My very first crash..
Discussion
Here we go..
I've been driving 6 years now (I am 24) and i've owned 6 cars, all of which i've sold for a few hundred quid profit. I'm not a shy driver and refuse to be beaten by a little snow, especially when I know the europeans are laughing at us for our whole country being useless after a couple of inches of snow. I suppose it was just a matter of time until sh*t happened but i'm gutted now it has.
I've managed to turn this:
into this:
I was driving according to the conditions and was doing no more than 20mph down a narrow ungritted Sussex b-road on the way to work (I was only 200m from my place of work at the time, ffs). I know exactly what I did wrong though:
1. Not changing the P6000s (ditchfinders is a particularly accurate name for them now in my eyes) on the the rear that have been on the car since it left the factory. And no, they weren't bald, just rubbish.
2. Thinking I was cool and writing this in the dirt on the back..
d
head.
Anyway, I havn't been in the situation before so don't really know what to do. My excess is £600 and I've built up 2 years no claims which I'd like to hold on to (this is the first year i've paid less than £1000 for my premium). I havn't told my insurance company yet because i've been told that even if I don't claim they'll bump my premiums up as soon as they find out. I get paid less than £15k a year before taxes so as you can imagine i'm skint, especially at this time of year.
So my options are spend money fixing it (anyone have a rough guess how much it will be? As i've said i'm a crash/bodyshop virgin) or claim on the insurance. I paid £2500 for the car a year ago and I believe that when repaired it will be worth that again as its only done 55k, has been overserviced for its milage and is a limited edition with recaro leathers, but would an insurance company see it as being worth as much as I do? Would the insurance write the car off and I could buy it back as a cat-d or whatever?
I know that its not going to win any awards in the 'show us your crash pics' thread but I'm just looking for advice off people who have been in the same situation. If your post is going to be a smug, condesending one save it for another thread please as I have grown quite fond of the little car and am a bit cut up about the whole situation. I will allow puns though, as long as they're funny..
Cheers,
Potto
I've been driving 6 years now (I am 24) and i've owned 6 cars, all of which i've sold for a few hundred quid profit. I'm not a shy driver and refuse to be beaten by a little snow, especially when I know the europeans are laughing at us for our whole country being useless after a couple of inches of snow. I suppose it was just a matter of time until sh*t happened but i'm gutted now it has.
I've managed to turn this:
into this:
I was driving according to the conditions and was doing no more than 20mph down a narrow ungritted Sussex b-road on the way to work (I was only 200m from my place of work at the time, ffs). I know exactly what I did wrong though:
1. Not changing the P6000s (ditchfinders is a particularly accurate name for them now in my eyes) on the the rear that have been on the car since it left the factory. And no, they weren't bald, just rubbish.
2. Thinking I was cool and writing this in the dirt on the back..
d
head.Anyway, I havn't been in the situation before so don't really know what to do. My excess is £600 and I've built up 2 years no claims which I'd like to hold on to (this is the first year i've paid less than £1000 for my premium). I havn't told my insurance company yet because i've been told that even if I don't claim they'll bump my premiums up as soon as they find out. I get paid less than £15k a year before taxes so as you can imagine i'm skint, especially at this time of year.
So my options are spend money fixing it (anyone have a rough guess how much it will be? As i've said i'm a crash/bodyshop virgin) or claim on the insurance. I paid £2500 for the car a year ago and I believe that when repaired it will be worth that again as its only done 55k, has been overserviced for its milage and is a limited edition with recaro leathers, but would an insurance company see it as being worth as much as I do? Would the insurance write the car off and I could buy it back as a cat-d or whatever?
I know that its not going to win any awards in the 'show us your crash pics' thread but I'm just looking for advice off people who have been in the same situation. If your post is going to be a smug, condesending one save it for another thread please as I have grown quite fond of the little car and am a bit cut up about the whole situation. I will allow puns though, as long as they're funny..
Cheers,
Potto
Potto said:
into this:
I havn't told my insurance company yet because i've been told that even if I don't claim they'll bump my premiums up as soon as they find out.
Edited by shuvitupya on Monday 20th December 23:14
i wouldnt blame the tyres, it doesnt matter what you have on there, snow is snow, you can always get caught out. as for claiming, dont, it will push up yours and everyone elses premiums (insurance prices for the under 25s is rising on average by 40%, so it wouldnt help loosing your 2 yrs ncb). from your pictures, i reckon you could get that sorted for around 300ish. try and buy in the right colour and if not do all the prep your self and if you can get away with a little bit of rattle canning here and there, i would, its a flat colour so should be easier to match.
Sorry to hear that you cocked up had a bump but at least it wasn't worse.
Based on the damage shown in the pics, I'd have thought that with a combination of parts sourced from ebay and knowledge of a half decent back street repairer you could get that repaired for less than the cost of your excess.
PS - you can't drift a fwd car, but it looks like you've found that out now
ETA - last year I was driving my Merc around on near illegal P6000s when the snow hit, they never left me stranded anywhere. This year some on some sub 3k mile Michelin's the thing can bearly pull itself over a twig.
