After all the problems I had getting LR to replace my clutch under warranty, I finally got the last minor thing fixed on Friday.
Monday evening on way home 7 year old Kia occupied by 4 very elderly woman races out from a Give Way sign and smashes into the nearside.
Her insurance have accepted liability and are being excellent about sorting things. Car is in the LR Dealers bodyshop and still waiting for assessors decision, question I have is does it look fixable and with so much damage to steering and suspension do I really want it back.
Incidentally it is a 2 year old ( on 1st September ) GS with 24000 miles on the clock.

Pics ?

That is crap luck! Sorry to hear it. hard to say if it is repairable without seeing it. Given the age and value of the car, it would have to be pretty bad to make it beyond economical repair. John
07 HSE Narvick Black
Land Rover Series One
Triumph Rocket 111 (sadly gone!)

Pics are in his gallery. The front wheel looks like it has been pushed back a bit. Unless it has done lots of damage underneath to the suspension mounting points, it looks repairable to me. Poke it, Poke it, make it do it again!!

Gone - 2008 Freel2 HSE Santorini Black
Hello - 2010 RRS TDV6 3.0 HSE Santorini Black

It is difficult to say from pictures (which can be seen in the gallery ) sometimes it looks worse than it is and is easily fixed, other times it looks OK and they write it off.
Have the air bags deployed? something on the dash but not sure, it is things like the airbags, if they have gone off, especially passenger side then new dash and fitting can bump up costs dramtaically.
Obviously wheel damage which can have knock on effects with the drivetrain etc.

Good luck with everything, importantly, glad you are OK

Looks like the front wheel took the impact - the body damage doesn't look that bad. So it's hard to say - it'll depend how much damage there is to the suspension, and potentially drivetrain. And, as someone else pointed out, it looks like the airbags went off, and they can be expensive to replace. But it certainly looks repairable, it's just a question of cost.

When an elderly gent pulled out into the side of my (then) Forester the garage told me that a rule of thumb often applied is that if the repairs will cost more than half the value of the car then they're likely to write it off. I don't know how general that is, though. In my case it was marginal (not much damage, but the car was fairly old) and the garage were prepared to work with me to get the result I wanted (not written off, as the car was otherwise in very good condition).

Good luck - I hope it works out the way you want.

taztastic wrote:

It is difficult to say from pictures (which can be seen in the gallery )

My first action would be to get ready and put your private plate on retension just in case it is written off. Some insurance companies are funny when it comes to number plates, as soon as the car becomes they're property so does the plate  ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

I can confirm the pics weren't in the gallery as I looked too, just an empty crash folder

But have to say I think it's repairable, most likely suspension parts need replacing

Afraid to say your in the I didnt want it repaired! But they did club

npinks wrote:

I can confirm the pics weren't in the gallery as I looked too, just an empty crash folder

But have to say I think it's repairable, most likely suspension parts need replacing

Afraid to say your in the I didnt want it repaired! But they did club

Thanks for the input guys. Sorry for quality of the pics, but taken with a phone under a flyover as it was getting dark.

The nearside airbag did deploy and the recovery guy reckoned the new dashboard would put about £2k onto the repair bill.

The side step was ripped off and has distorted and torn some of the chassis leg it was attached to.
Front wheel is impacted into wheel arch and certainly the steering and suspension on that side of the car has been moved significantly out of alignment.
Bodywork is probably front wing, 2 doors, sill and chassis leg, front panel has a couple of minor scratches but appears to have avoided direct impact although it has been pulled apart from the front wing.

Not sure about 'A' pillar but drivers door has certainly been pushed out of alignment, same with 'B' pillar which looks okay but probably need carpet out to check that properly.

Actually not terribly bothered about bodywork as that is just metal to be replaced or re-jigged, more concerned about steering and suspension and if that can ever be returned to normal.


Dave

Thanks for advice about the Reg No I will make sure the Insurance company know that is mine and is not included with the car if we get to settlement valuations. Would I not have to re-register the car before I could put the plate on retention.

Yes I think you would.

From your description of the damage, if the drivers door has suffered from an impact on the passenger side, although I'm no mechanic, I would guess that the chassis may be twisted and therefore probably a write off. ______________________
2011 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8
2012 FL2 SD4 Auto HSE
2013 Kawasaki Versys 650

I agree with Dave on that one - I would do whatever I could to get it written off, because they will need to pull the chassis straight and the car is unlikely to ever be the same again. Even if they do fix it, I would flog it.

Looks like it will all be bent out of shape in those pics so sure it will be touch and go as to whether it can be repaired

If they do decide to repair I have one of those wheels for sale  2012 DISCOVERY 4 GS AUTO ORKNEY GREY
2012 FREELANDER 2 SD4 GS AUTO BALTIC BLUE - GONE
2011 FREELANDER 2 TD4 GS MANUAL BALI BLUE - GONE

parallax

Thanks for the offer, but I have an unused spare sitting in the boot so should be okay on that front.

My preference and profound wish is that they write it off, SWMBO has already decided that if it is fixed she will not be driving or indeed travelling in it again so one way or another I guess I will be car hunting.

Neil