Help! Opinions on 'write off' Z4 please

C

Chrissyg

Member
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?
 
I understand you had your car the way you wanted & at 50k low miles but £6k for a 03 doesn't seem that bad ?
Wouldn't take much cash on top to get into a newer SI facelift Z :?
That said if you intend replacing with another 03/04 model then i would take the £4400 & repair your own car .
 
Personally I think it all comes down to a few things:

1) How much do you still love it?
2) How long could you see yourself keeping it?
3) Do you have the time to see it through and have another vehicle to replace it in the short term?
4) Is there anything else you want and can afford in the mean time..
 
Keep the car and keep the pictures for when you resell to show was little damage.
looks like a easy cheap fix i am sure if you find a garage on a personal note it should beable to be fixed for around 1500.
 
There looks to be a few mods on that. What do you think they're worth? Potential of strip down to raise more from it?
 
Rough figures:

Bonnet £600
Wing £200
Headlight £400 (more if xenon)
Bumper £600
Grilles, bits, etc. say £200 - £300
Spraying £500+

Before assembly labour I reckon you'd be £2,500 min. and I've not accounted for internal damage.

I can see why it is a write off as add in hire cars, commercial labour and it could easily hit £4k at a local repair shop, so the BMW figure is realistic

I'd take the cash and find another rather than the hassle of a home rebuild and end up with a cat c 12 year old car.

Sadly you always lose financially on a crash somewhere.
 
Rough figures:

Bonnet £600
Wing £200
Headlight £400 (more if xenon)
Bumper £600
Grilles, bits, etc. say £200 - £300
Spraying £500

Before assembly labour I reckon you'd be £2,500 min.

I can see why it is a write off as add in hire cars, commercial labour and it could easily hit £4k

I'd take the cash and find another rather than the hassle of a home rebuild and end up with a cat c 12 year old car.

Sadly you always lose financially on a crash somewhere.
 
If it's going to be a weekend toy then go back tell them you want £5k and the car.
If it's to be a Daily Driver then I'd cut and run.
 
You'd probably get this one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505033155710/sort/default/radius/1501/quicksearch/true/page/1/price-from/6000/channel/cars/postcode/tn278dd/price-to/6000/make/bmw/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/z4/usedcars?logcode=p

for closer to £5k. You' just need to swap the wheels and you could be good to go.

Remember, once yours is fixed it'll always be a Cat C so worth up to 40% less than a regular car with a very small market.
 
Denis O said:
You'd probably get this one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505033155710/sort/default/radius/1501/quicksearch/true/page/1/price-from/6000/channel/cars/postcode/tn278dd/price-to/6000/make/bmw/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/z4/usedcars?logcode=p

for closer to £5k. You' just need to swap the wheels and you could be good to go.

Remember, once yours is fixed it'll always be a Cat C so worth up to 40% less than a regular car with a very small market.
Click to expand...

It will be worth less but not 40%. No chance

I'd take the 6k and add some cash for a Si
 
Keep the car and buy another which you can then swap the good bits from yours to the new one. Then sale the old one as spares or repairs.
 
Yorkie Z said:
Denis O said:
You'd probably get this one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201505033155710/sort/default/radius/1501/quicksearch/true/page/1/price-from/6000/channel/cars/postcode/tn278dd/price-to/6000/make/bmw/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/z4/usedcars?logcode=p

for closer to £5k. You' just need to swap the wheels and you could be good to go.

Remember, once yours is fixed it'll always be a Cat C so worth up to 40% less than a regular car with a very small market.
Click to expand...

It will be worth less but not 40%. No chance

I'd take the 6k and add some cash for a Si
Click to expand...

Probably why I said "up to" then :oops:
 
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but you haven't mentioned it in your post. Never, ever accept the first offer your insurer makes you. Remember that the Loss Adjuster's sole purpose is to try and close the claim as cheaply as possible. There is always room for negotiation.

