Accident and bad repair job

[yellowplum]

Well it happened, the bus decided to take out half the car a few months ago. So as you do claim on the insurance and get them to repair it. Problem was that I had to leave on a business trip and also that I didn't want to wait forever to get it repaired so I opted for the 'Approved Repairer' oh what a mistake.

They 'repaired' the car (and I use that term loosely) only to be my surprise they missed half of the repair (missed the wing mirror didn't replace the bumper) and managed to damage the door card and the internals of the car. They also managed to get grinding sparks in the glass on the opposite side of the car.

So complain to the insurance company and an 'independent' engineer came to assess the car to see what damage they had caused. Interestingly he agreed and also stated a few things that I missed. Now I am just waiting for them to repair it again at one of the PREMIUM based repairers.

Although I wanted to take it to VW, not that they would be any better to be honest.

I managed to get a copy of the report from the Insurance Company, made quite an interesting read. Only problem is that half the parts they now need to replace because they damaged are not available in the UK. So God only knows when I will get it fixed properly, it's beginning to irritate me.

[trix]

sorry to hear this yellowplum, hopefully they will get it sorted properly this time. its a same it didn't go to VW as to maintain the paint & bodywork guarantee repairs must be carried out at a vw or vw approved bodyshop iirc

also don't worry about the parts, most won't be readily available off the shelf in the UK they would have to come in from Germany which will only take a day or two if they are in stock there

S

[yellowplum]

To be honest I don't have confidence in anyone really, I was sitting in the VW body shop and someone came in complaining about the repair to their VW not being of satisfactory quality.

As long as they panel beat it correctly and repaint it and fix all the other mistakes the have created. Preferably before the winter sets in so I can detail the car I will be happy.

[fun meter]

I've seen authorized places which are crap. My work involves going to at least one or two body shops a day, and there are very few I'd recommend.

[maisbitt]

Yellowplum: I had a really bad time when I insisted that my 4 week old Golf got repaired at the VW dealers bodyshop and not by the insurer's approved bodyshop. Mine was clouted by a bus whilst parked. They left the newly replaced brakes in a dangerous state, left metal filings and oily handprints all over the headlining and the new rear quarter side panel rusted up around the wheel arch every 3 months as they'd compromised the galvanisation and put on such a thin coat of paint. They also stole a coat and a 1L oil top up bottle from the boot.

VW approved or not, there are bad body shops everywhere, but at least if a VW one cocks up your VW warranties should be intact.

I don't know what these bodyshops have to do to become "approved", but I did find out that the chargeable hourly labour rate for my VW approved bodyshop was £17 per hour (compared to £65 per hour for VW dealership for services etc) - pay peanuts and get monkeys!

[yellowplum]

Well got the phone call today to book the car, have booked it in for the 15th Sept to get it fixed we will see what kind of job they do this time, they are sending a courtesy car an a low-loader to collect it.

[Grampa]

There's a local bodywork place near to me which is brilliant, but they do suffer from misconceptions over being 'approved' and being able to maintain bodywork warranties - you can choose who your car goes to - last time I had a bump I told my insurance company it would go to my place, not the place they wanted me to use - 'their' place was 60 miles away so I explained it would mean a 120 mile round trip for me to inspect the standard of their work, which was a complete waste of time when there was a top quality place on my doorstep. I had to stand my ground but used the place of my choosing - they also have the necessary accreditations to maintain bodywork warranties as well.

[yellowplum]

Well it was collected on a transporter yesterday so it has gone back for repair - not sure how long it will take as they are estimating it again and doing everything again. The repair list is endless....lets hope this time they will get it right.

[maisbitt]

yellow plum:

Keep badgering them. For my repair, I was without my car for 7 weeks, and I feel it would've been longer if I hadn't pestered them. They had the car from day 1 and told me it would be up to 2 weeks to have all the parts. 2 weeks in they have all the parts ( they had 95% of the parts in week 1) and told me it would be 1 to 2 weeks to do the job from that point. 2 weeks later (4 weeks after accident), I was passing close to the repair place and popped in - there was my car in the depot, completely untouched. I asked them why it hadn't even been started yet and they didn't have an answer for me. End of week 5 and I popped by again - still untouched, so I wrote a letter of complaint to them and things started moving. I got my car back at the end of week 7, and the piss-poor job they made of it is another story.

Get progress reports regularly.

Hopefully for you, they've already got the relevant parts in and can make a start straight away.

[yellowplum]

In theory they should have the parts, however they haven't started any work and they have had it since Wednesday. Driving around in a 1.2 corsa is doing is doing my nut in.

[maisbitt]

Yellowplum: I had a Golf 1.9TDI Match for the 7 weeks (legal arm of my insurers provided it at the rate of £470 a week charged to the bus company), but every time I had remedial work at the body shop, I got a Punto 1.2 - the biggest pile of shite I have ever driven! Ever wondered what happens to yoghurt pots and the black plastic trays in ready meals? Yes, Fiat make car interiors out of them. Why anyone would ever buy a Fiat or Alfa is beyond me. A Corsa is a huge step up!

