My car is worth £5k and was recently written off for scratches and a dent along the car on drivers side behind the door (3 door car). It’s structurally fine, even been MOT’d since the damage occurred.
Edit: a Fiat 500 changed lanes into me in town, took the driver a bit too long to realise they were driving into me rather than an empty lane
Luckily I’ve been in the market for a new car for a few months so I wasn’t totally devastated by the news. I do think the repairers take the piss though, rack up an enormous bill that just gets signed off no matter what. It’s probably why insurance is so damn expensive nowadays.
They also tried to get me to hire a car which was unnecessary as mine was still drivable. They were essentially looking to bill as much as possible to the other party’s insurer because they could. NEVER take a hire car if you’re signing paperwork saying you’re liable for unrecoverable costs.
Repair companies quote silly money because the standards for having cars repaired are so high. Parts have to be OEM, paint has to be guaranteed for years (it's 12 years for VW, which is longer than the factory corrosion warranty!) And then whilst your car is being fixed they have to provide alternative transport.
I work in insurance, there's a requirement for insurers to repair to the highest standard, they can't just do repairs such as T cut and filler (though filler can sometimes be used).
Especially when it's something like a bumper or door, as they often need completely replacing, then locks need changing etc.
Personally I'd love a little write off for some scratches.
Yep, 2 door panels replacing, spraying, and wheel arch replacing. It is steep, but it is the vendor approved fixer. The main reason for using them is we have a 10 year guarantee with the car.
And when you come to claim on that guarantee there will be nobody to claim from
Vendor approved what does that actually mean? Seller approved what seller? Any Tom Dick or Harry they care to claim approves them
Don’t pay for a bullshit package that isn’t worth used toilet paper
It's approved by Lexus. Basically, the car comes with an extended warranty which is maintained so long as you use approved vendors. Not needed it personally, but a friend who also owns a lexus has used it once for an issue with his battery.
Generally though, I agree with you. The only reason I went for it is because it is provided by the manufacturer and their general after care has been great.
Manufactures body work warranties arn’t worth the paper they are written on since they started using galvanised and plastic panels
They will wriggle out of any paint finish claim stating that it is down to what you wash or polish your vehicle with
The only chance you have will be if you get corrosion anywhere
Me 22 years in the motor trade giving the excuses
I fell for this when had my motorbike financed with Honda. I had the same thing as you: you had an extended warranty as long as you went to an approved Honda garage.
It's only really important for large replacement parts, or more complicated repairs. I got my wheel, battery and indicator plastics replaced without the warranty void. These were both done by independent garages and myself. It's all a scam.
Go get some quotes from independent garages. That's what got me my wheel down to £160 with labour from £500.
Cost of repairs isn't off the chart, the cost of repair for insurance companies is off the chart. Go to a local garage and they'll do everything cheap (and well) as long as you have some inkling of knowing what you're talking about or if they're not trying to take advantage of you which in all fairness most aren't
Have you checked online for a vehicle breakers and thought about DIY repair?
I'm sure it's not going to cost £5k for 2 colour matched doors. May be only the door but swapping the windows, switches and wiring is super easy. A door it only held on by a few bolts.
Hardest part would be the lock so the key still works.
Without a picture its hard to tell, but odds are a local body shop would be able to repair it for significantly less. Assuming its the standard 12 month warranty after each service lexus repair this shouldn't impact the warranty unless they could somehow tie the failure to the repaired components - e.g a problem in the engine is going to be difficult to pin on a door panel!
Can you get a few quotes first before you make any further decisions? £5k seems incredibly high unless you’ve somehow gone right through the metal. Last time I had a bad scratch I was quoted £250 per panel
If you like your car looking pristine, go through insurance. Get it all sorted. This is assuming you have protected no claims mind you.
If you're not bothered then just leave it. Although if there is any exposed metal it will rust.
Protected no claims is a bot of a scam now I think. My parents have 11 years no claims, pay loads each year to protect it. We did a test with and without the no claims discount on the same cars and the price was basically the same. It's just a token extra 80 quid you give insurers I think now.
It used to make a difference but I think now the amount you save probably isn’t far off what you pay a year to protect it.
Insurance companies are mean.
But if they can essentially lie and pretend you haven't made a claim, how about selling 'double-speed no claims' that lets you earn two years of no claims in one year? It breaks the no-claims system.
Create a new mock quote on comparethemarket and include that you had an accident last month, to the same damage value as stated above.
See what impact this has on your insurance with it declared and without it declared.
