[Closed] bike accident - damage to car

£1000....thats a spicy meatball.

How come they're quoting repairs to tailgate AND left rear panel?
Was there existing damage that's been added on to this quote?
(I guess the position of the 10mm scratch COULD cover both but that'd be really unlucky... Or maybe I am just being suspicious?)

wow, I can't believe how unlucky this guy is. Some chap cycled into the back passenger side of my car a few years back leaving a small dent/scrape with his barend. I didn't even think I could get him to cough up for the repair. We just exchange a few choice phrases.

Not one single person has ever left details for the supermarket dings the cars got. It's got to the stage now where I don't care...

Anyway, presume this chap isn't loaded to be able to pay a grand. Maybe he suggests he simply cannot afford that price and therefore the owner has the choice of small claims court, chips away or he agrees to a monthly payment to her?

How come they're quoting repairs to tailgate AND left rear panel?
Was there existing damage that's been added on to this quote?
(I guess the position of the 10mm scratch COULD cover both but that'd be really unlucky... Or maybe I am just being suspicious?)

Agree. Look forward to the pic.

I used to own a jet black Honda FRV. I had my bike upside down at the rear with the wheels off. The bars moved and the bike fell against the rear quarter of the bumper causing 3 zig-zagged deep gouges down the bumper- about 6inches long.

Chips Away filled and then resprayed for £150. Mind you- it was my car and my fault.

that's insane.... and yes it does appear to before for work on two panels, and includes a new rear lamp... I'd be very suspicious

I'd see them in court if I were your mate. That's a pisstake.

J

I would give him £15 to get scratch repair pen from Halfords.
if he dose not like it tough, best of luck to him trying to get it too
court.
The courts would laugh at a quote like that.

If she's communicating these quotes to the guy then surely there's a certain amount of amicability between the 2 parties, can't they just discuss the options and try to get across that the price for the repair is unreasonable?

I would imagine that the quote from the repairers is a based on their assumption that this is an insurance job and that everything possible can (whether rightly or wrongly) be claimed for - they do tend to be very thorough

System Reset - £100

As mentioned above the piss is being extracted here. Small claims court or whistle would be my revised quote for them.

It is just a shame your friend has tried to to the right thing and is getting shafted as a result.

Jamie - Member

As mentioned above the piss is being extracted here. Small claims court or whistle would be my revised quote for them.

Or chips away?

that's insane.... and yes it does appear to before for work on two panels, and includes a new rear lamp... I'd be very suspicious

I missed the new rear lamp. I think your friend should contact BMW Customer services. No, they wont/cant offer a contribution. More from the angle that the dealership is potentially trying to rip your friend off. Complain about them.

In addition to the picture of the damage Iwould also ask that the owner takes the car for a second quote at a different BMW Mini dealership in a different group (not under the same dealer ownership).

A different situation but when my bosses roof failed on her mini convertible- the dealership wanted £1,300 to replace the small control box at the top of the roof. I 😯 and complained to BMW Customer services as I felt miffed- The cost was reduced to £300.

I would agree with a previous poster, talk with the owner and make an offer. Say they just can't afford the dealer price, and will pay for the chipsaway plus £200 in cash - otherwise small claims court.

But also check on liability in car park..., its private land?

Now that is the biggest piss take i have ever seen!!

i had a renault laguna once and someone drove down the side of it, the whole one side was marked ,dented etc.

it needed paint on all panels and a few bits of trim.

total cost including prepwork etc............ £800

so a grand for a 10mm mark.... has your mate put his trousers on backwards or something as he has just been shafted.!!

Rediculous cost for a 10mm scratch.

Looking at the quote it also includes amounts to get the car back to 100% condition, not the condition it was in before the accident happened.

Theres a lot more damage on that quote than the damage which may have been caused by him hitting it with this bike.

£275 for the stripdown and spray, £150 for the paint, £40 for stickers (taking the p***), £100 for a specalist ??? +Vat
£664

Its difficult if its someone you know rather than a stranger in a carpark.
Dont pay any money until the work has been done and the bills been paid.

She'll think twice about having to pay the difference herself, and maybe wont get the work done anyway.

On the other hand get her to claim it on her insurance. Thats what its there for. She probably wont, as her premiums will go up and its not worth it for a 10mm scratch. I'm sure the insurance company wont be interested in claiming the amount back from your friend due to the hassle.

Also while it may be difficult at work, once everybody sees the quotation - they'll at least have moral support - as everybody except the owner will think that the piss is been taken.

sorry but soovy who said

Cyclist doesn't have insurance. Cyclist should have bought insurance.

You did the damage. Now pay the bill.

on PH is dead right.

I wouldn't pay a bean until I had 3 independent quotes. 1k for a 10mm scratch is an unreasonable cost, and I suspect every court in the land would agree with that.

thomthumb i dont think paying the bill is the problem!!

its the cost of the bill that is the problem!!

£1000 for a 10mm scratch ffs.

steve-austin +1

renton +1

There is a legal term for this. Unjust Enrichment
"Unjust enrichment is a legal term denoting a particular type of causative event in which one party is unjustly enriched at the expense of another, and an obligation to make restitution arises, regardless of liability for wrongdoing."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unjust_enrichment

Of course the claimant hasn't been paid, but to charge 1k for 10mm spray job is a false charge and of course she hasn't yet had the work done.
Your friend should demand 3 independent quotes and only then start talking about costs and how much if any he will pay.
Joining British Cycling and CTC would be an idea as you get free legal advice and Several million 3rd party insurance cover for events such as this, and you also help finance Victoria Pendleton if you join British Cycling..

As said previously if the Car is still within it’s warranty/anti corrosion guarantee period the not so fine print on the documentation is likely to state any and all repairs have to be carried out by “An approved Specialist” or similar such wording, effectively the main dealer or their Sub-contractor or the vehicle is by default no longer fully covered, leaving the owner potentially liable for any major repairs which would have otherwise been covered…

All of this is theoretical, and relies on the dealership finding out a repair was carried out by a non approved business, but getting a chips away job done does leave BMW free to try and weasel out of future warranty/corrosion costs…

The owner is well within their rights to ask for a Main dealer/BMW approved repair as anything other could loose them the Warranty and/or Corrosion guarantee, and therefore even more money…

Next time hit an older hair dressers car.

The owner is well within their rights to ask for a Main dealer/BMW approved repair as anything other could loose them the Warranty and/or Corrosion guarantee, and therefore even more money…

You can still ask for two other quotes from BMW Mini -unconnected garages though.

If you have a picture of the scratch would it be so difficult to phone a Mini dealership with a bodyshop for an 'alternative' quote.

Dont go into details, just email a picture with the reg number blanked (In case they log repair quotes) and ask for a genuine price. Wouldnt hurt for you to also send it to a few bodyshops for a price as well.

Just for the record, anti perforation warranties are for rust coming from underneath the paint. Not stonechips etc causing rust (Self explanetory). Well to maintain them i guarentee you that there is an anual PAID FOR inspection required at the dealership. If they are worried about negating their anti perforation warranty then i would ask for a copy of the service book or the bills to show that they actually qualify for this. You may find that by repairing the panel and so getting 12mths warranty on the repair the woner is better off than before.

PS havent looked at how old/new the car is.

VAT has now gone back to 17.5% the quote uses 15% VAT.

So a bit more on the bill,seems as if someone is trying to make some money on this.

This is absolutely crazy. A cyclist smashed into the boot of my car when I stopped my car at a junction last year. Three dents, loads of scratches and all repaired for £180.

Your mate needs to tell her to piss off. Completely unreasonable. After looking at that [s]joke[/s] quote again i cannot believe that your mate would even entertain this.

If he pays this he is a fool, you should give me his address and i will slap some sence into him for free.

Go and get three written quotes from reputable places e.g. Chipsaway, hand them to her and give her a cheque for the most expensive quote. She disserves no more.

obvously take copies for yourself. do not give her cash!

+1 for what Johnbot just said, would be totally fair in my eyes

If he pays this he is a fool, you should give me his address and i will slap some sence into him for free.

Using a dictionary hopefully 😉

OP- Good point from a PH'er:

I dont think we are getting the whole story here, the repair quote is for a new rear light unit and is for repainting the boot and rear quarter.

Either there was other damage that is being repaired as well or the dealer is making things up. That quote is not simply to repair a 10mm scratch on a bootlid.

Thats way over the top for a bootlid repair. Assuming the damage is confined to the bootlid, surely its just a strip down of the boot, treating and finishing the scratch and a couple of coats of paint. WTF are they doing removing the filler neck, indicators etc etc?
3 Quotes (I know which one i'd be putting in the fire!)

post on PH;

Well it's a small world isn't it!

I work with the lady in question, and whilst I didn't see the impact, I was just around the corner in the car park, and I did hear it. I looked around the corner to see what the noise was, to see the bike in question leaning against the car (which was parked) having cartwheeled into it,and the rider picking himself up off the floor. It seems the rider couldn't be bothered to get off his bike to get up onto the kerb and decided to try and jump it. He presumably caught the kerb with his front wheel, which caused the back of the bike to flip over into my collegues car

For the record, it isn't a 10mm scratch; the boot has a 10cm scratch and a nice dent, the left rear light cluster has been cracked, and there is a 10mm scratch on the n/s rear wing.

