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Self/inflicted disaster!

M

Mike Maguire

Messages
113
Location
Exeter
Vehicle
T5 SE 174
In a momentary oversight turning right in a Carpark I missed seeing a steel pillar and drove across it wrecking the drivers door and as it bent over slightly pushing in the cill below.
Insured repair arrangements are in hand hopefully on 20 May.
As advised have removed the gas cylinder and the mass of accumulated extraneous “stuff” carried around. Reason for gas cylinder removal being the paint job requires a lo-bake oven process. But now am worrying whether all the standard fittings will survive that process in good order?884BF6B9-9C7C-4469-B9AD-94CF9498D4F8.jpeg
 
Mike Maguire said:
In a momentary oversight turning right in a Carpark I missed seeing a steel pillar and drove across it wrecking the drivers door and as it bent over slightly pushing in the cill below.
Insured repair arrangements are in hand hopefully on 20 May.
As advised have removed the gas cylinder and the mass of accumulated extraneous “stuff” carried around. Reason for gas cylinder removal being the paint job requires a lo-bake oven process. But now am worrying whether all the standard fittings will survive that process in good order?View attachment 59076
Click to expand...
No different to all the trim plastic etc: in most cars.
The Heating process is often done with Infra red heaters rather than whole car heating. There shouldn't be a problem. 40c + temperatures in Italy didn't do any harm.
 
Ouch

The repair process is specifically designed to cause no damage to the existing fitment etc
Modern paint is water based and requires an amount of heat to assist in curing
, as WG says the oven is not hot per se, it merely assists in the curing process.
The interior will not be subject to any real heat.
You need not worry about fitment Damage.

Post a piccy of the repair so we can see a before and after. (Nice looking Cali)
 
Oh dear, how infuriating. I've done something similar in the past also with a low lying un-sighted bollard. They should be banned in favour of something taller. Not sure about the cill element but at least it looks like it could be a simple enough repair.
I'm sure it will be back to pristine as new condition very soon. :thumb
 
I’ve been there too. Annoying, but it’ll be fixed!


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Borris said:
Oh dear, how infuriating. I've done something similar in the past also with a low lying un-sighted bollard. They should be banned in favour of something taller. Not sure about the cill element but at least it looks like it could be a simple enough repair.
I'm sure it will be back to pristine as new condition very soon. :thumb
Click to expand...
That's what I said too when I sideswiped a bollard "Oh dear! How infuriating!!"

A few weeks it'll be back to pristine. Shame about the no claims bonus.
 
Been there, done that! Sainsburys trolley park bollard, just too low to see. Thankfully in my other car/dumper truck.
 
Last October we did the NC500. Driving in to Ardmair for the night, I hit a large rock that had fallen in to road. It scraped and dented the nearside stainless side bar. If it weren't for the side bar, then I'd have received similar damage as you here.

I've had to buy and fit new side bars, but this was much easier to deal with than costly body repairs.

You might want to think about side bars as a way to go forward with.
 
I did the same last November. It means a new door I suspect. I tried to find a second hand one. In the end I went down the insurance route. Took a couple of weeks and now it's as good as new.
 
Many thanks for all the advice & commiserations. Fortunately my NCB is protected and my excess contribution is relatively minimal.
Am insured with what turns out to be a subsidiary of LV dealing with motor homes & caravans. Known as Safeguard aka Highway Insurance Company Ltd.The only albeit minor issues I came across were first the passing over of the administration from the subsidiary to LV core admin ... the systems did not appear to be integrated. And second, LV utilise an intermediary to allocate out repairs to local repairers. The one found for me was way down in Cornwall, so far away from Exeter that the company passed up the work & in the end I found an acceptable company close to Exeter.
Unfortunately, by the time the repair estimate was approved by LV we ran into the start of covid19 lockdown and the replacement new drivers door will not be delivered until 20 May.

Further reports to follow .......
 
Been there...
My wife picked me up from the pub one night. I was hankering for a BigMac. She hits a bollard on the rear quarter...:confused:
Thankfully it pulled out and required some minor paint treatment. You would never have known after the repair. Body shop did a great job.
 
You will find that your insurance premium for next year will increase due to a claim being made and/or you being involved in an accident.

