Another A2 Written off Bl**dy careless drivers!

riverlad

A2OC Donor
Hi every one.

I have been so peeeved I have not posted up on here.

My A2 is very sick. I was minding my business driving along when a woman driving behind a van traveling towards me decided that she had to overtake. Not a good thing seeing another car heading towards you head on I tell you.

It did not end in a good way. She hit my front driver side wheel and down the drivers side of the car. Both front wheel are damaged. wheel arch scraped dented wing mirror gone front door dented scraped. The seat air bag went off. VERY LOUD! and stinks.

The steering is no long straight. If you imagine that your hands would be at 9 and 3 driving in a straight line, now they are at 10 and 4. The end result they have written the car off.
Very peed off right now. They have offered insulting money for the car.

The plan is to get a settlement fitting in with its value buy it back and get it back on the road.

I have been forced to drive around in a brand new BMW 1 series. GIVE me my A2 back :) Its ok but not as good as my A2. I like the six speeed box and ease of use of the cruse control. But I HATE the indicators. I now know why BMW drivers don't use then. You spent most of your time trying to cancel them as they stay on when you don't want them to lol.

Cheers

David
 
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As I am sure you know a wee bit of leg work can reap rewards! Provide the insurance with cars of equal age/mileage/condition currently for sale to show what a like for like replacement would cost. You are well within your rights to refuse their offers and as the supposed Houdini is at fault their insurance will be racking up significant hire car costs each day. It's amazing what they will agree to when the costs spiral... Never take the first offer unless it is greater than you expected!
 
Really sorry to hear that. So many bad drivers about.
Important thing is you are not seriously hurt, though IF feeling hirt then dont be afraid to claim for this (I dont believe in bigging up claims, but I do believe in claiming for what you can if its valid).

Hope you get an A2 back on the road soon.
With current second hand prices, you might find it better to buy a new A2, then buy yours back and sell as spares. Personally a car that had been in a shunt with airbags would never feel right again to me.

All the best either way!
 
Sorry to hear of the accident, but glad to hear you're safe. These A2s are remarkably strong. I'm sure you'll get back on the road in an A2 again soon.
 
Important thing is you are not seriously hurt, though IF feeling hirt then dont be afraid to claim for this (I dont believe in bigging up claims, but I do believe in claiming for what you can if its valid).

With current second hand prices, you might find it better to buy a new A2, then buy yours back and sell as spares. Personally a car that had been in a shunt with airbags would never feel right again to me.

Agree with Conrad's points. I registered a claim after my A3 was written off, as I was taken to hospital and attended physiotherapy for months after a driver who wasn't paying attention slammed into the back of my car. The out of pocket expenses soon rack up - so whilst I don't endorse the 'no win no fee' litigation culture that exists, I do agree that recompense for genuine non fault injury and solacium should be pursued, and I'm aware that Dave was rattled around a bit in this collision.

I'm sure David won't mind me saying that those of us who know him well have been fairly worried this last few weeks, as the incident is bound to have an impact when you love your car and what it stands for. Riverlad has been uncharacteristically quiet of late so best wishes for all this to be sorted as soon as possible with the minimum of stress.

Options for reinstating the car are several. It sounds like there's a bit of mechanical as well as cosmetic damage, so this will need to be carefully evaluated to decide if its economically viable and safe to return the car to active service. It would seem the insurer have already made their decision, so its a numbers game now.

Regarding lovedoctor's post, I have already sent David the most comparable 'like for like' examples on sale, to negotiate an increased settlement but it could be helpful for anyone else spotting a nice '54 plate special edition with ~ 60k miles TDi and full history in the local classifieds etc to send Dave the link so he can use this as evidence of value.

In addition to that kind of evidence, I sent an insurance company photocopies of the service history and invoices for work done to a Polo we had written off in a non-fault collision some years ago, and I got a fair increase in the settlement figure - memory serving they originally offered £875 net of excess which was bog standard trade money and I ended up with nearly £1200. I refused the first 2 offers.

The best outcome is of course to buy the car back and get it sorted to 'better than pre-accident' condition with the settlement as the car is a keeper; however Conrad's point is valid about confidence in a car that's had a prang and airbags deployed.

It'll be down to whether its 'The A2' or 'That A2' that holds affection; and whilst a bit of hassle and early financial outlay, its another option as stated to buy a 'better' A2 and transplant some of the extra toys fitted to the damaged one, or flog these and the remainder of usable parts for spares.

I'm aware the latter is an unpopular concept for many; but circumstances like this are bound to become more common as the A2 decreases in value, and the cost of repairs being expensive because of the car's construction.

