Help! Opinions on 'write off' Z4 please

I'd take the money and run personally. The potential hassle of sourcing parts and getting it back together might turn out to be a headache. Plus, once it's been repaired will you feel like it's the same as it was before?

You can have mine for £7850.00 :evil:
 
Alternatively take the car and the cash and auction the repairable salvage to make up the shortfall.

Have a look at some salvage sites to get an idea of sale value.

I would personally keep the car and get it repaired by an independent. The Cat C can be negated by a full engineering inspection after repair (not just an identifying check but full inspection)

:driving:
 
Chrissyg said:
I'm giving up work to be a professional ski bum for 6 months in Japan, so need to save and save and save every spare penny I can, so spending an extra £3k to get an si seems pretty hard to justify at the moment. Think I need to get lucky with a cheap si or a good, solid 3.0i!
Click to expand...

If you're going to Japan the answer seems obvious... take the money, bank it, then replace with a newer model when you get back (in the middle of winter)
 
Nelly Welly said:
The Cat C can be negated by a full engineering inspection after repair (not just an identifying check but full inspection)

:driving:
Click to expand...

I'd love to know the source of that particular piece of disinformation.

As far as I'm aware, once a car has been deemed Cat C, un-repairable, it carries that stigma for the rest of it's days.
 
Write off categories in basic terms:

A - Next to nothing left
B - Not fit to go back on the road
C - Major Damage but safely repairable
D - Just uneconomic to repair as far as INs. concerned

Cat D is sometimes not even recorded.

Insurers often request an engineers report before accepting any repaired cat c or d back on cover and this gives buyers confidence in the vehicle after repair.

If the insurer cats d a car then it can just be repaired if it's cat c it may need a VIC check and new MOT

:D
 
Denis O said:
Nelly Welly said:
The Cat C can be negated by a full engineering inspection after repair (not just an identifying check but full inspection)

:driving:
Click to expand...

I'd love to know the source of that particular piece of disinformation.

As far as I'm aware, once a car has been deemed Cat C, un-repairable, it carries that stigma for the rest of it's days.
Click to expand...

Cat D can be put back on the road with no VIC (Vehicle Identity Examination). CAT C can't be re-registered for the road without a VIC check. Once a VIC is done the CURRENT Cat C marker is removed but remains on the vehicle history file along with a VIC examined record.
Therefore the cat C history of the car will always be revealed when a HPI check is done even though it is no longer a current cat C. The VOSA website gives the step-by-step process.
 
As already said - NEVER EVER ACCEPT THE FIRST QUOTE. When a wall indiscriminately jumped out from the middle of nowhere and hit my poor old VX220 :roll: i haggled it up ~£1000 from their opening gambit. Remember that they must pay you enough to cover the car from the trade (not private) and relatively local to you. Send them a list of comparable cars within 60 miles, and make them clear of it.

If you're looking for a similar car, id be tempted to just get it done yourself. If you buy used parts (ideally painted, as Black matches well unlike lighter colours), you could be £3000 better off short term with haggling, and the cars value will have probably depreciated £1500-2000 max.

If i were buying and saw those pre-repair pictures, i wouldn't hesitate at all to buy that car knowing there is nothing structural or airbag deployment for a hefty 30% saving. A bumper, light, bonnet etc is nothing. That's just me though.
 
Chrissyg said:
Morning all,

After having spent a fair amount of time tussling with the insurance company about vehicle values after having my Zed declared a Cat C, and trying to find a similar car, I'm starting to wonder about having it repaired and keeping it. The insurance company have offered my £5960 for my car which at this time of year just isn't enough to come close to buy a replacement car with the same spec/mileage. Or they're offering me £4400 if I keep the car. Obviously, I'll lose money on the car when I come to sell it as it'll be a Cat C but I'll also lose £1500-2000 to buy a car of similar spec at this time of year as a replacement as prices are high, so I'm just weighing up the options.

Here's a pic of the car:

IMG_3685_zpsxclw0tgf.jpg

Now there's damage to the wing, bumper, bonnet, bumper carrier and headlight. And also the slam panel for the bonnet has been pushed back a bit. The insurance company quoted £6100 to fix the damage but that's all at brand new BMW prices from a dealer. Does anyone know of any good websites to start looking at prices for these parts? A quick google has found me with a few bits but not loads yet and there are no parts on eBay at the moment.

It's a bloody lovely car with low miles (52k) and full service history, and I'm just a bit loathe to part with it out unless it really doesn't make sense to repair it. It still drives perfectly (drove home from the accident with no issues at all). Does anyone know a good accident repair specialist in the South East of London?

