Got in a wreck :( need help

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007MCoupe

Member
:cry:

Wish I were writing with good news, but I'm not. I recently was involved in an accident where I rear-ended someone and long story short, the garage/insurance is trying to write-off the car as totaled. As you can see by the pics, this should NOT be the case. I'm looking for advice on dealing with UK law on these matters. I'm American and the car is US spec. This is my first ever accident and dealing with insurance company other than giving them money...
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I've got mods on the car (CSL headers, Supersprint X-pipe and powerloops and an Evolve tune) that, if I can replace with the OEM parts I have collecting dust in my garage I may not be as apprehensive if I cannot win the battle of it being totaled. I mean, that's over $7000 in mods that, if anything, I can resell on the forums and get some of the money back...or buy a new Z4M (which I'm already looking) and add them to that.

I always try to find the bright side, and to be honest, they're giving me a good price on the return ($25,200), but this has been my baby for the past 6 years and I'd hate to part ways over such a stupid, minor accident. There's no frame damage!

I also have the estimate from the shop if that would help; I've already noted the parts that should not need replaced as well as asking about parts I have in my garage that would save the cost of buying new and painting (front fascia would save £600 by itself, as well as a few other parts lying around).

Another question, has anyone experienced a jam like this? I ask because there's a crack in the windscreen now, and I have no idea how that happened. I didn't hit hard enough for any piece to fly up and hit with such impact to crack it. I can only think that when the passenger airbag deployed, the "lid on the dash" whatever you call it, hit the window and caused the crack, which if that's the case, is a stupid design flaw. UGH. Also on the airbag note, yes they deployed and the car went into whatever safe mode and killed the engine. How do I get that removed so the car can be started and driven again?

So I'm prepared to go to the shop where the car is now and inspect myself and I have a list of questions. What should I expect? I'm also prepared/planning on taking the car to another shop, possibly BMW Oxford to get a quote. Does anyone have any suggestions? Maybe, since I'm American and our money is crap, I can find parts cheaper from American forums and websites; would the shop accept those instead of brand new?? I'm trying to be optimistic! This sucks...

Thanks for any and all help.
 

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Sorry to hear of your accident and glad you aren't hurt.

Have you asked the insurance co the cost to buy it back after payout?
 
That $25k offer is about £18k so without knowing the spec/mileage it sounds a decent offer.

However that also means they're estimating repairs to be over £12k - which seems way OTT.

Were the modifications declared/insured?

It normally takes quite a whack to set the airbags off, and mine didn't when I spun across the motorway into the barrier in December. Even then the initial estimate was £7k+.

Depending on your insurer, you may be able to get a 'cash settlement in lieu of repair' where they pay you a portion of the write off valuation and hand you the car back to repair yourself - and they won't record it as being written off.
 
See, those are the kind of answers I was looking for! I didn't know I could keep the car. Going to definitely ask them tomorrow first thing. Thanks.

Also, is part of the process, do they check the computer to see how fast I was going at impact? My Google-fu doesn't give much results other than an airbag can go off as low as 4MPH in certain situations. My guess I was going about about 20, as I was slowing at the roundabout. I'm actually going to ask the Esso at the corner if there happens to be a CCTV pointing in the direction, maybe they caught the thing. I swear there was no traffic in the roundabout causing the vehicle in front to stop, but in the end I hit her, so yeah...
 
oh and no, I didn't have the mods insured...didn't think that was a thing prior to getting in accident. Ugh live and learn I guess...
 
They don't check you speed, so don't worry about that.

However, be careful with the mods as some insurers will just ask you to pay a further premium to declare the mods before they pay out, but others may void the policy if they were not in a position to insure you with the mods.

Although the mods are minor in the grand scheme of things, as it's not like you've got major mods like air suspension or a supercharger.
 
Not sure if all zeds have this but there might be a BST "Battery Safety Terminal" on the + side of the battery which blows when the airbags do. Which would prevent you starting it up.
 
The windscreen is interesting - it could have been the shock through the chassis, or more seriously I guess it could be an indication of the chassis being twisted. It probably wouldn't take too much movement in the wrong plane to crack it... But I'm no expert.
 
Bing said:
The windscreen is interesting - it could have been the shock through the chassis, or more seriously I guess it could be an indication of the chassis being twisted. It probably wouldn't take too much movement in the wrong plane to crack it... But I'm no expert.
Click to expand...

Looking at the damage I would think it's more likely the airbag. Probably where the panel/dash flap hit the windscreen.

Damage looks really light but new dashboard is required so that will put costs up.

If it were mine though and it does get written off, I would be buying it back.
 
Bing said:
The windscreen is interesting - it could have been the shock through the chassis, or more seriously I guess it could be an indication of the chassis being twisted. It probably wouldn't take too much movement in the wrong plane to crack it... But I'm no expert.
Click to expand...

Agree with Bing a possibility
many moons ago I had a similar accident but with far less damage, smashed headlight, and a slight crease in O/S wing.
The guy behind joined in and thumped the back for good measure damaging the tailgate and boot (Trunk :) ) floor
Closer inspection revealed that the chassis had twisted and they wrote it off :cry:
 
Update:

The car's been written off. The chassis was twisted enough to deem it unsafe.

The windscreen was cracked from the piece of the dash popping open when the airbag deployed.
 
007MCoupe said:
Update:

The car's been written off. The chassis was twisted enough to deem it unsafe.

The windscreen was cracked from the piece of the dash popping open when the airbag deployed.
Click to expand...

Are you buying it back? I think you can ask for a full report of the damage? May be of use as you don't want to buy something back that's useless!
 
007MCoupe said:
Update:

The car's been written off. The chassis was twisted enough to deem it unsafe.

The windscreen was cracked from the piece of the dash popping open when the airbag deployed.
Click to expand...

I don't believe for one minute the chassis is twisted.

It's an excuse to get out of it quick I would say.
 
007MCoupe said:
I'm actually going to ask the Esso at the corner if there happens to be a CCTV pointing in the direction, maybe they caught the thing. I swear there was no traffic in the roundabout causing the vehicle in front to stop, but in the end I hit her, so yeah...
Click to expand...

Just watch out on this type of accident as you may find the car you hit, suddenly had a family of nine people, all claiming whiplash injuries . Did you get any photos of her car, if so, let your insurance know as they will use them if they try a crash for cash scam.
 
Sorry to hear your story OP - :cry:

Your car doesn't look like it has major damage - I would try to get it inspected by someone with appropriate experience with a view to keeping it and getting it repaired.

Hope it all works out well! :thumbsup:
 
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