Not my car but Mrs D's civic was punted in the rear 1/4 in a car park. The other driver admitted full liability and left a note so it was as pleasant an experience as can be.

The damage appears superficial but I suspect it must have been hit quite hard as the car was moved & rotated from the original parked position by around 2-3 feet. The bumper support post has made quite an impact on the bumper and and produced a nice nipple in the bumper. My major concern is visually the rear wheel looks to be out of alignment (double wishbone rear suspension).

As this is a non-fault incident and as I understand it we can choose where the car is repaired? The guys insurers (Tesco) are trying to get the works done by a commercial vehicle ARC. The company we have obtained a quotation from (around £1300 plus hire car but not including any suspension work if needed with alignment to be checked before works) are approved Honda repairer. The insurance has indicated that if we don't use their designated repairer they will not warranty the work.

My questions:-
1) Is the warranty comment rubbish? I would assume the works would have a better warranty direct from an approved Honda repairer and teh only risk is if the re[pairer then went bust?
2) Any thoughts on liklihood of suspension/chassis damage as opposed to alignment knocke dout of whack? it is double wishbone & fully adjustable on the rear.
3) any suggestion for very good body repair companies locally? Or any experience thoughst on Premier Panel Skills in Farnham? (it was full of new jags, porsches etc and the workshop was spotless and a nice spray booth - it looked nice enough to me).

many thanks for any thoughts.

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JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

I would have thought the warranty would come from repairer not from insurance ?

'knocking out adjustment' is a bit of a myth. The adjustment is usually on a thread or cam which is locked and cannot move. In practice it is either 'bent slightly, within range of adjustment' or 'f*****d'. Fabrications such as car bodies are not precise, hence the need for adjusters in the first place. If it is 'bent beyond adjustment' then it will need to be corrected, either changing arms (if they're the problem) or pulling the chassis straight on a jig. Only close inspection and measurement can determine.

p.s. thinking about it -

If the wheel alignment is out without the wheel being hit (likely scenario I suspect unless it hit a kerb) then the chassis is almost certainly what has been bent. Expect it to need jigging.

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If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

I suspect the warranty comment is accurate - but nonsense in that you don't need a warranty from the insurer - that will come form the repairer and possibly honda if they are an approved garage (don't know how far that goes). Also its an older car now so probably not as much to worry about.

Not sure on the likely damage but Chris's comments above make sense to me.

Locally I haven't heard of the ones you mention, a company with a good rep is St Georges Coachworks, they are on the Doman Rd industrial estate near the sorting office in Camberley (past sainsburys on the A331).

Somewhere I would avoid is the Garage in Deepcut. There are so many bad stories around and they charge for quotations.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

Ideal info CDB - the probaility of suspension components and/or chassis twisting seems higher than I expected then.

The other car hit the rear drivers side bumper somewhere between the bumper support for that side and the edge of the bumper. It could be that it came into contact with the wheel as there is little in the way at the exterme corner apart form the bumper.



as you can see it appears relatively minor, the bumper is knackered as has a dent (yes it is plastic!), a fair few deep scrapes and mounting tabs broken off, there is also a small crease (around 5mm deep and 10mm in length) in the rear 1/4 around by the bumper, rear light/ rear 1/4 interface.

_________________
JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

Thanks Mike, It was my thinking as well. The car is almost 10 years old now and whilst the manufacturers warranty is upto 12 years for corrosion I see this as an unlikely item to be claiming on unless they really *bleep* it up and it rusts in the next 2 years!

I am going to sound a bit dumb here as I only have any experience in buying write-offs but... does such minor damege get recorded against the vehicle? If so then it will be a PITA to sell/reduce value and a simple repair through insurance would not provide full financial resolution of the incident. I don't want Mrs D to be moaning about / out of pocket / out of my pocket when it comes time to change cars.

_________________
JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

Not sure on this I know if it gets a 'Cat' ranking - ie D or C then it goes on the record - not sure for other damage.

