Car accident repair cost (pic included)

[Harrihealey02]

I had an at fault claim and was very surprised with how much the relatively minor damage has come to fix. Nearly £7100 for what looks like a new wing and bumper repair. It is though insurance company so I have to pay the excess, but there is so many parts that I didn’t realise they would need to replace for a 10mph collision. Thank God for insurance!

[SRGTD]

Hopefully, no one was injured - a car can be repaired or replaced; not always easy to repair an injured person. Hopefully the repairers will do a top class job, especially bearing in mind what they’re charging your insurance company for the repairs!

Looking through the cost breakdown in the estimate - wow!, no wonder insurance premiums are so high! It looks as if the repairers are charging your insurance company retail prices or ‘retail-plus’ (more than retail) prices e.g.

• the replacement tyre listed @£216.47 in the repairer’s estimate looks stupidly expensive. Looking at your picture, it looks as if your alloys are the standard ‘Valencia’ alloys as fitted to the Polo R Line, so tyre size is 195/55 R16. The most expensive tyre in that size on Black Circles website for a VW is £130 (fitted price); even a Michelin PS4 tyre (215/40 R18) for my GTI+ with 18” alloys is listed at ‘only’ £164 (fitted price).

• The retail price of a complete set of 4 brand new Valencia alloy wheels on www.volkswagenpartsuk.co.uk website is £848.52 (see link below), but your repairers are listing a single replacement alloy in their estimate at £552.00!

• something as simple as a single screw (part number N 909 747 01) is listed at £5.80!, although another screw with the same part number is listed at £2.32; still expensive at £2.32 though as equivalents are listed on various websites for less than 50p.

https://www.volkswagenpartsuk.co.uk/par ... -metallic/

It would be interesting to know how many hours labour are included in the £2,662.35 labour charge.

Anyway, hope your car’s soon back to its pre-accident condition. Please keep the forum updated on progress.

[RUM4MO]

Once I got a fully detailed quote to repair some self inflicted scuffing on my 2011 Audi S4, at a proper Audi approved body shop that is part of an Audi dealership - I was shocked and got it sorted out, still to Audi standards at a local dealership's body shop, they had lost their Audi approval as they had yet to complete their "aluminium proficiency" - the cost a lot less and the list of parts needed was a lot less, but didn't in my mind, miss out any essential new parts.

The question is, would the other place actually bin all the parts that it had listed as needing replaced after dismantling, or even use all new parts?

I think that these quotes are generated by a computer that is aiming to work to insurer's low standards - in honesty.

[MikeDO]

That estimate is truly astounding!
I'd be willing to bet that a decent independent would be half the price.
As has already been said "no wonder insurance premiums have gone up so much in price".
Sad in a way to see that the Insurance companies just accept this level of rip off.

PS. Front VW badge £210.10. Think that says it all

[Harrihealey02]

Everybody was okay luckily. It was a young woman probably aged 20 driving and was with her parents. They were understandably angry with me but I’m the end they cooled off. Regarding the estimate, I’m truly astounded too! Parts that don’t even need replacing like the VW badge, wasn’t even touched in the collision. If it was me doing the estimation, I would have said a alloy refurbishment (not destroy perfectly acceptable one with minor scuff marks) replacing the tyre is questionable as is only on 7100 miles, the headlight could be buffed and almost made to look almost like new, then the bumper trim replacement and bumper bracket replacement. All other bits I don’t think is needed, such as the left front door insulation being replaced! The door was not touched. But as is through insurance, I will let them do what they think is right. I will keep you updated if they find any additional damage (as the steering wheel points slightly to the left when driving straight and might have suspension damage) only time will tell if this estimate increases

[Maarten]

Just wondering, no offence in any way.

Shouldn't your blindspotdetector have spotted the car at 10mph?
Mine works from 15km/h (that's around 9mp/h?)

