Document all repairs for next owners piece of mind.

As far as car goes, either get a cheap £500 crap box and sell it after its repaired or use public transport if that's an option.
 
Ouch... sorry.

A quick look on enterprise and at 26 you can rent a small car e.g. an Aygo for about £100 a week - i'd do this to give yourself a breather, and use it to get a couple of quotes for the work; i'd be tempted to get it in a friendly garage and source the parts myself, if you can get the parts quickly you'll save yourself a pretty penny..

also: how far is work: i assume you are only using the z to get to work rather than for work.. can you use a bike, bus or get a lift etc in the short term?
 
So you get a cheap car as a runaround. Transfer the insurance. Scour ebay etc for parts. Then the small matter of fitting them. I am sure that wherever you live some forum members will be near you. You invite them over for a day where you feed them food and beer, not too much beer, and they will be more than happy to show off their mechanical skills to you and fix the car up for you. I remember many years ago in Club Lotus we would have regular meetings where we would muck in doing a chassis change. Had some great food !
 
Too be honest I don't NEED a car, but I do 12 hour shift so without one I end up doing 15 hour days as public transport increases my journey time a lot.

I can get picked up and dropped off by the night shift but not long term.

With 3 years no claims and no accidents my insurance with a few extras was £450 this year.

I just done a go compare with 0 no claims and an accident repair costing £3000 (total guess) on my recent policy it rose to £800. Over 5 years I'd imagine that would cost me £1300. As the accident is further in the past and my no claims (hopefully) rise I won't take the £350 hit every year.

I was planning on downgrading the car soon anyway so I wouldn't necessarily be paying £800 for the next 5 years, I'll be getting a car in a lower insurance group within the next 18 months.

I'm guessing approaching an accident repair place myself the costs would be ridiculous, I'll get the same bill as the insurers would, right?

I still don't know the full extent of the damage it may just not be the exterior and even if I'm patient and get it done the 'cheap' it'll be significantly more than the excess.
 
I've tried to say it a few times, but I genuinely think insurance would write it off. That's why a few of us have suggested getting quotes.

A write off will cost you your excess, your NCB, and they won't pay you what the car is worth in realistic values.

Insurance repair:
-courtesy car costs
-light
-wing
-bumper
-water jet for light that's broken
-panel beating labour for bends in the front panel etc
-wing spray, bumper spray, blending into wings and bonnet. Insurance quote would be thousands. They wouldn't tend to entertain pre-painted parts etc, or if they did, I doubt they'd reflect it in what they'd claim off the insurance :( :cry:

The big difference between you paying for a repair and the insurance, is that if you're paying a nice friendly place, as long as they're getting their hourly rate, you're likely to be able to help with parts etc. With an insurance repair, the garage has a contract that they won't want to risk with the insurer, and so will repair the way they want.

Figures on insurance repairs are high and escalate quickly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom