I've just crashed!!

I’ve just managed to crash my car going down some lovely country lanes, that turned into a muddy mess as I was going round a corner! The back end flung out and the front of the car caught the kerb. I was wondering if anybody else has suffered an accident and what the repair bill came to? I will need a new front clam, the crash structure is broken and the steering is all over the place. Also a new tyre and fog light will be required. Just hope the chassis isn’t fooked cos i’ve heard thats a right off!

OOOps!


well the first thing you have to do is inform your insurance, they’ll give you a phone to call and put in a claim.
Then find out who is your local Lotus approved repair centre, normally through your trusty dealer. Book it in and they will do a damage valuation report, which you will see gets passed through to your insurance.

It is at this “valuation” step that all damage is identified, and if you need a new chassis they will tell you.

Sorry to hear the bad news but it can happen to anybody (hope you were not driving like a looney )

I was taking it easy as the roads are pretty bad, theres lots of farm land and the tractors make a right mess! I am going to get some piccies sent to the council, I’ve been informed that there should be signs put up when there is mud on the road and the council and the farmer can be held negligent for not doing so. it could be worth a try as I’ve just lost �700 in excess and 2 years off my no claims.

Sorry to hear that tom!

I recently had something similar on muddy roads, thankfully saw it coming and controlled the slide.

Do a search for Remark’s recent incident. It sounds like similar damage.

Ian

Yep, sounds like similar damage.

I needed a new front clam, new front splitter, new crash structre, new rad, new oil cooler, plus all the vents and fog light stuff.

No wheels or suspension damage tho’.

Total was about �7k

But it was a very nice repair so I can’t complain!

Remark - Just taken mine down to Christopher Neil. They had a quick look over. It needs a new clam, crash structure, suspension on the near side, new wheels and tyres. Thats only what they can tell without taking any bit’s off… I think apart from that it’s fine, I drove it home from the scene of the incident, i just had to hold the steering wheel 1/2 turn to the right to get it going in a straight line!! Just hope the insurance engineer approves the repairs!! If he doesn’t I will cancel the claim and pay lotus to fit the crash structure as thats the tricky bit, bonding it to the ali and squaring it up etc. and then do the rest myself at home.

Ah meant to say bad luck fella!

Yeah, sounds like it’ll be a similar cost TBH… Mine was done at Sinclaires so not the cheapest out there either! The insurance authorised it no problems at all.

While I was talking to people about it, one guy done 10k’s worth of damage to his elise, bucked the floor panels and everything! But insurance approved the repair and then about 2 months later he sold it for 11k or something so there’s a 99.999999% chance it’ll be authorised… Still major PITA! At least you’ll just miss some bad weather! I had to do mine at the end of july! D’oh!!!

tom

sorry to hear this…

its very likely your insurance will sort it out for you… unless you are extremely keen, i wouldn’t bother trying to fix it yourself… the cost will be pretty high… sounds like your steering rack will also be needing replaced ? but the assessor should create the list.

Got the quote yesterday for the repairs, so far it’s up to �9500!!! I’m sure I could get the parts cheaper from eliseparts.com ands other sources than Lotus want to charge. Some of the prices are mad for example 44p for 1 of the screws that holds the undertrays on. I could get them for about 2p each from work!! And the price of the tyres!! Oh my god, I could get a full set of Toyos for the price they are charging for 1 Yokohama!! Just keeping my fingers crossed the insurance ok the repairs, I am starting to miss my car now, fed up with my Pug 106 1.1i

Sorry to har that Tom.

There’s some irony in the fact that the Toyos could have helped you in the wet, but there’s a very good reason those Yokos are pricy!

Ian

Got the quote yesterday for the repairs, so far it’s up to �9500!!!

Is that including or excluding labour & VAT, ie parts only?

Not wishing to be a doom merchant, but that’s approaching “write off” territory for insurance companies

Thats with VAT for parts and labour! I hope they don’t write her off. If they do it’s going to be one cancelled insurance claim and a lot of hard graft in my dads workshop!! I don’t care how long it takes or how difficult it is, I can pretty much turn my hand to anything!! Luckily

Ok (searching for a bright side!), you could make her even better!

Ian

So do you think they will try and write it off? You’ve got me worried now. insurance pisses me off, I’ve paid around �1500 a year on insurance for all my cars over the years, even a 1.1 106 when I first passed my test through to the Type-R’s and now the Exige. That adds up to �7500 pounds spent on insurance and I’ve never made a claim before. That �7500 I’ve paid out nearly covers the cost of getting my car back on the road, if they write her off I may as well have got my �7500 and set fire to it!

Tom

I was hoping (for you!) that the �9500 included labour & vat. If that equates to the total cost (before your excess), I would be very surprised if the insurance co try to go down the write off route. Fingers crossed - keep us posted, please

Good news fellas, my car is going to be repaired!!

No more sleepless nights for me.

I can’t wait to get it back.

Tom

Good news indeed

Update

I rang Christopher Neils yesterday and was told that they were currently re-building the suspension in order to check the tub for damage. They said that should be done by the end of the week. i should hope so they’ve had two weeks to work on it!! I understand they are busy but not having my car is starting to affect me. I’m fed up with the 106 now, people at work are saying I look like a girl driving it compared to “that Lotus thingy”.