[SRGTD]

Regarding the estimate, I’m truly astounded too! Parts that don’t even need replacing like the VW badge, wasn’t even touched in the collision. If it was me doing the estimation, I would have said a alloy refurbishment (not destroy perfectly acceptable one with minor scuff marks) replacing the tyre is questionable as is only on 7100 miles, the headlight could be buffed and almost made to look almost like new, then the bumper trim replacement and bumper bracket replacement. All other bits I don’t think is needed, such as the left front door insulation being replaced! The door was not touched. But as is through insurance, I will let them do what they think is right. I will keep you updated if they find any additional damage (as the steering wheel points slightly to the left when driving straight and might have suspension damage) only time will tell if this estimate increases

Replacing parts when they could be repaired and replacing unnecessary parts rather than reusing them is not only more costly, it’s more harmful to the environment too. A top quality refurbishment of a 16” alloy wheel would probably cost in the region of £100-£120 v’s the repairer’s estimate of £552 for a new alloy.

When repairs have been completed, I would recommend you take someone impartial with you to inspect the quality of repairs to give an honest, unbiased opinion - i.e.

• to check the quality of paint finish and accuracy of colour match with adjacent panels from different angles and in different lighting conditions

• to ensure no overspray on adjacent panels to those that have been repaired / replaced

• to ensure all panel gaps are uniform and even

I’d expect nothing less than factory finish, considering the cost of repairs.

[lancslad1985]

Whilst I agree on the refurb/repair over replace it’ll be because it’s less time and effort to put a new one on. Therefore more time with other cars and more money. They want cars in and out the workshop asap.

When my Tiguan was hit last year it obliterated my wing mirror and left a small scratch on the glass I hadn’t even noticed. Repairer quoted for a whole new window and window mechanism even though it really only needed a buff. Wasn’t on my insurance so not my issue, but I’m sure it could have been fixed.

I also had my only fault accident 7 years ago at 10mph. Barely scratched the other guys car but mine needed £3.5k of repairs. It’s odd how you can do so much damage at such a low speed!

[grazuncle2]

I know prices for utilities have gone up but wonder what part this plays?

Screenshot 2023-08-10 084510.png (94.65 KiB) Viewed 2743 times

I'm amazed at the estimate costs.. It's no wonder so many vehicle are written off as unviable to repair.

[SRGTD]

I think we all need to brace ourselves potentially sizeable insurance premium increases in the next 12 months (and beyond?). Lots of inconsistencies in the figures being quoted in various articles over the size of premium increases and average premiums, but the trend is definitely an upward one. Makes it even more important to shop around for a good deal come renewal time .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66466626

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/mon ... es-2463629

https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/ ... ce-gone-up

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/1024 ... ack-prices

[lancslad1985]

To be fair mine went up about £160, but it wasn’t a fair comparison. When I renewed last year I paid £480 with loads of extras but it was in my Tiguan. This year it cost me £640 to stay with LV (who were cheapest bar VW and they had bad reviews) in the gti. When I then got a quote for my old Tiguan it came out at - £480.

So you can negotiate it down to what it was last year provided you didn’t change from a group 15 to a group 29 car

[grazuncle2]

I am guessing anything exotic (GTI is exotic to me) is going to attract a a higher premium for many reasons.

presumption of speed and hence presumption of higher collateral costs including loss of life.. lumping the safe drivers with the selfish.
Insurance is a balancing act and no one wants to pay for it until they need to claim on it... you could pay a high price for a long time and never claim or pay a relatively miniscule price for a written off vehicle and then receive a replacement/value.

[TheRacingRat]

There is a "reputable" body shop near me that replaces unnessesary parts and then sell them on Ebay, my mates BMW left headlight had a minor scratch which he was pretty sure was already there, they replaced it at around £800 insurance job along with bumper etc., the following week he noticed said headlight was up for sale for £300.

[S_94]

I think we all need to brace ourselves potentially sizeable insurance premium increases in the next 12 months (and beyond?). Lots of inconsistencies in the figures being quoted in various articles over the size of premium increases and average premiums, but the trend is definitely an upward one. Makes it even more important to shop around for a good deal come renewal time .

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66466626

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/mon ... es-2463629

https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/ ... ce-gone-up

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/1024 ... ack-prices

My renewal came through this morning.

Up £145 from the previous year. No claims/points. Extra year of NCB (feels like that means nothing these days).

I'll shop around, but not hopeful of beating the renewal price by much.

[Harrihealey02]

Finally the car has come back, and looks brand new! They’re done a fantastic job. Paint match is perfect, no loose fittings and all screws in place as you’d expect from an approved repair.