I thought I'd turn to you all for some guidance due to your wisdom and knowledge!

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...





SNAP!!

My post from accident on 1st April: http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=76408

Not sure I can be much more assistance, but I certainly feel your pain!! almost 2 months on and I only just recived a payout cheque and decided to have my car back only to break for bits/take the bits i want to put on potential replacement car and sell the rest.

I put up a big fight and I got to £6210 as final settlement minus £1550 to get my car back..... feel screwed over by insurance company as there is no way I can find an equivalent replacement for that money but hoping combining the bits I want back from my old car and selling the rest it may ease the pain!

All in all, for a completely non-fault incident I have wasted an awful lot of my time and fustrations on a completely incompetant insurance company (Churchill by the way).

Best of luck with finding a replacement! I'm still looking!
 
Nelly Welly said:
Write off categories in basic terms:

A - Next to nothing left
B - Not fit to go back on the road
C - Major Damage but safely repairable
D - Just uneconomic to repair as far as INs. concerned

Cat D is sometimes not even recorded.

Insurers often request an engineers report before accepting any repaired cat c or d back on cover and this gives buyers confidence in the vehicle after repair.

If the insurer cats d a car then it can just be repaired if it's cat c it may need a VIC check and new MOT

:D
Click to expand...
Thought it was
C - repair costs make it uneconomical to repair
D - uneconomical to repair due to significant non-repair costs (eg. 9 months lead time for parts) or insurance settled before vehicle recovered
 
Nelly Welly said:
Write off categories in basic terms:

A - Next to nothing left
B - Not fit to go back on the road
C - Major Damage but safely repairable
D - Just uneconomic to repair as far as INs. concerned

Cat D is sometimes not even recorded.

Insurers often request an engineers report before accepting any repaired cat c or d back on cover and this gives buyers confidence in the vehicle after repair.

If the insurer cats d a car then it can just be repaired if it's cat c it may need a VIC check and new MOT

:D
Click to expand...

Where does this explain that the Cat C status can be negated by an engineers report. Your inference is that somehow, the Cat C status will disappear. It won't. I stand by my comment that you're giving disinformation.

No need to give me all the category's. I know them.
 
Not giving disinformation just that insurers will extend insurance when a cat c or d is supported by the report.

Oh and if you're so knowledgeable you should have known that as well.

Try getting off a hurt horse I was only offering my opinion in the spirit of the forum.

:cry:
 
Cheers all, great to see some opinion come through, gives me a good idea in mulling things over!

I've just had a quote from an indie garage my Dad uses and knows well, to repair the damage for £3k which is quite positive (inc pick up and drop off of the car). How do I stand from an insurance point of view with this? If I want to take this through the insurers to have the vehicle repaired (and the insurance company agrees), I believe the car wouldn't be classed as a cat C anymore would it?

I think it's got to be something worth exploring on the chance that I could end up with a repaired car which would save me hunting and searching for a replacement which would be ideal! If this fails then I'll definitely be looking to increase the offer from the insurance company. They've stated that they don't want to go anywhere near looking at adverts, but I can always bombard them with adverts and mention the Financial Ombudsmen to add weight to my argument.

Thanks for all your input,

Chris
 
Hi Chris,

I went to the FOS with mine...... and unfortunately they were no use at all........ they also look at tha "book" value.... (Glasses etc)...... the same as the insurance company, which is less than you can actually go buy one for...... I contested it with them and the just reeled off a speech saying the books are "constructed from real market data"... So I went on to question how the built up this information as I very much doubt everytime a second hand car is sold "the book" are informed what they actualy sold for... thier only response was as above.... "constructed from real market data"... By which time I wasted enough breath and had to move on!
 
Fix her- it is crazy what a car is written off for just because it is 'old'! I am currently getting mine fixed albeit with some great forum donations for around £600 for what admiral were going to write it off for- no recorded CAT as not claimed on mine (irrelevant really as I will never sell).
Get it fixed- you know the car and it's history far more tan any other you will buy!
 
Great news! The insurance company have decided to uphold the quote that I got from an independent garage and they're picking her up in 10 minutes to get the repairs underway, no Cat C and a brand new front end. Good result all round as the front end had some stonechips which will no longer be on the car!

Thanks for all the comments, we'll see how the repairs come on in the coming week!
 
That sounds like a great result.
Well done for pursuing different options until you got something that worked out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom