advice needed for car repair

[xane]

Ok, yesterday some moron sideswiped my car with his dirty great big lorry. My wife was driving at the time, with my little son and his mate in the back, luckily none were hurt but my wife was severely shaken as the lorry near enough tried to ram her off the road.

The lorry did a runner and its unlikely we can trace it, we have no registration and the logo suggests it was a hire vehicle

Consequently I now have a dirty great dent in the rear driver side door, slight scratching on the panel behind it, and a loose wheel trim over the rear driver wheel.

I'll lose my no-claims over this, that puts insurance up 45% if I decide to claim with a excess of £100, probably amounts to around £400. I also had a quote from a Network Q dealer, who was obviously quoting for insurance purposes, and gave me a figure of over £550 for labour and £150 for parts = £700

Now I reckon I could get a local garage to do it cheaper, I only need to get the door skin done, the scratch I can live with and the wheel trim I could do myself (I know where to get parts), problem is where do I look and what scams do I look out for ? Most companies advertising repairs are just insurance body shops and would only quote the £700 figure again, I need an independent (preferably local) place.

Before I've always just handed the wreckage over to insurance, but this time I'd prefer not to.

Car is an M reg (1993 ?) Vauxhall Corsa Swing 5-door 1.2L.

TIA to anyone who has been through this kind of thing and can offer advice.

 

[~YuckFou~]

Get several quotes from decent garages. If the Garage is scruffy and the staff are cocky don't go there. It is worth paying a little extra, that way the repair will be good and last. If there are any national franchise near you try them, Halfords for example. The other benefit is that you will get a guarentee that may actually be worth something.

On the subject of insurance. It is not a commonly known fact that with most companies you can pay a little extra on your premium and protect your NCB. They don't tend to advertise this as if you do have a prang they can hammer you next time around.

 

[old.Devilfish2k2]

I agree with Yuck, it is worth payin a little extra to protect ur NCB.

If u're confident with car mechanics, y not go to ur local scrappy and try find the exact same colour door and replace it.

Some scrappys might even do the work for u, for a fee.

Could be a lot cheaper than a body shop.

Gud luck findin the lorry driver ne way!

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Indeed, scrapyards are your saviour. Replacing a car door isn't as daunting as it first seems, and if you do have any problems, buy a Haynes manual for your car. They walkthrough every car job possible for your car for you, with picture guides... they cost about a tenner. A replacement door from a scrapyard will probably cost you around £50. It is rare you will be able to find one with the same colour scheme, but with a car like a Corsa, finding the appropraite door shouldn't be too much hassle. One the door is on, you can get it resprayed for a small fee, and all is as good as new.

Wheel trims are dirt cheap, you can pick up a pack of 4 from anywhere, shops like Halfords are decent for trim options: about £20 for the whole lot. The scratch can probably be mainly hidden with some good T-Cutting, which'll set you back about a fiver for a bottle and half an hour of your time.

 

[~YuckFou~]

If using T-Cut get the stuff for metallic paint, the ordinary stuff is shit.
Trust me

 

[xane]

Thanks for advice so far.

I'm only worried about the door, the scratch is unimportant and the trim I know I can replace. I didn't actually consider doing the door myself, I've done car work from Haynes manuals before so I know what is involved. Only problem is being a "special edition" car it is likely to have different interior decor, so replacing the entire door may look a bit odd inside, does anyone know if it is easy to replace just the skin ?

I'll be visiting a few local places tomorrow, did some phoning around and already eliminated a few based on attitude, a bad day as everything shuts down for some minor event at around 12:30

As for NCB protection, I may consider it now knowing the cost, generally both the wife and myself are careful drivers but that doesn't account for hit and runs, and this is the second time I've had one to date (first time got lucky and the insurance company mistakenly put me down as "no fault").

 

[Trem]

What I do when I need parts(believe it is often with a Lancia )is buy the weeks autotrader or there is another magazine called car parts mart, which is fantastic to get hard to find stuff, the problem you have is that it is a fairly new car, so I guess local scrappers won't have many(if any)in stock unless they have been in a right-off, get the door from one of those mags Cam, it is far easier than you would ever believe. Thank god your wife and kiddy are ok though and I hope the little fucking wanker who did a runner is pleased with himself, ppffff it isn't even like he would of had to pay for it if it was a hire vehicle.

 

[Grimes]

How bad is the interior panel/skin (or do u mean the “rubber bit” on the outside of the door??) of the door damaged? If its not too bad just pop out the dents and swap it over with the scrapyard door.
Hanging car doors is much more fun than household doors

 

[xane]

There is a severe dent in the door, luckily confined to the door area itself. I'm no bodywork specialist but its obvious would take a lot more than a banging out to fix it.

 

[old.Devilfish2k2]

Can't u replace the new door interior with the old door interior, then there is no mismatch.

I'm sure all interior parts on the door are removable.

 

[Sawtooth]

I got mine insured with direct line and they covered my NCB before it was a full NCB which I thought was great.

 

[Hashmonster]

Originally posted by Devilfish2k2
Can't u replace the new door interior with the old door interior, then there is no mismatch.

I'm sure all interior parts on the door are removable.

yep u should be able to take the interior door card off (couple of screws/poppers) and then swap it onto the new door.

 

[Munkey-]

aye. few years back radiator fan broke. garages quoting a fortune. we just hunted round the local scrap yards till we found one. sounds like the engine is turbo but it did the job and was free

 

[Gumbo]

FYI

Halfords don't do body repair, and they're AA now, plus they're nearly 60 quid an hour now...

The interior trim of the door is a doddle to swap, there'll be a screw on the inside handle trim another on the window winder, and if you have a pop up door lock thing, you might need to unscrew that, the rest is just poppers. If some of these break as you take the trim off, go to your local vauxhall dealers and get the right poppers, don't bother with non-genuine ones they never work.

Get a mate to help you hang the door you buy for about 25 quid from the scrappys, it's just a matter of getting the gap even all round, maybe adjusting the lock bit a smidge, much easier to do with 2 people cos it's hard to hold and screw at the same time

If you don't feel up to this then do use a local body shop, not a chain, ask around and go on reputation...

The guys in long established small bodyshops are often geniuses, body repair is definately an art, chains are often staffed by kids on apprenticships, or crappy mechanics who can't make it on their own..

Hope this helps..

 

[Testin da Cable]

fuck that cama mate
Mrs Cama+little'uns are ok?