On the North Circular last night, as the traffic slowed for a jam (caused by the closure of Angel Edmonton underpass), I was in the slow lane, slowing gently with the rest of the traffic. THWACK. Ford Galaxy plows into the rear.
The guy was polite and took responsibility straight away. Testament to the 5’s toughness, I was able to drive away but he was not - his car had to be recovered. He took responsibility so my insurance isn’t affected, no excess and no-claims unaffected.
But sadly, looking at the damage in the daylight, I think my very recently-acquired pride-and-joy may be written off. I am so upset I don’t know what to do with myself. One rear light smashed, rear bumper totalled, finisher panel smashed (the panel between bootlid and bumper with the badges on it), and offside-rear 3/4 panel bent quite deeply (though not creased). But worst of all is that the boot floor is warped on the offside too. I don’t know if that is the death-nell.
I am having her evaluated this afternoon at Dandycars, the 5 specialist where I bought the car. They’ve said they’ll work with the insurers to keep her on the road, but until they see it we can’t know for sure. They are breaking 3 Mk1s at the mo, which may help.
If it has to be written-off, it’ll be nigh-on impossible to replace. A low-miles UK Mk1 is a rare thing, especially in this good nick and with a warranty from a specialist whom I have grown very fond of and now consider my friends. I am absolutely gutted.
I would say ‘drive safely everyone’, but I was, and that didn’t help me. So, er… maybe leave your cars safe at home…?
Take care
Simon
Pics:
Gutted.
Doesn’t look too bad from teh first photo, then scrolled down and OUCH! Any creasing further forward?
Hope it works out ok and she stays on the road. Good Luck!
Sorry to hear about this, but glad you’re ok.
I wouldn’t be holding out for a repair on the car - there’s probably too much damage (esp boot floor pan area).
I’d start looking for a decent value agreement, Dandycars should be able to help you here…
Hi so sorry to see this gorgeous car like this, gladly you are fine and hopefully you will be back on the road very soon
Hi Simon, really sorry to hear about your woes[:(] main thing is that you are ok! I will be amazed if the insurers decide to re build your car, a crease like that right through part of the boot floor really damages the integrity of the floor pan. Make sure you screw as much as possible out of them, and use good ol’ dandycars to help with that.
ATB
Hi Simon.
First off just want to say really glad you’re ok and not injured in anyway. Cars can be replaced but people can’t.
Hope you are getting over the initial shock and are considering your options. I understand the feeling of a car being your pride and joy but at the end of the day you are ok that’s the main thing, and you can always buy another Mark 1 if you really want to!
Good luck
Cheers
Ben
Gutted for you…Good luck sorting things out.
Sorry to hear about the bump m8, you’re ok, that’s the main thing tho. About the insurance, KEEP ARGUING and stand your ground! They will probably make a derisory offer at the start. Keep telling them what good condition the car was in and they will up their offer. A note to other '5 owners, take photos of your car inside and out and don’t forget tyres and exhaust if they are recent. All this bolsters your argument when dealing with insurance companies.
First off, my commiserations - such a short ownership, and not long after your roof issues as well, must be a real pain in the neck (hopefully not literally).
Secondly, I’d like to thank everybody who has already replied for not going down the “compensation, get a lawyer, free money!” route, it shows that we have a good honest community who does not want to screw insurers when there is nothing wrong. (Note the last 5 words there, because in most cases, that is sadly true…).
I don’t think you’ll get it back on the road to be honest - not the news you want to hear - but if they are happy (and you are happy) for used parts to be used, then I don’t see why not - it is not that bad.
Hi all
First off, thanks so much everyone for all of your kind words. I’ve been embarassed by quite how hard I’ve taken all of this, but when a childhood dream gets smooshed just 2 months after finally being achieved… well dignity respectfully takes a back seat.
It has brought me some perspective though (cue ‘materialism = bad’ / ‘dont identify too strongly with steel’ cliches). And family and friends have shone more than I could have possibly hoped for - they’ve been amazing. That plus all the nice comments from everyone here at the OC, and support above-and-beyond what I could expect from Dandycars, have all really helped.
Dandycars are looking into the economics of rebuilding with used parts. On a 20-year old car, I’m not so worried about used parts - it is fairly likely that they’ll be newer than the rest of the car! I realise that the body strength may not be as it was, but the bodywork guy who does Dandycars’ repairs is apparently a bit of a magician. I’ll talk to him as soon as I can to assess the situation. Additional measures such as using additional strengthening members wherever possible there and in other parts of the body may also help.
If I was planning on selling the car soon, things might be different - but I planned on owning VJW for a good few years yet, so accident repair may not be the end of the world. But the idea of going from a perfect car to a repaired one through no fault of my own gives me a feeling of injustice that I find hard to accept.
I suppose that is the risk we all take driving rare classics of relatively-low monetary value on the busy UK roads.
The alternative is to find a replacement. This is a shame because it wont have the warranty from Dandycars, and to find a UK Mk1 with <68k, FSH et al will be nigh-on impossible (though I’ve no doubt they’ll continue to be friendly and helpful with any 5 I own). Their cars are mostly automatics, and mostly Eunos’s. The only suitable UK manuals are too pricey.
