Some idiot crashed into my car

T

tehdarkstar

Member
Got to my car on Saturday evening to go out and noticed something wrong with the front: the front bumper was scratched and the grilles were broken and falling off of the car. There was little more than half a car of space between my car and the one parked in front and the one in front being a yellow Corvette, I would have noticed if his rear bumper was damaged. It seems like someone reversed into my car and just left his damage behind and now I'm stuck with the bill.

I wanted to do some shopping around to see what dealer would charge me less for the repairs, but it seems quite impossible to do so. I understand that they want to see the car to commit to an estimate, but I'm asking only for ballpark figures assuming the worst case scenario (replacement of bumper, mountings, grilles and etc), but even so nobody wants to give me prices. I got HR Owen Holland Park to go and have a look at my car as I live nearby and they gave me a quote of £1100, replacing all parts damaged. The bumper only they're charging £459 + VAT, which seems a bit steep for what is just a plastic cover. All other bits, painting and labour are quoted separatedly, so that price is only for the part itself.

Now I'm in a bit of a catch 22 situation, as taking time off work to drive around for people to see my car will cost me money, but accepting the one quote I got will probably mean that I spend more than I needed...

Also they won't have the bumper until early next week, so it means that I will have my car damaged for a whole week including a trackday in Bedford Autodrome this Friday. I'm not a happy bunny.
 
Ouch! :( Man that sucks...

Are you sure the bumper can't just be repaired? Surely it doesn't need to be replaced if it's just scuffed? Also, the grilles are £30 each.

It's horrible when you find someone has damaged your P&J whilst you've not been around. I came out to find a scuff on my Z's bumper one morning when we were at the 'Ring back in Easter - I'd only had the car for about 4 weeks also. :( Luckily it pretty much polished out. You can see it if you look for it closely still...

Don't know what to say, except at least try and get to one or two bodyshops to get a quote. Aren't there any that are open really early, or late - before or after you're working?

My mate that run's a BMW Approved bodyshop (and did the lacquer work on my CF roof) is in Catford, if that helps? :(
 
What a bummer for you.
I remember you saying that you were worried about this happening, I don't suppose the venturesheild helped that much if it got hit hard.
 
Yeah, it is a bummer.

The guy from HR Owen that went to see my car said that the bumper is all good except for the bits that hold the grilles in place. They're broken and therefore they can't repair it. He said that he could even try to fix new grilles in there, but he couldn't guarantee that it would stay.

Andy, if your guy can give me a ballpark figure over the phone I will be more than happy to talk to him.

The worst thing is that I'm taking my car to a trackday this Friday and I won't have the chance to get it repaired before then... :(
 
Sorry to hear of this, its a shame people cant be more honest when they prang someone elses car.

Hope you get it sorted. Not sure where you live but you could try Scotthall Borehamwood, v good body shop and you might be able to cut a deal as I know they always want the work....
 
here take this a hunt the bast*#d down like a scurvy dog






I guarantee it will take out more than just the grilles :evil: :evil: :evil:
 
Gee... always a bummer whenever I hear of these things. This should never happen to anybody, anytime! It sucks even more that it happened to you so soon in your ownership.

Hope you get things sorted out soon...
 
JayD said:
Sorry to hear of this, its a shame people cant be more honest when they prang someone elses car.
Click to expand...

You say that but I pranged the rear of a neighbour's car several years ago and owned up, eventually paying a few hundred quid for the repair. A week after he'd had it back from the bodyshop, someone else went into the back of it on a motorway.

Talk about bad timing. Honesty doesn't pay!

:x
 
Try asking each bodyshop what their hourly rate is to compare costs without having to drive round loads of shops.

The parts costs aren't likely to vary that much, they will all allocate the time based on the Thatcham system or there abouts, so the labour rate should be the biggest variable.
 
Got my Z back today looking good as it was before! I ended up paying the price the dealer asked me as I would loose more if I took time off work to get more quotes... :(

I'm happy to have my car back fixed! :driving: :driving: :driving:
 
Alls well that ends well. You made the right decision. When you feel like delaying the inevitable that's the time to kiss it good bye.

Glad you're back on the road
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

M
Advisory advice for a mechanical idiot
Replies
11
Views
9K
MSW
M
Gwest44
Musings of a Z4MC Idiot
2
Replies
25
Views
3K
Gwest44
Gwest44
T
No dashboard Idiot light.
Replies
2
Views
396
ph001
P
E
Idiot of the Year, I forgot to bid on Z4 bargain :-(
Replies
7
Views
986
thanatu55
T
S
Fuming... idiot got out his car.
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
ronk
R
Back
Top Bottom