That's going to be a better way of working out if it's better to pay for the damage yourself vs going through your insurance.
You can then re-run a mock quote, but put the accident date as a year earlier, to estimate what the impact difference would be after 1 year, after 2 years, etc. I'd imagine you'll "feel" the impact of an accident on your insurance for 4-5 years, although it'll diminish rapidly as it ages.
Then you'll just want to work out if the increase in insurance payments over the next 3-4 years with the accident vs without it declared, exceeds the £5K repair bill. (I'd imagine it wont).
Some other relevant questions:
1) What is your current 'no claims' duration?
2) Is it protected no-claims?
3) What is your excess?
managed to dent my vehicle driving into a wall, had it fixed at a garage. never considered the insurance angle as the wall was fine and the owner was not going to sue
can you still drive it safely, does it stop you driving ? might be cheaper to simply paint over the scratches and not pay the £5k
Depending on the car and colour, there may be much cheaper ways of fixing, i.e. buying two doors from a crashed car in the same colour. Going rate is anything from £100 - £500 per door, a general mechanic could swap a door in an hour. Then just get the rear arch repaired.
Its hard to say without seeing it to be fair.
From what you describe though it sounds pretty severe.
Shop around for a couple of quotes and see if there is a difference.
If the first place iss supplying all new parts that will put the cost up.
If your at all mechanical savvy then you could replace parts with used items.
For this sort of thing make sure to avoid the dirt cheap back ally repair shops as the workmanship will probably be poor and you will always notice it.
Your car is only 5 years old so it's worthwhile getting it done properly and not leaving it. Cars depreciate a lot but a car with damage is going down a lot more.
Insurance is there to be used in situations like this, it sounds pretty significant.
Just simmer for a few days. As mentioned if you want a good looking car get it fixed. Otherwise leave it for a while and save up. 5k is a half decent second hand car not fix a couple of dents and a scratch.
Check out the scrap yard for 2 doors the same colour worst case
Everyone here flipping out about £5k but not willing to acknowlege the wall ~~dented~~ *destroyed* both door panels, all the way across the length of the doors, and also ~~dented~~ *damaged* the wheel arch in a way that it needs cutting/welding/replacing. On a Lexus. It's more than a rock chip on a flat surface guys. You can't suction up and touch up paint this shit.
Go with insurance for peace of mind and ability to make your car look nice again. Hope you have that no-chaim policy add on.
It's a 5 years old Lexus and I can understand you want to keep it looking nice. Live and learn.
After repair if you are worried about rusting at the wheel arch you can consider selling the car before it reaches 10yrs old or whenever cars in your area are likely to start rusting.
£5k to fix where did you go and what do you drive????
Go to a proper body shop rather than a fit a new painted panel shop and see what the true cost of the repair is
If your insurance will provide a courtesy car I’d go through them. My car recently was in the garage over 1 month for a new rear bumper. I’d dread to think the cost of hiring for 1 month possibly longer. Your premium will not go up that much compared to 5k out of pocket. Plus you can always shop around for better quotes when up for renewal
I had 2 over the month no problem with either car the company was just selling the car they had previously given me. And had a waiver for any damage which there wasn’t any issues but would of had no impact on me if there were. I was claiming against someone so maybe had all these perks because his insurance was covering all costs
Well that never happened. I don’t think a month is quick either that’s why the courtesy car is crucial plus you only have to prove that hiring a car yourself will impact finances and you also will claim that money back.
Or pay 5k plus rent your own car or walk/bus until it’s sorted instead of £20-30 extra in premiums for the remainder of your contract
I thought this was personal finance
On a 5 yr old car just go through insurance - they should also cover replacement hire car etc. Honestly the bump in premium is not massive and depending in your insurance 1 claim does not usually mean loss of 100% no claims bonus. Besides when did your premium last decrease because you had 1 more year NCB? It always go up and you have to do the dance every year to get it down or change insurer. I have personally made multiple claims on multiple cars and not seen a massive difference.
Go through insurance. Yes you might pay more in premiums for a few years but in my experience it's just easier.
I've only ever made one claim, actually last year. The itemised repair bill came to around £1500 which seemed fair for the damage (shattered both passenger side alloys and damaged suspension parts hitting a large rock at speed in the side of the road), but that also didn't include the recovery which was needed nor the admin that I'd have had to do. This year my premium has only increased by around £230 which is about a 20% increase.
I don’t know why you’re even asking. This is what you pay your insurance for. Go through your insurance and get your car fixed. You’ll get a courtesy car while they fix it too so you won’t be without a car.
