Disaster......

[Tonka]

I'm totally gutted. Had a prang in the car this morning which was the last thing I needed right now. The car is a really good runner, very reliable and totally mechanically sound, which makes it worse.

The truck has damage to the off side front wing, bumper, headlight assembly, grill etc and the wheels are now standing toes-out like a ballet dancer. My question is; how easy is it to get hold of these body panels and other bits? I would prefer to leave this to the insurance company to sort as I don't have the time to fix it myself, but are they more likely to just write it off?

Many thanks, I really do hope this can be fixed.

[Sancho]

I'm totally gutted. Had a prang in the car this morning which was the last thing I needed right now. The car is a really good runner, very reliable and totally mechanically sound, which makes it worse.

The truck has damage to the off side front wing, bumper, headlight assembly, grill etc and the wheels are now standing toes-out like a ballet dancer. My question is; how easy is it to get hold of these body panels and other bits? I would prefer to leave this to the insurance company to sort as I don't have the time to fix it myself, but are they more likely to just write it off?

Many thanks, I really do hope this can be fixed.

Those sorts of bits are easy to get from Milners or Roughtrax. Body panels for surfs are very cheap.

Wheels pointing out is more a concern, but you probably just snapped or bents something cheap. As long as the chassis is still straight and the damage is in a limited area you should be fine.

[Tonka]

Those sorts of bits are easy to get from Milners or Roughtrax. Body panels for surfs are very cheap.

Wheels pointing out is more a concern, but you probably just snapped or bents something cheap. As long as the chassis is still straight and the damage is in a limited area you should be fine.

Now that's what I want to hear! Even the plastic sticky out wheel arches? And the clear lights?
Many thanks Sancho.

[dirtydog]

jotto probably has most of these parts, arches are a pain but i think he has some.

[Tonka]

Piccies..........

[IMG]http:/i7.tinypic.com/43w6zjm.jpg[/IMG]



Don't hold back now! Is this repairable/are they likely to? I can take more photos if it's worth looking underneath etc. Many thanks, I think the repairers will try to get this written off if at all possible, so I need to be prepared in order to fight my corner.

[Tonka]

jotto probably has most of these parts, arches are a pain but i think he has some.

Thanks dirtydog, I have already left him a post on his breaking thread. Hope I can find the bits, I may need to buy the car back as s$$$$ from the repairers, amass the parts myself and then get a repairer to do the work. I haven't time to do it myself.

I guess one thing I need to establish is whether any really important bits are bent ie chassis bits.

[Slugsie]

By the looks of it you're looking at a bumper, inner and outer wing, slam bar, maybe a door, and a new headlamp. Dunno about the bonnet as you didn't show it, but I'd suspect it may be slightly bent too. The pigeon toes wheels are probably something simple like needing a new track rod end.

Hard to say how an insurance assessor would handle it. If they went off official Toyota prices then it'll most likely be very expensive, and thus .

You could probably source most of the parts yourself for around £300 - £400 I reckon (I haven't looked, so don't quote me on that). If they do decide to write it off, enquire how much they'll sell it back to you for, it may be viable to fix it yourself if you have the facilities and abilities, or know someone who does.

[Sancho]

I think if you'd damaged your chassis you would have done a lot more damage than that. That's just a little ding. . Have a look underneath and see if everything goes in straight lines.

Kind of depends on how your insurance people want to play it. They may insist on 'their' garage doing it, which either means Toyota dealer or robber that they pay to over-quote, in which case I agree with Slugsie . If they're a decent company though, get them to take it down to TonyN and get a quote for using cheap bits.

[jotto]

Thanks dirtydog, I have already left him a post on his breaking thread. Hope I can find the bits, I may need to buy the car back as s$$$$ from the repairers, amass the parts myselfe and then get a repairer to do the work. I haven't time to do it myself.

I guess one thing I need to establish is whether any really important bits are bent ie chassis bits.

Sorry to say the only bit I have is the grey bumper and that does not have the valance

[nero279]

If they write it off, salvage should be around 10% of the payout according to a mate in the insurance trade. On a 2.4 i wouldn't have thought you'd get much over two-grand, if that, out of an insurance company so the salvage buy back should only be about £200 if what i've been told is right. £200 for the car back, say £600 for parts just at a guess, as far as i can see wishbones are the only expensive thing in that area so could go down if they're ok. Then the labour's up to you, if you don't wanna or can't do it yourself it, it just depends on who you know. Looking a grand or so back on the road.

The only thing i'd pay someone else to do is spray and fit the new wing, maybe check the suspension and steering components.

[andycook]

how did you prang the car ???

[marky]

how did you prang the car ???

He dropped his mobile phone while reading the Paper

[ohsupremebeing]

Have a word with Hilux (bob) he got some new front surf wings for £15 each for his. Dont know where from but he will tell u. Best of luck with it. He may have the other bits u need too.

[Tonka]

By the looks of it you're looking at a bumper, inner and outer wing, slam bar, maybe a door, and a new headlamp. Dunno about the bonnet as you didn't show it, but I'd suspect it may be slightly bent too.

Thanks Slugsie, hopefully I'll get away with the door - it looks OK to my untrained eyes. The bonnet has a bend in it (or2) what's a slam bar?

I think if you'd damaged your chassis you would have done a lot more damage than that. That's just a little ding. . Have a look underneath and see if everything goes in straight lines.

Cheers Sancho, it was only a little ding, thankfully I was hardly moving by the time we met. I'll be crawling underneath tomorrow to have a butchers, I might then be submitting more piccies for your expert opinions!

If they're a decent company though, get them to take it down to TonyN and get a quote for using cheap bits.

Does TonyN do bodywork/crash repair then? You there Tony?

Sorry to say the only bit I have is the grey bumper and that does not have the valance

Is that from an earlier model then Jotto? I'll have to nake sure I get the right one, I think (without looking) that mine is one unit.

If they write it off, salvage should be around 10% of the payout according to a mate in the insurance trade.

The insurance clerk I was talking to wouldn't give me an idea on that so many thanks nero, much appreciated. If I buy back as salvage though, it'll have the stigma of having been written off won't it, will that cause me a problem with insurance/selling on?

how did you prang the car ???

Hit a lorry who'd pulled onto my side of the road opposite direction to me trying to get through a tight gap, hit the brakes hard but not enough room to stop, so I will be really annoyed if the insurance companies attribute any blame to me. Luckily I have pictures to show him on my side of the road (after the crash) but I still don't hold out much hope. The driver was nice enough about it all, but wouldn't comment on the liability side of things. Which is no surprise, I guess all professional drivers know not to do that.

Have a word with Hilux (bob) he got some new front surf wings for £15 each for his. Dont know where from but he will tell u. Best of luck with it. He may have the other bits u need too.

Will do, thanks for that osb. (Are you all-seeing and if so could you act as a witness for me? Don't mention the bit about the mobile phone when questioned?)!

[Slugsie]

Thanks Slugsie, hopefully I'll get away with the door - it looks OK to my untrained eyes. The bonnet has a bend in it (or2) what's a slam bar?

The Slam Bar (as I was so rightly corrected yesterday - Cheers Vince ) is the bar that goes between the wings at the front of the engine bay. Over the top of the lights, has the radiator top mount and battery retaining clips bolted to it etc.