Regardless of how good your Z4 is (was) if it is categorised as a Cat C it will be like a millstone around your neck when trying to sell it at a later date. Very, very few potential purchasers will be interested in buying it and has already been stated its value will never be that of an uncategorised car regardless of how well it might have been repaired.

Take the lower offer and repair it yourself? Do you really want the additional hassle of this? It may need to be VIC tested. The insurance companies have pushed the margins down so much that the repairers are not making much of a profit on the work, they will be looking to repair rather than replace parts wherever possible. And you think you can do that more economically than the professionals?

So my thoughts - for what they are worth - is push for a better settlement figure and move on with your life.

Oh, and if you do that, don't under any circumstances take any of the modifications off your car. I'm assuming that you declared them to your insurer? They will have worked out their offers based upon these modifications either adding or reducing the value of the car. So they will be expecting them to still be on the car when Copart or whoever collects it. If however you haven't declared them, take them off!
 
The insurance company should give you 'market rate' for your car. I see that as an amount you could replace the car with 'like for like'. If you are finding that you can't you should bring this up with the insurance company. Like TR4man said don't accept the first offer.
 
TR4man said:
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but you haven't mentioned it in your post. Never, ever accept the first offer your insurer makes you. Remember that the Loss Adjuster's sole purpose is to try and close the claim as cheaply as possible. There is always room for negotiation.

Regardless of how good your Z4 is (was) if it is categorised as a Cat C it will be like a millstone around your neck when trying to sell it at a later date. Very, very few potential purchasers will be interested in buying it and has already been stated its value will never be that of an uncategorised car regardless of how well it might have been repaired.

Take the lower offer and repair it yourself? Do you really want the additional hassle of this? It may need to be VIC tested. The insurance companies have pushed the margins down so much that the repairers are not making much of a profit on the work, they will be looking to repair rather than replace parts wherever possible. And you think you can do that more economically than the professionals?

So my thoughts - for what they are worth - is push for a better settlement figure and move on with your life.

Oh, and if you do that, don't under any circumstances take any of the modifications off your car. I'm assuming that you declared them to your insurer? They will have worked out their offers based upon these modifications either adding or reducing the value of the car. So they will be expecting them to still be on the car when Copart or whoever collects it. If however you haven't declared them, take them off!
Click to expand...

Thanks for all the opinions guys, it's really helping! I think by the sound of it, the general consensus is to part with it and start from scratch. The idea of taking the cash and the car and breaking it up for sale/selling it as salvage sounds good (and if I had the space I'd do it) but realistically, it's the right thing to part ways with my Zed.

As far as the insurance offer goes, they offered me £5100 first which I turned down, then £5700 which I turned down and now they're saying the 'absolute maximum' Admiral can do is £5960 (then take £250 excess) and I spent £6450 in the winter on my car. Can't seem to find anything comparable given the time of year/weather, so I'll be out of pocket for sure. Is it worth mentioning the financial ombudsmen to the insurance company to see if they increase my offer at all? Any other tips to maximising my offer?

The idea of a 3.0si sounds great in theory, and it's something I'd definitely be doing if my circumstances come December were different - 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!

Any further thoughts?

Thanks,

Chris
 
I think you should try to push Admiral a bit more - you have nothing to lose.

Contact them and say that you'd really like to come to a settlement with them, but you want to replace your car with another Zed and similar specification ones are £500 more (try to have some example adverts to quote them).

They are unlikely to agree to another £500, but you have given yourself room to manoeuvre by then saying that if they will split the difference or waive your excess, you'll agree to their offer now and insure your new car with them.

May work, may not, but it's worth a try. They will not want an unsettled claim hanging around any longer than they have to.

Good luck, you have everything to gain by pushing your luck.
 
It will be a Cat C so take the money and run, especially as they seem to have offered a fair price. If not youn will have it repaired and then never be able to sell it unless it's super cheap.

I would suggest one of the following:

1. Have another with good pedigree.
2. Have another with good pedigree.
3. Have another with good pedigree.

It's your call. Good luck
 
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