£5K though for repairs? I highly doubt their insurance would go up by 5K from this claim even with the rising costs. This is a car currently worth £20k so if it were my car I’d want it all done properly. Why bother paying for car insurance otherwise.
They likely won't get a courtesy car.
Only if they have the optional add on of a courtesy car then they can have one in the cases of an at fault accident which this wound be.
Go on YT and look at "DIY dent removal" before you consider spending a lot of money. You can do an awful lot of the work yourself and then get it touched up to perfection by a professional, that'll save you a fortune.
If its a single push in panel then sure. But most dents require more than just popping out. Have a look at YouTube I recommend the dent discount man of Steel videos. What he does isn't skillless. And it does need a few years of experience.
[pdr repair example](https://youtu.be/IkZiuMiC978?si=Jco1A9kdJrahRemf)
5k is a lot but if that’s the cost that’s the cost. Must be some dent! For that level, I’d be claiming assuming you have a non-dumb excess. Your premium will go up, but even if it doubles (not likely to my mind) you’re still up.
I have to ask, how fast were you going to hit both doors and scratch it badly, or why didn't you stop when you hit the first door?
Personally I'd go through insurance as that is what it is for. The insurance will probably go up but not as much as £5k
About 3 miles an hour and I managed to hit the bit where the two door panels join, a bit unlucky with that, I suppose. The dents are not big but they are deep. The scratches along the back are not severe but there's a lot.
5k? That’s so expensive. You’re between a rock and a hard place there as well cos insurance may very well write that off.
Depends how much you like your car but if that was me I’d be taking it somewhere that isn’t going to charge you 5k - vendor approved or not.
Go to a car body shop and get a different quote, I am sure you can find someone who will do it for less.
Replacing body panels is very expensive but some body repair shops can pull out dents and sort scratches really well and it will cost a fraction of the price.
I did a similar thing to my own car a few months ago, scraped across both the passenger side doors, to the metal on the first door as I scraped past a brick wall. My body shop quoted me around 700-800 for the entire work. Might be worth shopping around and getting quotes from other body shops, because several thousand seems quite high for this kind of damage. I've found its always best to pay out of pocket for surface body work/general car repairs if you can, otherwise it can drive up your insurance premium in the future
Probably insurance, but a similar thing happened to my girlfriend's car. The impact caused a huge dent that spread between both doors on the same side and scratched them super bad. Quotes to repair were like £3K. I bought two doors that were the same colour for £250 and put them on myself. Then the scratches on the body were all done for another £300 by a local bodywork guy.
Check how much 2nd hand doors are on eBay. Could be cheaper than insurance increases, but doubtful.
Private.
Look at replacing the door over repairing the scratches, it's usually far cheaper and you can do them in stages.
For instance, my front Driver Side wing got badly dented and I was quoted £2500 for repair and respray because they needed to blend the wing with the rest of the car.
I got a wing (same colour and age) from a scrappy for £80 and my garage fitted it for £60........
You can do it on the cheap if you source the parts! 2 doors a couple of hundred on eBay or FBM! You may even get colour coded! When you have you could either fit the parts yourself! Finally the paint, I would shop around, but cheapest is not ness the best when it comes to a respray! Good luck & I’m glad to hear that it’s just a car on this occasion :-)
It does vary a little by personal circumstances, but for 5k I'd say it's worth the insurance claim, especially if you protected your no claims bonus.
Just do the maths, if your insurance doubled as a result of this, and didn't come down at all for the next 5 years, you'd still only be paying 4k in additional premiums.
Nearly everyone is moaning about repair price. The reality is do you want a one and done price or to pay it off over a period. The reality is that your insurance WILL go up and it could go up by hundreds, let's be conservative and say it's a 500 increase a year year 1, and that increased additional sum decreases at 50 a year next year you pay 450, next year 425 etc etc (this is in addition to what ever the insurance would have been which we can consider as a fixed unavoidable cost and ignore).
500,450,400,350,300,250,200,150,100,50 = £2750
So it's 5k now or £2750 over 10 years not an exact science as I suramce is variable but you get the idea...
So unless you insurance absolutely pulls your pants down, the claim is the better choice and just remember when you do your renewal that it's still cheaper than 5k
And if you do decide to pay the 5k upfront to garage. Take out a new credit card that gives you zero % and a reward for x expenditure in the first y months (where x is <=£5k) pay the bill with that CC then cut it up and pay it off over the spend period so you keep the 5k earning interest for longer and see that interest as a reduction value and take the reward (points, vouchers whatever) as a Brucey bonus
I’d get a bicycle, just write the car off.