The car is two years old and still under warranty, the lady paid a premium to buy the car from a BMW Mini dealer, she plans to keep the car, and consequently is not keen on a quick smart repair that will not last the test of time.

She was as surprised as anyone when she received the written estimate, having been told verbally by the local mini dealer that it would cost roughly £600. She has considered claiming on her insurance but she would lose her no claims bonus, and has an excess of £350, and at the end of the day why should she claim on her insurance for something which was totally the bike riders fault.

I am not going to point the lady in the direction of this thread, she already feels very sorry for the rider, and it is certainly not her fault that the rider who hit a parked car didn't have the forsight to take out insurance to cover him. To the riders credit he did "own up" (he didn't have much choice as there were two witnesses), but I did get the impression that he would have sought out the owner anyway.

I don't have time to post pictures; it seems the rider has a friend on here, if he wants to get photo's from them, and post them then please feel free to do so, however please ensure that the registration number is not visable.

Apologies for any speeeeling errors, I'm in a rush as I have to be in a meeting now.

a bit more than a 10mm scratch!

Interesting indeed! gonig to try and get him to register on PH.. although doubt he'll want to.

Just to iterate. He doesn't want her to claim on his insurance. It's his fault and he admits that.

All he (and most other ppl) are questioning the amount the garage has come back with. Why does everyone jump on this and start saying well he has to pay.. That is not the discussion.

he felt extremely guilty when he did i.

I didn't see the damage to the rear wing only the back of the car. I'll see if i can get a pic (perhaps my 10mm statement was underestimated 😳

As Steve-Austin said, your mate should think about joining CTC - providing they cover legal expenses arising from a previous accident.

If he's looking down the barrel of a court action, bear in mind that the car owner has a duty to mitigate her loss, i.e. keep it as minimal as possible. It's not a blank cheque for her. "Approved dealer" doesn't mean a mini/BMW dealer either, it can be an independent garage certificated to carry out repairs.

ahh the other side to the story!!

bit more than a 10mm scratch then

I would follow the advice of the TheLittlestHobo above and check that the car owner has had her car serviced inline with a BMW recommendations at one of their approved garages. If she hasn't then the car's anti-perforation warranty may be invalid and it's not worth taking it back to the dealer for repair.

With regards to servicing and repairs of cars from main dealers... It used to be the case that the stealers could con everyone by saying they had to use the stealers to ensure the warranty was not void.

THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE AND HASN'T BEEN FOR YEARS NOW. No matter what the greasy oiks say.

Now, go seek a reputable paintshop/paintshops in your area and ask them to have a look and give a quote.

And of course the stealer will charge as much as possible - that's their job. How do you think they pay for all that fancy stuff?...

Makes you think about getting some form of insurance though doesnt it? ****, a simple on the way to work accident could cost you a grand. ****.

has anyone thought of setting up a charity paypal account for this guy (or something simular)?

I'd stick a couple of quid in to ease his pain (as it could quite easily have been me, although I'm not seriously looking into joining CTC)

I've been a member of British Cycling for a good while as I needed a race licence. I didn't realise that I had the legal stuff with it.

Well worth the annual fees I say.

>has anyone thought of setting up a charity paypal account for this guy (or something simular)?

You're kidding right! While I agree that the grand figure is steep, it's up to the rider to talk to the car owner and sort something out. Jumping kerbs or whatever he was up to, close to parked cars doesn't seem too bright.

has anyone thought of setting up a charity paypal account for this guy (or something simular)?

Holy Christ on a bike, I have heard it all now !

You are joking are you ?

has anyone thought of setting up a charity paypal account for this guy (or something simular)?

You are Ritchie McCoy and I claim my £10

Just throw some paintstripper over her boot and be done with it, her insurance will cover that. Then pay up for the excess.... conscience clear..

Zedsdead - Member
With regards to servicing and repairs of cars from main dealers... It used to be the case that the stealers could con everyone by saying they had to use the stealers to ensure the warranty was not void.

THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE AND HASN'T BEEN FOR YEARS NOW. No matter what the greasy oiks say.

Wrong, the manufactures corrosion warranty will be invalid on the panels painted outside the approved repair network.
(Paint depth readings are taken)

The hourly rate seems a bit steep on the estimate, is it in the M25?
BMW / Mini repairer in Bradford charge £38.00 + VAT pr hr & provide BMW / Mini loan cars FOC.