Based on the damage shown in the pics, I'd have thought that with a combination of parts sourced from ebay and knowledge of a half decent back street repairer you could get that repaired for less than the cost of your excess.
PS - you can't drift a fwd car, but it looks like you've found that out now
ETA - last year I was driving my Merc around on near illegal P6000s when the snow hit, they never left me stranded anywhere. This year some on some sub 3k mile Michelin's the thing can bearly pull itself over a twig.
Edited by rockandrollmark on Monday 20th December 23:31
Pcot said:
'I was driving according to the conditions'
Oh no you weren't, else this would not have happened.
I asked for no smug condesending posts. And I'd suppose you'd know how I was driving because you were there. Or maybe the sun just shines out your arse. And let me guess, you've never been in any sort of accident because you're just perfect. You are the kind of prick that is ruining this forum. Oh no you weren't, else this would not have happened.
Anyway, I think that a second-hand bumper and befriending a panelbeater would be the best option as suggested above, I have no idea how bad the side is scratched up because its so dirty but I dont think its broken through the paint anywhere.. 'insert t-cut joke here'
Get a wheel alignment done if you think you clipped the wheel
bumpers are an easy 1 hour to change yourself
mirror 1/2 an hour max
paint on second hand parts £100-£150 by a smaller bodyshop.
scrappy or ebay for parts
colour may not be 100% match as yellow can fade fast, but from your pics it looks different in places already (not meant nasty btw )
if you need advice on where any fixing are just ask.
bumpers are an easy 1 hour to change yourself
mirror 1/2 an hour max
paint on second hand parts £100-£150 by a smaller bodyshop.
scrappy or ebay for parts
colour may not be 100% match as yellow can fade fast, but from your pics it looks different in places already (not meant nasty btw )
if you need advice on where any fixing are just ask.
Potto said:
Pcot said:
'I was driving according to the conditions'
Oh no you weren't, else this would not have happened.
I asked for no smug condesending posts. And I'd suppose you'd know how I was driving because you were there. Or maybe the sun just shines out your arse. And let me guess, you've never been in any sort of accident because you're just perfect. You are the kind of prick that is ruining this forum. Oh no you weren't, else this would not have happened.
Anyway, I think that a second-hand bumper and befriending a panelbeater would be the best option as suggested above, I have no idea how bad the side is scratched up because its so dirty but I dont think its broken through the paint anywhere.. 'insert t-cut joke here'
I've had a couple of shunts. One was for going to quickly, the other was not looking where I was going. Both down to a loss of concentration. Learn from it and move on.
snuffle said:
Get a wheel alignment done if you think you clipped the wheel
bumpers are an easy 1 hour to change yourself
mirror 1/2 an hour max
paint on second hand parts £100-£150 by a smaller bodyshop.
scrappy or ebay for parts
colour may not be 100% match as yellow can fade fast, but from your pics it looks different in places already (not meant nasty btw )
if you need advice on where any fixing are just ask.
Cheers for that, i'm taking it to my local nationwide tyres to get the tracking done tomorrow as it is pulling a bit to the left. As you pointed out (i'm not offended) none of the panels are really colourmatched to the perfectionist which might even be a bit of a bonus in its own strange way because even if the colour match on the replacement bumper wasnt perfect it wouldn't look out of place. I reckon the chances of finding a bumper prepainted in the right colour are slim as they only made 1000 of them in hideous yellow. I think i'll start calling round some scrappies to see if any have got a puma with no front end damage, but I don't have any time off (except xmas day) until the new year.bumpers are an easy 1 hour to change yourself
mirror 1/2 an hour max
paint on second hand parts £100-£150 by a smaller bodyshop.
scrappy or ebay for parts
colour may not be 100% match as yellow can fade fast, but from your pics it looks different in places already (not meant nasty btw )
if you need advice on where any fixing are just ask.
I've always loved my cars but have never had the confidence to do much more than an airfilter change on my own as i'm not a trained mechanic and have never wanted to damage my cars but it looks like now is the time to bite the bullet and have a go at doing some bits myself.
rockandrollmark said:
where abouts in the country are you? - PH may be able to come to your rescue with suggestions of bodyshops who might be able to sort you out for cheap
I'm somewhere between Horsham and Guildford on the Surrey/Sussex borders. I have been recommended Shalford Coachworks in Godalming by my trusted mechanic but am more than welcome to any suggestions from knowledgeable PHers.Cheers
CampDavid said:
Cheers, i've started having a look around ebay and theres always a couple of pumas being broken on pumapeople or projectpuma so I don't think finding the parts should be too difficult, finding the time to do it will be the struggle as I work til at least 9pm most nights.And yep, the tyres are 10 years old and passed an MOT 3 months ago. I doubt they ever had to do much work as the car only has drum brakes on the back and I rarely carry any weight in the back. The do definately feel a lot more like plastic than rubber at this point though. The only reason I havn't changed them is that they've never worn out and i'm poor, even though that is a rubbish excuse when I can get Toyo T1R in puma size for less than £30 each
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