This applies whether another vehicle was involved or not.

It also applies if another vehicle was involved and all blame is attributed to the other driver.

This premium increase will apply for next 3-5 years.

It is down to you to tick the appropriate box on the forms. But the electronic insurance systems will pick it out if you do not.
 
Alan Andrews said:
You will find that your insurance premium for next year will increase due to a claim being made and/or you being involved in an accident.

This applies whether another vehicle was involved or not.

It also applies if another vehicle was involved and all blame is attributed to the other driver.

This premium increase will apply for next 3-5 years.

It is down to you to tick the appropriate box on the forms. But the electronic insurance systems will pick it out if you do not.
Click to expand...
I fully expect that my insurance premium will increase next year due to no other reason than the insurance company think that they can arbitrarily and unilaterally increase it. Every year at renewal time I check the market, but there are a lot of ageist companies out there.
 
Mike Maguire said:
In a momentary oversight turning right in a Carpark I missed seeing a steel pillar and drove across it wrecking the drivers door and as it bent over slightly pushing in the cill below.
Insured repair arrangements are in hand hopefully on 20 May.
As advised have removed the gas cylinder and the mass of accumulated extraneous “stuff” carried around. Reason for gas cylinder removal being the paint job requires a lo-bake oven process. But now am worrying whether all the standard fittings will survive that process in good order?View attachment 59076
Click to expand...
Could be worse if it was on the other side they would have to take out all the fittings and that really is expensive. Plus it is difficult to get everything back as it should be.
 
Mike Maguire said:
In a momentary oversight turning right in a Carpark I missed seeing a steel pillar and drove across it wrecking the drivers door and as it bent over slightly pushing in the cill below.
Insured repair arrangements are in hand hopefully on 20 May.
As advised have removed the gas cylinder and the mass of accumulated extraneous “stuff” carried around. Reason for gas cylinder removal being the paint job requires a lo-bake oven process. But now am worrying whether all the standard fittings will survive that process in good order?View attachment 59076
Click to expand...
I did something similar but on the other side ie where the sink etc are. Not as big a dent as yours but thanks to a good body shop all repaired, looks good as new and no issues with fittings.
 
20200211_082047.jpg

Me too ! Low wall attacked me (that I knew was there when I parked...) Was back in February, all fixed now thank goodness. Stupidity knows no bounds sometimes...
 
Elizabeth Silman said:
I did something similar but on the other side ie where the sink etc are. Not as big a dent as yours but thanks to a good body shop all repaired, looks good as new and no issues with fittings.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was worried about the kitchen too - but they said no problem, can all be done from outside.
VW's clever use of space putting wasted tank between kitchen and body panels would otherwise be a real issue!
 
FyfettBoy said:
Yes, I was worried about the kitchen too - but they said no problem, can all be done from outside.
VW's clever use of space putting wasted tank between kitchen and body panels would otherwise be a real issue!
Click to expand...
WASTE tank of course...
 
Have you checked out the body shop and are you happy with it? I was sideswiped (non fault) in my R32 several years ago and the 3 body shops that the insurer proposed all had a questionable reputation. After refusing them, I was told I would have to pay an excess to choose another body shop. It transpired they have a ”primary” and “secondary” list of repairers. The primary repairers all cut each other’s throats to secure the majority of referrals and are squeezed for time and cost by the insurer. As such, the work is barely acceptable but insurance “approved”.

The secondary list of repairers are also approved but they don’t fight for the business as much and are happy to take the odd repair from time to time and do a better job, hence the excess. On the secondary list were a couple of VW dealerships plus an independent approved Porsche body shop with excellent reviews. The Porsche repairer got the business, they were friendly, courteous, took their time and were happy for me to pay a little extra to tidy up a few other blemishes at the same time. That was 4 years ago and the paintwork is still as good as new. I paid £300 excess for £4500 worth of good quality repairs.
 
Well, the Cali is back after the long wait for a replacement door from VW. Not give it a forensic check, but from a careful initial lookover am impressed with the repair. Comes complete with a detailed list of work & parts required plus special long term warranty applicable for as long as I own it.

They’ve done a good job!

Just got to reconnect the gas cylinder & reload ‘bout 20 bags of stuff onboard. Good job all are labelled with exact location!
 
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