A few weeks back the wife was sat in the hairdressers when a woman drove into her car that was parked up outside the shop.

I saw it afterwards and it didn’t look bad at all. A bit of body work damage to my untrained eye. Insurers on today and it’s been written off. Now it wasn’t worth that much but we both really liked that little car. The insurer said we could take the cheque for £4600 which parkers and autotrader seem to agree with, or we could take the car back and a percentage of the value.

So has anyone ever taken the car back and got it repaired after an accident? Can we get a valuation of our own for the repairs? Or is it just not worth the hassle, take the money and go shopping for a new car?

For info, it’s an ’04 Audi A3 SE 2.0 Tdi with about 95k on the clock.

Depends some parts are expensive so it all really depends
I doubt the bill will be 4 k for repairs but remember you will loose on resale as well as it has been written off

It depends on cost of repairs v value afterwards v savings made tbh

Factoring in that you “know” the car
I would get a quote for the repair then work it out from there
Would also like to see why it was written off as well – expensive repair or twisted chassis for example

So has anyone ever taken the car back and got it repaired after an accident?

my OH did – but it’s a 150k banger. she’s had it since 40k. for what they offered you’d be better off keeping it.

bodywork, suspension damage, new wheel, and tyre turned out to be tracking. it has a couple of scratches but nothing major. We spent the rest on new iphones.

What does her hair look like?

I think she had a close shave by the sound of it.

Collar or cuffs?

What does her hair look like?

I think she had a close shave by the sound of it.

I hope she had a cover on, otherwise hirsute would have been ruined.

*cough*

She was getting her nails done at the time. They look great.
After the woman had driven into her car, she drove off.

Well, she would have if she hadn’t then driven over a childs bike, a bin, a lampost and the front of the shop.

if its easily/economically repairable and no major damage , take the car back for scrap value, if you find a buyer you will prob make a few quid, or get it fixed and dont worry about resale value etc.

I did it with my first car.
Bought car for £900, someone rear-ended me and the insurer gave me £800 and the car.
I didn’t bother repairing it and ran it for two years. Boot was difficult to shut but it only cost two numberplate bulbs to get it through the MOT.
Obviously the car would be significantly weaker in another crash though.

Blimey. Hang on. She’s already found another A3 she wants to buy.
Never mind.

Blimey. Hang on. She’s already found another A3 she wants to buy.
Never mind.

If it’s a dusty Bentley being sold by a the daughter of a phone sex telecoms company in Cheetham Hill there is a chance that the car in question has some history.

Looks like the same person was driving that one as well.

The wife has just phoned the car showroom and spent ten minutes telling the guy how incredibly excited she was about getting *that* car. Sounds like we’ll be getting a good deal then 🙁

Next question then. When you take the full amount, how long can you keep the hire car for? Now I expect they’ll say as soon as we agree they’ll want it back but that’s not fair. We should be able to keep it until we find a new car, right? Otherwise we’re out of pocket.

edit: We’ll try to negotiate this point tomorrow when we phone back but just wondered what people’s experiences are.

It’s never a good thing writing off your car, but at least it opens doors to new opportunities and a new motor!

We should be able to keep it until we find a new car, right? Otherwise we’re out of pocket.

Yes good point what I would do is never ever buy another car and just keep that one 😉

When the cheque /monies clear would seem a reasonable point tbh for that to end with perhaps a short period afterwards of say 48 hours or so

Ignore their offer, as in don’t call them.

Find new car, do deal.

Tell insurer you’ll take the cash, tomorrow.

Go pay for new car, take home.

Wait on her insurance to collect hire car.