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Disco insurance write off unsure whether to buy it back ?


Dbw1shrops
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Hi PW massive I recently posted about me crashing my disco, Yesterday I enquired about its outcome and they told me it was a total loss needing 3k worth of work which I replied how come you never contacted me ( Hastings 😡) I'm sure they have a duty to do this as I rang up last Monday morning and they said I should know within a couple of days !!! Anyway I've been told it will cost between 7-900 to buy it back and I'm unsure as to what route to take as this is the first time I've had to deal with this but I can't see it costing £3k to put right and its a cat D write off ? Can any off the PW massive steer me on the right tracks ? Thanks

 

Dave

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Not done this before but I would ask for a formal engineers statement that would justify its writing off and, if you wish, ask for an independent engineers report (for which you would pay - or get a friend to do it).

Ask him what its worth to fix up but as said above, if the damage includes a bent chassis/ something else serious, you might consider whether you have had your moneys worth from the vehicle and ---move on ?

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Hi Dave

 

You really need an estimate from a repairer (not the insurance approved repairer who have already looked at it!) to give you a firm indication of the cost to put it back on the road. This way you can decide if it is financially worth repairing. We have done a lot of repairs to vehicles that the customer have bought back and it is often worth doing, the costing of £3K would have been using all new OE Land Rover parts so savings are to be made by using used and non OE parts if possible. Probably 50% of the time a customer comes to us after visiting the insurance approved repairer and being advised that their vehicle is a total loss we can agree a repair with the insurance company that stops the vehicle being a total loss and then just deal with it as any other straight forward insurance claim.

 

Being a cat D total loss you should not have any issue putting it back on the road and usually won't even have to take it for a VIC check at your nearest DVLA office, if a VIC test is required then this doesn't cause any real issues but can sometimes take a while to get your appointment.

 

Hope this helps but if you need any more info just shout.

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Thanks so far for the quick replies the car cost me £5650 and with all land rovers I have spent a fair bit of hard earned on the vehicle ! Was told today it's been valued at £4k that's with the excess taken out (£250) because it hit a kerb so it will need new steering rack etc poss 2 new wheels being ally they can't check on the damage they may of sustained ?

 

Dave

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It has broken the corner plastic of the bumper also some broken in the middle so guess it a new bumper bent the metal behind the bumper ( not sure if it's a part of the chassis ? ) the plastic trim above the wheels needs replacing nothing touched panel wise and the light is fine just the finisher underneath it ! plus possibly steering rack / box but unsure about that as yet ?

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It has broken the corner plastic of the bumper also some broken in the middle so guess it a new bumper bent the metal behind the bumper ( not sure if it's a part of the chassis ? ) the plastic trim above the wheels needs replacing nothing touched panel wise and the light is fine just the finisher underneath it ! plus possibly steering rack / box but unsure about that as yet ?

I say well worth buying back if thats all the damage.

Insurance will only use new genuine parts and £100 per hour so the bills can tot up, but if you repaired with pattern / secondhand parts you could save 75% or more.

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Insurance companies screw the bodyshop/repairer down on hourly labour rate, they make it up by charging full list price of parts to the insurance company.

PM me your reg number and I can price up parts if you like mate to give you an idea of what you would be looking at.

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Bodyshops do not charge £100 per hour, insurance companies screw there approved repairers down massively - 1 of our contracts is for £28.50 an hour!! The absolute top end of our labour rate for insurance work is £34. The only time it ever gets above this is for specialist work like restoration and such.

Even manufacturer owned Bodyshops have to charge the going insurance rates whereas for the mechanical work they charge well over £100 per hour!

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Bodyshops do not charge £100 per hour, insurance companies screw there approved repairers down massively - 1 of our contracts is for £28.50 an hour!! The absolute top end of our labour rate for insurance work is £34. The only time it ever gets above this is for specialist work like restoration and such.

Even manufacturer owned Bodyshops have to charge the going insurance rates whereas for the mechanical work they charge well over £100 per hour!

100% agree with you, the insurance companies pay really low contract rates but for the owner the result is that the work is often skimped, at best rushed, and corners cut. Better to buy back the vehicle and oversee the work yourself. With the internet now its so easy to source secondhand parts,bumpers etc.

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on the front of the chassis behind the bumper there is a crush can that is a bolt on part as long as the damage has not passed that you should be ok . if the steering box is not leaking that might be ok there quite well built to cope with bumps and ruts. if not a refurb unit from paddocks is only around £150 and about a 2-4 hour job dependent on ability . http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=32377 p.s. it can be done without removing the ecu or batt box.

the only thing id change is maybe the link arm from the box and the one at the back which will put the tracking out and get a second hand bumper :good: also id argue the price with them and ask them to show you where you can get a similar car that's not high mileage or a wreck for the price.

Edited by fruitloop
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