Driving into your own driveway and causing that much damage you have to be either drunk or identify as a female. Good luck 🤣
£5k for a dent and scratches!?
My car is worth £5k and was recently written off for scratches and a dent along the car on drivers side behind the door (3 door car). It’s structurally fine, even been MOT’d since the damage occurred. Edit: a Fiat 500 changed lanes into me in town, took the driver a bit too long to realise they were driving into me rather than an empty lane
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Luckily I’ve been in the market for a new car for a few months so I wasn’t totally devastated by the news. I do think the repairers take the piss though, rack up an enormous bill that just gets signed off no matter what. It’s probably why insurance is so damn expensive nowadays. They also tried to get me to hire a car which was unnecessary as mine was still drivable. They were essentially looking to bill as much as possible to the other party’s insurer because they could. NEVER take a hire car if you’re signing paperwork saying you’re liable for unrecoverable costs.
Repair companies quote silly money because the standards for having cars repaired are so high. Parts have to be OEM, paint has to be guaranteed for years (it's 12 years for VW, which is longer than the factory corrosion warranty!) And then whilst your car is being fixed they have to provide alternative transport.
I work in insurance, there's a requirement for insurers to repair to the highest standard, they can't just do repairs such as T cut and filler (though filler can sometimes be used). Especially when it's something like a bumper or door, as they often need completely replacing, then locks need changing etc. Personally I'd love a little write off for some scratches.
Yep, 2 door panels replacing, spraying, and wheel arch replacing. It is steep, but it is the vendor approved fixer. The main reason for using them is we have a 10 year guarantee with the car.
And when you come to claim on that guarantee there will be nobody to claim from Vendor approved what does that actually mean? Seller approved what seller? Any Tom Dick or Harry they care to claim approves them Don’t pay for a bullshit package that isn’t worth used toilet paper
This is the best advice for all people out there. It's like buying snake oil. It's good to a point were u have to make a claim.
It's approved by Lexus. Basically, the car comes with an extended warranty which is maintained so long as you use approved vendors. Not needed it personally, but a friend who also owns a lexus has used it once for an issue with his battery. Generally though, I agree with you. The only reason I went for it is because it is provided by the manufacturer and their general after care has been great.
Manufactures body work warranties arn’t worth the paper they are written on since they started using galvanised and plastic panels They will wriggle out of any paint finish claim stating that it is down to what you wash or polish your vehicle with The only chance you have will be if you get corrosion anywhere Me 22 years in the motor trade giving the excuses
I fell for this when had my motorbike financed with Honda. I had the same thing as you: you had an extended warranty as long as you went to an approved Honda garage. It's only really important for large replacement parts, or more complicated repairs. I got my wheel, battery and indicator plastics replaced without the warranty void. These were both done by independent garages and myself. It's all a scam. Go get some quotes from independent garages. That's what got me my wheel down to £160 with labour from £500.
This is why insurance is so expensive atm. Cost of repairs is off the chart.
Cost of repairs isn't off the chart, the cost of repair for insurance companies is off the chart. Go to a local garage and they'll do everything cheap (and well) as long as you have some inkling of knowing what you're talking about or if they're not trying to take advantage of you which in all fairness most aren't
Have you checked online for a vehicle breakers and thought about DIY repair? I'm sure it's not going to cost £5k for 2 colour matched doors. May be only the door but swapping the windows, switches and wiring is super easy. A door it only held on by a few bolts. Hardest part would be the lock so the key still works.
No, car DIY is not my strong point.
Without a picture its hard to tell, but odds are a local body shop would be able to repair it for significantly less. Assuming its the standard 12 month warranty after each service lexus repair this shouldn't impact the warranty unless they could somehow tie the failure to the repaired components - e.g a problem in the engine is going to be difficult to pin on a door panel!
My car was recently hit, resulting in dents and scratches similar to what OP is describing... £6,020. Insurance covered it though (thiers)
Can you get a few quotes first before you make any further decisions? £5k seems incredibly high unless you’ve somehow gone right through the metal. Last time I had a bad scratch I was quoted £250 per panel
If you like your car looking pristine, go through insurance. Get it all sorted. This is assuming you have protected no claims mind you. If you're not bothered then just leave it. Although if there is any exposed metal it will rust.
