Unclebuck 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Very bad news. As a special treat for Christmas, on December 17th a nice lady in a Merc pulled out of a side-road and T-boned my VR6 as I drove past. That'll be the VR6 I've had SINCE NEW (there can't be too many of those), bought in 1994, now with 99k on the clock. It's just been declared a write-off. I'm trying to decide whether to retrieve the car before the salvage company get hold of it, and try to get it repaired. Damage is to passenger door, sill/frame and rear quarter. It's pretty mangled. I've yet to receive an offer from the insurers, but I'm sure it will be derisory. I live in Warwickshire. Does anyone know where I can get some good advice? :cry: Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danger Mouse 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Definitely retreive it mate, u never know it might not be that hard to repair with all the parts for sale on here and help from various people here. Dont give it up man, seriously, ull regret it. Defo get it repaired DM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Edwards 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Until such time as the insurance company cheque clears, it's your car. Any additional damage that occurs while it is kept by the salvage company is their fault. Someone was trying to sell a complete bodyshell on here recently - might be worth a look depending on how bad the damage to the rear quarter is. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stormseeker 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Start gathering evidence now from Autotrader etc. as to likely costs to you to replace the car - when mine was nearly written off back last Oct (see this thread) their first offer was £4800 from Glass's/Parker guide and was just a joke. With a little persuasion I soon talked them up to £6k. But then I was able to chose to have the cash (minus hefty excess) or to have the car repaired - I chose the repair and so far (touch wood!) I'm glad I did. Good Luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chrishill 0 Posted January 6, 2004 I'm sure alot of people will give you the same advice stormseeker gave you, and i've about to give you....dont except their first offer! pester the hell out of them until you get what it would cost to buy a car in the same condition of the same age. As stormseeker said get evidence from autotrader and as many other places as you can and make sure they dont use parkers 'list price' as its not an accurate reflection of how much it would cost to replace the car. as an example for you, my previous car was a mk4 astra which got written off, it was 11months old and worht 12k new, 1st offer - £6900, after a weeks worth of pestering and a 10 page fax of 'evidence' i got just over £9000. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DaveStorm 0 Posted January 6, 2004 Oh dear thats a sad first post unclebuck but welcome anyway. Hopefully with the advice you get from this forum you may be ok, try to keep us posted. Good luck. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
G60JAY 0 Posted January 6, 2004 This guy did have a shell for sale. mailto:[email protected] Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rmn 0 Posted January 7, 2004 get it back, you never know, if you have had it form new its gotta be kept, nearly any car can be fixed. do you have any pics of the damage? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unclebuck 0 Posted January 7, 2004 I don't have a pic. If I get the car back, I'll post one. It doesn't actually look that bad, but the door frame is buckled. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bally 0 Posted January 7, 2004 sorry to hear about your rado, hope things work out for the best 8) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MikeVR6 0 Posted January 8, 2004 Sorry to hear of your bad fortune. Assuming the car's still in your drive. Get a local bodyshop to come out and prepare a quote for repair as a "cash job." Bodyshops usually have different labour rates for private and insurance jobs (higher for insurance ones.) With the quote in mind, see if you can strike a deal with the insurance company to reduce the payout but keep the car. Alternatively, do what Chris has said and buy a lower mileage VR for 5 to 6 grand. At the end of the day, a VR is worth what people are prepared to pay for one regardless of "book" prices. Good Luck! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jim 2 Posted January 10, 2004 Where abouts in Warwickshire are you UncleBuck? Its a sad story to hear.. as you say not many cars are 1 owner from new.. thats coming up to 8 years old! Hope you can get it fixed up without the insurance company taking it away from you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unclebuck 0 Posted January 16, 2004 I've got the car back with a view to fixing it. I had some hassle getting it back from the garage, but with some prompting from the insurance company they finally released it. Wondering whether to have a complete respray. I don't like them, but the alternative is to have one side looking brand new, whilst the rest of it looks 10 years old. Also, it would avoid problems in matching sprayed area and get rid of all the stone chips, etc. I'm going to take some pictures, just to demonstrate to any future purchaser that the damage wasn't structural. I've had some offers of help in sourcing parts (thanks to those concerned), but I don't want to go too far with this until i've fixed up a deal with the insurance company, who (so far) seem to be being quite reasonable. Whilst a near-side door is an easy part to define, i'm not sufficiently familiar with the underlying structure of a Corrado to know where a rear quarter panel starts and finishes. Likewise, i need to replace the sill and B-post, and I'm not sure what this involves. By the way, i'm in Kenilworth, Warwickshire (someone asked). Thanks again to all who have corresponded, commiserated and advised. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin Bacon 5 Posted January 16, 2004 The rear quarter includes the B & C pillars + arch. Starts at the door striker pin and goes back to the seam below the light cluster all the way down to the exhaust. And along the roofline under the plastic gutter strip. If you open the tailgate, you can follow the original metal overlaps to a certain degree. HTH K Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unclebuck 0 Posted January 23, 2004 Those of a sensitive disposition should look away now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted January 23, 2004 :( good luck in getting it sorted mate :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Danger Mouse 0 Posted January 23, 2004 :( Have you had any quotes on how much it may cost? On a positive note mate, the rest of the car looks immaculate!!!!!!! It'll be worth spending the money to get her back to that standard all over. :D Hope you get it sorted with as little hassle and aggrivation as possible! Keep us updated on the progress mate DM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Unclebuck 0 Posted November 8, 2004 Footnote for this thread, which was several months ago....... Car is now fully repaired and back in daily use. I think the only replacement part used was the door. Excellent job done by PJ Bates in Brum. I was especially impressed at how well the door closes. Good as new! Car has subsequently had new clutch, new alarm, new rear discs, new SS exhaust. Phew. It's a happy ending. :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dinkus 10 Posted November 8, 2004 Always good to see a happy ending and another C dodging the grip of death :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Blassberg 0 Posted November 8, 2004 That cheers up an otherwise grey afternoon :D Let's hope the "Nice lady in the Mercedes" has a few points on her licence as a result. Best wishes RB Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
southam2023 0 Posted November 11, 2004 Brilliant result - well done. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
