Chances of repair?

[sshenton1975]

Morning all

Bonnet catch failed on my XF, bonnet flew open and smashed into screen and both lower A pillars.....

My body man reckons he can remove bonnet and pull both sections in to shape.....

Im going to go through insurance in first instamce and possibly buy back. Im.100% sure they will.write off

Car is mint and just had 700£ cambelt

I dont need it to be 100% perfect. Access it v good to pull

Views.......?






Its 3.0 R Sport and i love it!

Edited by sshenton1975 on Sunday 17th November 08:55

[BricktopST205]

Looks like a simple fix but I would be looking for a breaker and cutting out good sections rather than trying to straighten out those pieces of metal.

[steveo3002]

if he says he can do then let him if the other jobs in the shop look good

theres certainly panel beaters that can work magic amongst the cowboys

[essayer]

sorry to see this after you did all that work on it
Fingers crossed all fixable

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Crumbs. That must have been scary OP.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

...and really bad luck that both catches should fail

[mike9009]

That must have been pretty scary.....hope you are not too shaken.

Isn't that part of the car's safety structure? So, if the car was rolled in another accident how would those parts support the roof? I would want a professional opinion on that before proceeding......

My old Alfa 156 sport wagon had a recall on the bonnet catches not holding.....so I used to annually clean and grease them.

[blue_haddock]

The A pillars are part of the main vehicle structure so most insurance companies will write it off as a cat S with structural damage.

[Megaflow]

blue_haddock said:

The A pillars are part of the main vehicle structure so most insurance companies will write it off as a cat S with structural damage.

Yep. Through an insurance company that will be a write off.

[sshenton1975]

Ita already a Cat S. I bought it 3 months ago and repaired it myself - some light front end damage

Its now my pride and joy and the fact I got it all back on the road myself makes it more painful!

Im expecting a write off amd fact its already cat S meams insurance company will.pffer a lower than normal settlement.

Plan is to buy it back and repair. I dont think too big a deal as the part that is damaged is actually single skin l you can put your finger around the inside of panel)

So windscreen, PDR on bonnet dents (small) amd a good pabel beater - Im hoping it will go again!

Just spent 700£ on cambelt!

[kev b]

Not wanting to be confrontational but a few questions you should maybe be asking

- after “minor front end bodywork repair” your bonnet catch and safety catch “failed” concurrently?

Now you want to repair a safety critical structural part of the shell by pulling it straight and panel beat the bonnet back into shape?

Didn't go too well the first time did it?

[sshenton1975]

kev b said:

Not wanting to be confrontational but a few questions you should maybe be asking

- after “minor front end bodywork repair” your bonnet catch and safety catch “failed” concurrently?

Now you want to repair a safety critical structural part of the shell by pulling it straight and panel beat the bonnet back into shape?

Didn't go too well the first time did it?

Haha touche - its all good!

I hadnt closed the bonnet properly by all accounts - a stupid oversight on my part

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

sshenton1975 said:

I hadnt closed the bonnet properly by all accounts - a stupid oversight on my part

I think we've all done it. Just lucky not to have such catastrophic results.

Hope it works out OP.

[Skyedriver]

Had similar with a Volvo 940 some years ago albeit with only bonnet damage where it creased over the leading edge of the roof, not the screen or pillars.
Scary though, suddenly you have no idea what's in front of you.
Personally with that car I'd call it a day, seems fated, third time unlucky...