I really hope this gets sorted out for the best David, and to echo others comments I'm really glad you weren't badly injured.
 
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Sorry to hear of this unfortunate incident. The main thing is your safe as much as it hurts knowing the A2 ain't.

I too have was hit by a silly negligent driver coming out of a side road just 3 weeks ago, and was very upset by it that I have not had the courage to write up on a thread until now.
Although i was not hurt and the damage was minor, to the passenger doors (they wanted to write it off) which upset me even more. Nevertheless I understand that these cars are expensive to repair and the economical costs would be high especially the fact that its a 51 plate (12 years old) with 112000 on the clock and of-course for someone who ain't got heavy funds @ the moment to payout for major works.
Anyway, this has now been settled just this week and the driver has taken liability (so he should) although its all the inconvenience that went with it that didn't help and that's where one needed patience and know that something better will come from it.

I too am thinking of my options as the payout (1st offer) to my amazement was reasonable and I bought the car back for £387.50p (though I was ready to put up a fight if a silly offer was made) but now knowing the A2 is a Cat "C" makes me feel uncomfortable,though some may argue its still ok, each to their own I guess.

I will keep an eye out for adverts relating to your car as mentioned by (Murdo) and forward it to you.

Sorry if I have diverted from the original topic to my woes but hope that RiverLad (David) gets things sorted which ever path he takes in getting his Lil' A2 sorted.

Best wishes.

Mo
 
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Use the force riverlad

Big up your reasons for a bigger claim and look for another A2

Stay safe at least you have your health...............
 
hi Riverlad, sorry to hear off your incident, at least you are in one piece. Hope it is soon sorted and you come out the other side with a gem of an A2 again!
 
Hi David, Like everyone else, I'm very sorry to hear about your wee car being hurt, hope you and any passengers weren't hurt, although in many cases some effects can be delayed. It saddens me to hear about yet another loss of an A2. This is happening too often of late and worries me as to the future of the remaining A2's.


David, let me know if I can help in anyway.



Sincerely
Sarge
 
Sorry to hear this mate, hope it all works out well for you. It could so easily have been more of a "head on" collision so I'm glad you're OK.

I have to say that the write-off/ damage scenario has been going through my head recently since we let our 18 YO son start to drive it. He's actually very careful but I'm sure we'll get a prang at some point. And at over 12 years old bit with only 59k on the clock we'd need to lobby hard to get a appropriate payout.
 
Well after a very long time I can now happily say that my car is now back on the road.:) I got her back today.

It was cat d write off in the end which was a shame as it should not have been.

With lots of hard work from Tony and A2 cars she is now in better condition and driving a dream again.

Tony did full service cam belt and water pump at the same time. So hopefully I won't be getting any more big bills for a while now lol.

Cheers

David
 
Nice to hear you got your pride&joy back on the road mate. :) I'm sure you are very satisfied with the work done at the A2 lab at MK..lol:p

Nice1

Mo
 
Well after a very long time I can now happily say that my car is now back on the road.:) I got her back today.

It was cat d write off in the end which was a shame as it should not have been.

With lots of hard work from Tony and A2 cars she is now in better condition and driving a dream again.

Tony did full service cam belt and water pump at the same time. So hopefully I won't be getting any more big bills for a while now lol.

Cheers

David

Really pleased for you David, glad you have finally got your A2 back.

Cheers

Rob.
 
glad to hear you and the car have made a full recovery :)

what peeves me off in general about insurance companies is that box you fill in when they ask you "how much your car is worth"

now has anyone for any reason entered an amount that is much greater than its worth? if so, what will insurance companies do in a result like riverlads accident. would they send out an accessor or pay out book value knowing you entered what the car was worth when you you took out insurance?

insurance companies...biggest rip off merchants since lawyers and of course audi garages!! :)

cammy
 
I received a telephone call from David last night to express his satisfaction with the repair work on his TDi. David's comment that the car felt "better than before the accident" certainly makes us proud of our commitment and workmanship, not only to David's car, but all works we undertake.

A2 Cars was the first point of contact for David following his accident, and we assisted and supported David throughout his ordeal with the insurers. Authorisation for the repair took an inexorable period of time during which David had full use of one of our courtesy vehicles. The repair included a major re-build of the front end suspension & sub-frame components and of course repairs to the bodywork.

A red herring was thrown at us when the car failed it's mandatory MOT inspection due to a jammed R/R door lock. We had to use ingenuity and some special tools to "convince" the door to open to replace the door lock. All this whilst been very careful to protect and not damage the newly painted door shell.

David, thank you for choosing A2 Cars to repair your pride and joy :).

blue skies
the Team at A2 Cars
 
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