[yellowplum]

Yes unfortunately it wasn't a noted incident, we don't know who did it - we know it was the bus because of the residual colour left on the car, but since every bus in the city is painted the same colour it will be difficult to locate. Never the less I wanted a courtesy car for this occasion since I didn't have details of the TP to be able to use a Credit Hire company. I never take out Courtesy Car insurance because it isn't worth having, if it isn't your fault then the TP is liable and so a Credit Hire company will fall over itself to provide you with a car and bill the TP Insurers.

Anyway, I am waiting for a call today (Monday) to see if they have started the work and when I will get the car back. Fortunately I don't have to travel anywhere for the foreseeable couple of weeks.

[maisbitt]

Yellowplum - might be a little late now, but my Bus incident was a hit and run also, requiring a little bit of investigative work (not too much). Was waiting on a takeaway on a saturday night and was away from the car about 15 mins. When I came back to the car it was 12 feet from where i'd left it and had pushed the car parked in front into the road.

On the way back to the car, there was someone across the road going off it that their bus hadn't stopped. I didn't realise it at the time (as I hadn't yet seen my car), but it would've been the bus that hit my car, then come to the end of it's route about a mile up the road, then turned around to go back - couldn't risk stopping after clouting my car.

Fortunately, as it was the weekend of the Great North Run, someone not local (not saying a local wouldn't have done the same thing) had seen the whole thing and given me their mobile on a note under my wipers to say that i'd been hit by a white bus.

I walked to the previous stop and made a note of all the buses that would've passed by my car in the timeframe - I was down to 3 buses, allowing for 5 minutes previous to the time i'd been away (in case they were late). 2 of those buses could've been white. I then waited for the next bus of that company to pass and flagged it down. I got the driver to radio in to the depot who confirmed that both buses were on their last journey of the evening and would be at the depot shortly.

I got the Bobbies involved (the police station was only a 2 minute walk away), and we got a call back to say that the buses had both arrived at the depot and one of them had a shattered fibreglass skirt with red paint transfer (my car was red), and the driver had made a hasty exit as soon as he'd arrived at the depot.

The bus company wanted permission to repair the bus immediately, but the bobbies said that they'd have to wait for inspection to show that their bus did hit my car unless they admitted fault straight away. The driver couldn't be contacted until the Monday, at which point he admitted his hit and run and the bus company's insurance started making arrangements.

The driver got 2 points and a £100 fine for failing to stop after an accident and failing to report an accident when it finally went to court. I'm sure i'd have lost my licence for the same incident, as a car driver. Who knows if the bloke didn't stop because maybe he'd had a drink on duty. If he'd hung around i'm sure he'd have been breathalysed.

Anyway, although your case has been and gone, it's worth ringing the relevant bus companies (check out the bus companies that operate on a route passing by your accident place, look at the local timetables on the bus stops) and asking them to check their repair logs on or around the day of your incident. Might be worth a phonecall, although the insurance company would probably fight you all the way if you couldn't prove the incident because of the time elapsed.

[trix]

that story gets longer & longer everytime you tell it maisbitt

I hope you car gets repaired to your satisfaction this time yellowplum. If I were you I would drop by, if you are able to, to see what progress they are making.

S

[yellowplum]

Unfortunately where it was no one would have seen a thing (and no note was left on the windscreen). Nevertheless what is more important to me is the repair of my car (still no call back to say what they are actually doing with it, if anything).

[maisbitt]

Yellowplum: Definitely chase up the repairers, with a visit if possible, and when you check out the paintwork afterwards, look at it in both bright and overcast conditions. I had a Pearlescent black Polo with a small dint on delivery (PDI missed it)and you could see the patch where they blended the paintwork in when the day was overcast, although you couldn't tell on a bright day. Metallics/pearls are very difficult to colour match, especially the darker ones - sometimes it's better to spray a whole panel than blend in a patch in these situations.

I'd also check with them to ask what parts they're repairing and what parts they are replacing. Some companies do try to save money by minimising the replacement parts, and some parts just won't be "as new" if they do - maybe ask the repairers for a copy of the assessors report?

[yellowplum]

Thought I would provide an update - I recently had a scratch to the door that was replaced, interestingly when the repairer was attempting to remove the door handle it was evident that the previous bad repairer had glued on the handle so that it wasn't possible to remove. I have now complained again and will be receiving a new door handle for the door.

I could not believe the fact that they had broken the screw and instead of ordering a new bracket and replacing that they have now had to supply a new door handle, braket and screw - plus the labour that it has taken - makes you think how these peoples brains (if they have any) work. Having said that they probably thought that I would never find out!

[salsajoe]

Just read through the whole post! I had a problem with an approved repairer some time ago with a previous car so very sympathetic. Makes me look closely at the insurance small print now - one insurer wants an extra £300 to use own repairer. Chose one that let me choose my own (hopefull never needed) with virtually no difference in policy cost.