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GT4DC Events Co-ordinator
1996 ST205 UK

It only gets a Category C or D against it if the car is written off, ie the insurance company decide its an unecconomical repair so take the car off you and pay out instead of repairing.

If its fixed, it doesn't get registered.

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02 Mini Cooper Race Car
94 ST205 Import
92 ST185 Carlos Sainz
www.mcnab-racing.co.uk

I wouldn't hesitate to ditch a Tesco value warranty in favour of a decent body shop. Ultimately all they will do is lean on their approved repairer anyway so you are no better off in reality. They just want you to use their repairer as the sight unseen fixed price repair they offer to Tesco is likely to be lower than the estimated repair where someone actually inspects the car and sees the potential for suspension damage

Do be prepared for the work to take a bit longer to start...sometimes they will require an independent inspection to verify the repair costs - given this is an acknowledged no fault claim with ongoing courtesy car costs it's unlikely but strange things happen

My experience is that suspension damage is typically not structural but more likely to be a bent arm, broken crush type thing but double check that the quote has room for manoeuvre and includes a wheel alignment check. if you still have the car check the tyre for scuffs that look related and visual the alloy for damage. Also stick a straight edge across the wheel both sides and compare. It's pretty easy to get a false idea when body panels are pointing in the wrong direction

It looks like a pretty simple r/r rear bumper cover and foam, possible r/r bracketry, refinish rear quarter, visual suspension and send it for alignment

If you don't have a courtesy car, much as I hate to say it, push for one asap. With potential suspension damage, no ,matter how small, it really shouldn't be doing soccer mom duty on the road

Doesn't look to me like chassis is bent, but do an alignment check / set first and make sure any errors are within adjustment.

If it does turn out to just be a new bumper then it shouldn't affect value. As above, it should only be registered with DVLA if it's a write off.

_________________
If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

A car can still be on the register if fixed.
This would usually be a result of someone buyng the salvage, repairing the damage and putting the car through the laughable VOSA inspection

It also seems (From Alex and Lewis) that a car may be registered even if a claim is not made - I'm not sure on the current status on that though


A quick squizz at Parkers shows that the estimated damage is below typical PG prices so I don't think it will be a consideration in your case

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/us ... arplate=75

In Alex's case, the accident was reported to insurance and the car was assessed as a write off. He then (as far as I know) chose not to make a claim. I believe the write-off was registered as he had to go through the VOSA check.

I think it's a case of weighing up lump sum + car back but losing no-claims vs. lower insurance for the next 5 years.

_________________
If at first you don't suck seed, try drier grain.

Good calls guys.
not so worried about it being written off - it is more if the value of the vehicle would be reduced due to a recorded crash.

_________________
JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

You only need a VOSA check for Cat C write offs so sounds correct.

Cat D & X only need an MOT.

_________________
02 Mini Cooper Race Car
94 ST205 Import
92 ST185 Carlos Sainz
www.mcnab-racing.co.uk

Progress
Bumper twatted back into place
Bit of card used as a straight edge and it seemed around 10mm too much camber at the top compared to the other side so around an extra 2 degrees. A quick trip to a laser align place and it is still within spec with only 1.5 deg camber on the impacted side and 1 deg on the untouched side. Toe is unaffected.

There is no movement in the rear wheel either.

I think steves comment regarding the hire car is very valid, in order to minimise risk I have been driving it/Child gets to use/be chaufferred in the M3 every day. It is a bit of a PITA as I am not insured for business in Mrs Ds car so it restricts my days out for work occasionally.

Anyway - big thanks for your input guys. The clarification on the write off/being recorded is as I suspected but wanted to be sure.

_________________
JP
GT4DC Treasurer

Grey St185 RC
Silver BMW E46 M3
Multicolour yawn Honda VFR400
Silver Honda Civic Type-R

I'd be wary about using a courtesy car unless you have a cast iron guarantee in writing that the cost is covered by the other guys insurance. There are lots of horror stories of people facing a huge bill if the paperwork isn't watertight.

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Don
GT4DC Chairman
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205WRC JDM 269bhp @ 0.9bar
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