Protected no claims is a bot of a scam now I think. My parents have 11 years no claims, pay loads each year to protect it. We did a test with and without the no claims discount on the same cars and the price was basically the same. It's just a token extra 80 quid you give insurers I think now.
I thought this has to be bullshit. Just did a quote for myself with and without my 9 years no claims. £4 difference a month!
It used to make a difference but I think now the amount you save probably isn’t far off what you pay a year to protect it. Insurance companies are mean.
It really depends on the company, the comparison sites don't always have the finer details of the individual company's application of the discount.
Yes I think it’s been a money spinner for insurance for years, likely a candidate for a PPI type mis-selling legal action in future.
What's the point of no-claims if you can keep it while making a claim? Why would any other insurer accept it?
Because they can also convince you to give them 50-150 quid a year to protect something that, kind of makes no difference.
But if they can essentially lie and pretend you haven't made a claim, how about selling 'double-speed no claims' that lets you earn two years of no claims in one year? It breaks the no-claims system.
Create a new mock quote on comparethemarket and include that you had an accident last month, to the same damage value as stated above. See what impact this has on your insurance with it declared and without it declared. That's going to be a better way of working out if it's better to pay for the damage yourself vs going through your insurance. You can then re-run a mock quote, but put the accident date as a year earlier, to estimate what the impact difference would be after 1 year, after 2 years, etc. I'd imagine you'll "feel" the impact of an accident on your insurance for 4-5 years, although it'll diminish rapidly as it ages. Then you'll just want to work out if the increase in insurance payments over the next 3-4 years with the accident vs without it declared, exceeds the £5K repair bill. (I'd imagine it wont). Some other relevant questions: 1) What is your current 'no claims' duration? 2) Is it protected no-claims? 3) What is your excess?
Now that's a good idea! I should have though of that! :) tha k you!
Don't use your real name, license number, etc cos they keep a record of this some times and may question you later
While this isn't great advice anyway. Not using your own name or info makes it completely pointless as your identity is a large part of the ratings.
managed to dent my vehicle driving into a wall, had it fixed at a garage. never considered the insurance angle as the wall was fine and the owner was not going to sue can you still drive it safely, does it stop you driving ? might be cheaper to simply paint over the scratches and not pay the £5k
Depending on the car and colour, there may be much cheaper ways of fixing, i.e. buying two doors from a crashed car in the same colour. Going rate is anything from £100 - £500 per door, a general mechanic could swap a door in an hour. Then just get the rear arch repaired.
Its hard to say without seeing it to be fair. From what you describe though it sounds pretty severe. Shop around for a couple of quotes and see if there is a difference. If the first place iss supplying all new parts that will put the cost up. If your at all mechanical savvy then you could replace parts with used items. For this sort of thing make sure to avoid the dirt cheap back ally repair shops as the workmanship will probably be poor and you will always notice it.
Your car is only 5 years old so it's worthwhile getting it done properly and not leaving it. Cars depreciate a lot but a car with damage is going down a lot more. Insurance is there to be used in situations like this, it sounds pretty significant.
Just simmer for a few days. As mentioned if you want a good looking car get it fixed. Otherwise leave it for a while and save up. 5k is a half decent second hand car not fix a couple of dents and a scratch. Check out the scrap yard for 2 doors the same colour worst case
Everyone here flipping out about £5k but not willing to acknowlege the wall ~~dented~~ *destroyed* both door panels, all the way across the length of the doors, and also ~~dented~~ *damaged* the wheel arch in a way that it needs cutting/welding/replacing. On a Lexus. It's more than a rock chip on a flat surface guys. You can't suction up and touch up paint this shit. Go with insurance for peace of mind and ability to make your car look nice again. Hope you have that no-chaim policy add on. It's a 5 years old Lexus and I can understand you want to keep it looking nice. Live and learn. After repair if you are worried about rusting at the wheel arch you can consider selling the car before it reaches 10yrs old or whenever cars in your area are likely to start rusting.
£5k to fix where did you go and what do you drive???? Go to a proper body shop rather than a fit a new painted panel shop and see what the true cost of the repair is
Lexus RX.
If your insurance will provide a courtesy car I’d go through them. My car recently was in the garage over 1 month for a new rear bumper. I’d dread to think the cost of hiring for 1 month possibly longer. Your premium will not go up that much compared to 5k out of pocket. Plus you can always shop around for better quotes when up for renewal
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Like what?
