[DMNC]

Hey team,

So I had a fight with a rogue deer the other day, and my insurance has decided it is a write-off. I've got to wait around 10 days for someone to come and value the vehicle and give me a buy-back price.

From what I can see the damage appears to be:

- New bonnet & slam plate
- New bumper & grilles
- New nearside headlight
- New nearside foglight
- New nearside quater panel/wing
- Repair of nearside light loom


The bit that worries me is the fact the nearside front wheel is pointing at 11 o'clock instead of straight. Can anyone hazard a guess at what this would potentially be? (Offside wheel is straight in the pictures)

Overall the vehicle is worth about £7500 (I think, 125k miles) - at what price would people consider buying it back and repairing it? I would be able to do all the panels etc myself, but the wiring and the wheel situation might be beyond my ability.

Thanks

[mmm-five]

It might just be the deformation of the inner wing that's caused the suspension mounting points to become dislodge/misaligned...or it could be wishbone, control arm, tie rods, spring/damper, etc.

Depending on whether you can get all the parts you need at 2nd hand/aftermarket prices, and can get good price on labour to fix the bits you can't, then it may be viable to repair, but you'd still have a cat-N/S write-off worth less than a non-cat car!

The insurance company will be estimating their write-off costs at main dealer prices for new parts, and if the bill comes to more than 60% of the 'market value' of the car (in your case >£4k) then they'll not bother.

A new headlight + motor/wiring, bumper, bonnet and outer wing, including paint will probably exceed that alone - and then there's the 'invisible' damage to structure/suspension/steering components.

[Desertnate]

How does the UK handle the title for a car an insurance company has totaled?

Here in the US if you restore a car written off by the insurance company it will have a "Salvage" title which will make it very hard to sell/trade/unload some time in the future and will always be worth very little.

[DMNC]

We have category N or S depending if it is structural or not. If they class it as structural then I won't be buying it back, non-structural doesn't seem to have a massive impact on selling (obviously you do lose some margin on the sale price).

[DMNC]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

It might just be the deformation of the inner wing that's caused the suspension mounting points to become dislodge/misaligned...or it could be wishbone, control arm, tie rods, spring/damper, etc.

Depending on whether you can get all the parts you need at 2nd hand/aftermarket prices, and can get good price on labour to fix the bits you can't, then it may be viable to repair, but you'd still have a cat-N/S write-off worth less than a non-cat car!

The insurance company will be estimating their write-off costs at main dealer prices for new parts, and if the bill comes to more than 60% of the 'market value' of the car (in your case >£4k) then they'll not bother.

A new headlight + motor/wiring, bumper, bonnet and outer wing, including paint will probably exceed that alone - and then there's the 'invisible' damage to structure/suspension/steering components.

Great info, didn't know about the 60% part! Definitely looking at a write off then...

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

How does the UK handle the title for a car an insurance company has totaled?

Here in the US if you restore a car written off by the insurance company it will have a "Salvage" title which will make if very hard to sell/trade/unload in some time in the future and will always be worth very little.

We have 4 'totalled/write-off' categories in the UK, only 2 of them can (legally) result in a vehicle going back on the road.

• A - Scrap – complete vehicle crushed without any components being removed (vehicle can't go back on road)
• B - Break – body-shell/chassis crushed without any structural components being removed (vehicle can't go back on road)
• N - Non-structurally damaged but repairable (vehicle can go back on road)
• S - Structurally damaged but repairable (vehicle can go back on road)

We used to also have 2 others, but they were often confused or used incorrectly, so were replaced with N and S above.

• C - Repairable but repair costs exceed pre-accident value (obvious, and now split into N/S above)
• D - Repairable but repair costs don't exceed pre-accident value (so why is it classed as 'totalled/written-off'?)

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by DMNC

Great info, didn't know about the 60% part! Definitely looking at a write off then...

The exact amount depends on the specific insurer.

Some will do it at 50%, some at 70%.

Some will include the VAT in their calculations, some won't.

[BimR]

You will spend how much to fix it? 4-5k? Buy it for 2K? It's it worth all of that drama to basically break even or come out a little ahead IF it's all as you think? For some yes. For me no.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

We have 4 'totalled/write-off' categories in the UK, only 2 of them can (legally) result in a vehicle going back on the road.