It has to be a UK car for insurance reasons (look at older posts for full explanation, briefly: cant switch company due to non-transferable no-claims bonus). I may look for a later UK 1.8, but this will cost me more to insure, though possibly not a lot more. Or a Mk2 1.8, perhaps.
The insurance company have given me a hire car, an 08 plate Astra 1.6. A very nice motor for a hire car. But it reminds me of just how dull ‘normal’ cars are. I dont think I can go back to that. Not until I absolutely have to.
One final thing. All of you: cherish your car. Or rather - don’t. ENJOY IT. Go out tonight and have a proper (legal & responsible!) hoon - for no reason. I wish I’d spent less of the 2 months I had with my lovely car worrying about niggly rubbish and using a fine-toothed comb on it, worrying about piling on the miles and wearing things out. More broadly speaking - squeeze everything you can out of life - there are always other places to derive pleasure once the current one has run out. None of them is ‘it’ or integrally ‘you’. But each one is precious and shouldn’t be squandered with caution and care.
Sorry to hear about the smash, but if you have to look for another, it’s not so hard to find a good Mk1 as you might think. I only saw about 7 or 8 cars before buying mine in October, most of which were rusty and nasty. However, two were sub-40k UK cars with FSH and in very good nick, one of which ended up being mine.
Bad news about the thump but at least you are ok. Looking at the crease in the rear wheel arch and your confirmation of bent boot floor, I would be very surprised (and worried) if it was repaired. Start hitting the websites for the replacement and good luck with getting out the with roof down again.
The insurance assessor (very nice chap from Direct Line) went to Dandycars, and discussed things with them and their bodywork guy, and they decided that the damage was not quite sufficient to write the car off. I don’t remember the exact details (it was complicated), but I believe the deformation is not as bad as it looks, relatively isolated and not too difficult to fix. They also said that the method used to repair it involves heating the section involved before pulling it, and should retain all or most of the structural integrity in the small part being pulled. I may add some of those brace bars that go into the pre-drilled holes under the car (I remember them being fitted to a Mk1 on Wheeler Dealers some time ago) to give some extra strength, but the insurance guy and bodywork guy said that modern methods and jigs are surprisingly good at not mucking things up with this sort of work.
Dandycars have made all the difference by giving some pretty astonishing prices for the new parts needed - I really cannot praise or thank them enough for how helpful they’ve been, it goes above and beyond anything I could have reasonably expected. Obviously I cant give all of the details, but they’re really helping me out and ensuring that the insurers will pay the whole bill. They’ve been great with charges for parts and labour, and with negotiating with the insurer for me.
I know that to many of you my car (when I get it back in a couple of weeks) will be henceforth thought of as ‘tainted’ etc, and I’m sad about that - especially as the accident wasn’t my fault. But there’s not much I can do, with insurance saying that if they wrote it off they’d only offer a 1k payout, and it’d be a helluva fight to get the full 2.5-3k that the car is worth considering condition and mileage. That fight and the time-consuming process of finding a new car, plus the fact that I really do love mine, means that this seems the best option. But I know the kind of responses I am going to get on here… :S
Cheers
S
Sounds like a result! Well done!
Tainted? - I doubt that. Let’s hope DandyCars can do an invisible repair.
I think you owe someone at DandyCars a bottle of their fav tipple maybe… [;)]
[Y]
Says a lot about what you are paying for with Dandycars - clearly not just an excellent car with warranty, but all round excellent after sales.
From what you have said, you’re right in saying that they have done so much more than could have been expected.
What a result mate, good on yer, I was sure they would write it off. It’s your car so doesn’t matter what others may say, so long as you fess up if you ever sell it ATB
Silly careless drivers, they spoil everybodys fun! Sorry yo hear about your car…
You could get wiplash, £2k payout…new 5 and use yours as doner car??
dandy cars to the rescue…better than thunderbirds…Nice one
I used to say that “A cars a work horse, But motorbikes are a passion !”. The reason for this was that a bike is SO impractical for everything other than going to work or blowing out the cobwebs (You don’t tend do the family shopping or a run to IKEA on a fireblade).
If you desire a bike you tend to go without other stuff to get it. You get emotionally attached to it because of this, Theres something special about owning a bike. I look at my '5 the same way. It’s impractically small, But we don’t like our car DESPITE it’s shortcomings, We just like them full stop. I think if someone ran into my car and said “Ooops, My bad”, The police would be investigating something a little bigger than an RTA. I know how you feel at the moment.
I’ve spent most of my life around cars and I think all this “Tainted” car stuff is just worrying over nothing. If a cars been repaired properly then that bits “As new” (ie, No rust, Sound paint and straight).
People get hung up on cars that have been repaired. I think thats down to all the cut ‘n’ shut story’s around in the 80’s.
If the thought of your car being fixed scares you on grounds of safety, Don’t worry, It’s being “Hand rebuilt” by a company who have a good reputation to keep, Not some “Gezza who fixes up ol’ bangers to flog on”
On the plus side (I know, Its a very small plus side), I’m sure that when the cars finished, If you happen to find that the handling Is in any way different you could insist that the car goes to a 3D geometry specialist to get the suspension setup perfectly.
I hope it all comes right in the end and your back out of the rental “beigemobile” before it causes you anymore psychological torment.