• A - Scrap – complete vehicle crushed without any components being removed (vehicle can't go back on road)
• B - Break – body-shell/chassis crushed without any structural components being removed (vehicle can't go back on road)
• N - Non-structurally damaged but repairable (vehicle can go back on road)
• S - Structurally damaged but repairable (vehicle can go back on road)

We used to also have 2 others, but they were often confused or used incorrectly, so were replaced with N and S above.

• C - Repairable but repair costs exceed pre-accident value (obvious, and now split into N/S above)
• D - Repairable but repair costs don't exceed pre-accident value (so why is it classed as 'totalled/written-off'?)

For Category N and S, is annual inspection/registration process the same as normal cars?

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by bavarianride

For Category N and S, is annual inspection/registration process the same as normal cars?

Yes, exactly the same.

The annual inspection isn't that rigorous anyway

There was a point when you could get the cat C/D/N/S status removed from the car by undergoing a more thorough inspection after the repairs were done, but it would still show a 'condition checked' status on the car history reports...which to the uneducated would be as worrying/suspicious as a Cat C/D/N/S.

BTW, I'm not against driving/buying a 'cat' car, but you have to ensure you know what you're looking for when you consider buying one...and if everything checks out, then it can be a cheaper way into a car you didn't think you could afford...but most people forget that the saving is only on paper, as they'll also receive less if/when they come to sell it, or have an accident in it.

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

Yes, exactly the same.

The annual inspection isn't that rigorous anyway

There was a point when you could get the cat C/D/N/S status removed from the car by undergoing a more thorough inspection after the repairs were done, but it would still show a 'condition checked' status on the car history reports...which to the uneducated would be as worrying/suspicious as a Cat C/D/N/S.

BTW, I'm not against driving/buying a 'cat' car, but you have to ensure you know what you're looking for when you consider buying one...and if everything checks out, then it can be a cheaper way into a car you didn't think you could afford...but most people forget that the saving is only on paper, as they'll also receive less if/when they come to sell it, or have an accident in it.

I think buying a car repaired by BMW certified body shop will be OK, as those shops use genuine BMW parts and follow BMW repair process.

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by bavarianride

I think buying a car repaired by BMW certified body shop will be OK, as those shops use genuine BMW parts and follow BMW repair process.

I agree.

But over here, you have to push the insurance company hard to let you get it repaired at a BMW garage, as the insurer doesn’t want to pay £100/hr labour rates when they’ve got £30-£50/hr agreed rates at some other ‘approved’ repairer/bodyshop.

If you do insist, you may find your car is closer to, or over the totalled/write-off threshold…so you end up with a conundrum of having it totalled/written off or repaired at a non-BMW garage.

My experience of non-BMW places has not been pleasant, and the 5 year guarantee is worthless as the garage says ‘complain to the insurer’ and the insurer says ‘complain to the garage’.

In the end, I got the remedial work carried out elsewhere after an independent engineer confirmed the shoddy workmanship, and then sent the bill to the insurer…who refused to pay it, so it went to the insurance ombudsman who made them pay up.

Really don’t want to go through that again though

[bavarianride]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

I agree.

But over here, you have to push the insurance company hard to let you get it repaired at a BMW garage, as the insurer doesn’t want to pay £100/hr labour rates when they’ve got £30-£50/hr agreed rates at some other ‘approved’ repairer/bodyshop.

If you do insist, you may find your car is closer to, or over the totalled/write-off threshold…so you end up with a conundrum of having it totalled/written off or repaired at a non-BMW garage.

My experience of non-BMW places has not been pleasant, and the 5 year guarantee is worthless as the garage says ‘complain to the insurer’ and the insurer says ‘complain to the garage’.

In the end, I got the remedial work carried out elsewhere after an independent engineer confirmed the shoddy workmanship, and then sent the bill to the insurer…who refused to pay it, so it went to the insurance ombudsman who made them pay up.

Really don’t want to go through that again though

Yeah the situation is similar on this side of the pond too, esp. direct/network repair labor rates vs. BMW labor rates.

In general good non-network shops provide lifetime warranty(as long as the shop is still in business!) for the original owner.

At one point one CCRC(BMW certified collision repair center) owned by a BMW dealer was direct repair(lifetime warranty from insurer), obviously I drove 50 miles 1-way to that shop.

The shop gave me BMW loaner, plus the service advisor got me genuine parts at $0 cost! Unfortunately they didn't extend the contract due to subpar insurance labor rate.