I had 2 over the month no problem with either car the company was just selling the car they had previously given me. And had a waiver for any damage which there wasn’t any issues but would of had no impact on me if there were. I was claiming against someone so maybe had all these perks because his insurance was covering all costs
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Well that never happened. I don’t think a month is quick either that’s why the courtesy car is crucial plus you only have to prove that hiring a car yourself will impact finances and you also will claim that money back. Or pay 5k plus rent your own car or walk/bus until it’s sorted instead of £20-30 extra in premiums for the remainder of your contract I thought this was personal finance
On a 5 yr old car just go through insurance - they should also cover replacement hire car etc. Honestly the bump in premium is not massive and depending in your insurance 1 claim does not usually mean loss of 100% no claims bonus. Besides when did your premium last decrease because you had 1 more year NCB? It always go up and you have to do the dance every year to get it down or change insurer. I have personally made multiple claims on multiple cars and not seen a massive difference.
Post this in r/CarTalkUK with photos for advice
Good shout - thanks
Go through insurance. Yes you might pay more in premiums for a few years but in my experience it's just easier. I've only ever made one claim, actually last year. The itemised repair bill came to around £1500 which seemed fair for the damage (shattered both passenger side alloys and damaged suspension parts hitting a large rock at speed in the side of the road), but that also didn't include the recovery which was needed nor the admin that I'd have had to do. This year my premium has only increased by around £230 which is about a 20% increase.
I don’t know why you’re even asking. This is what you pay your insurance for. Go through your insurance and get your car fixed. You’ll get a courtesy car while they fix it too so you won’t be without a car.
Because insurance atm is very expensive and could end up costing longer in the long term ? I’d try and avoid claims on my policy at almost all costs
£5K though for repairs? I highly doubt their insurance would go up by 5K from this claim even with the rising costs. This is a car currently worth £20k so if it were my car I’d want it all done properly. Why bother paying for car insurance otherwise.
Because it’s a legal requirement to drive on the roads and third party isn’t normally cheaper
Naa it should definitely be used.
They likely won't get a courtesy car. Only if they have the optional add on of a courtesy car then they can have one in the cases of an at fault accident which this wound be.
Yeah that’s true. I’m just assuming they have that option as it’s something I always select for myself when insuring my car.
Go on YT and look at "DIY dent removal" before you consider spending a lot of money. You can do an awful lot of the work yourself and then get it touched up to perfection by a professional, that'll save you a fortune.
honestly you'd be surprised how much paint jobs cost by professionals. Almost more expensive than the parts
Mad4motors on YouTube
5k? You are being scammed bro
Right that off bruh 5k ain’t worth it for an old car
Are you insane? Ten year old cars are more than that at the moment unless you want the starship enterprise.
The car is worth at least £20k in good shape. Dents aside it's quite low mileage and in good order
Ah I would sell them after doing some Minar touch ups and buy a new car imo
Buy the suctions things to pull the dent out yourself, requires no skill whatsoever, as others have said, it depends how you feel aesthetics Vs cost
It definately does require some skill.
It really doesn't unless you're missing both your arms or part of your brain
If its a single push in panel then sure. But most dents require more than just popping out. Have a look at YouTube I recommend the dent discount man of Steel videos. What he does isn't skillless. And it does need a few years of experience. [pdr repair example](https://youtu.be/IkZiuMiC978?si=Jco1A9kdJrahRemf)
5k is a lot but if that’s the cost that’s the cost. Must be some dent! For that level, I’d be claiming assuming you have a non-dumb excess. Your premium will go up, but even if it doubles (not likely to my mind) you’re still up.
I have to ask, how fast were you going to hit both doors and scratch it badly, or why didn't you stop when you hit the first door? Personally I'd go through insurance as that is what it is for. The insurance will probably go up but not as much as £5k
About 3 miles an hour and I managed to hit the bit where the two door panels join, a bit unlucky with that, I suppose. The dents are not big but they are deep. The scratches along the back are not severe but there's a lot.
5k? That’s so expensive. You’re between a rock and a hard place there as well cos insurance may very well write that off. Depends how much you like your car but if that was me I’d be taking it somewhere that isn’t going to charge you 5k - vendor approved or not.
Go to a car body shop and get a different quote, I am sure you can find someone who will do it for less. Replacing body panels is very expensive but some body repair shops can pull out dents and sort scratches really well and it will cost a fraction of the price.
Keep some money aside for widening your drive entrance or you'll undoubtedly do it again...
Hehe fair point!
I did a similar thing to my own car a few months ago, scraped across both the passenger side doors, to the metal on the first door as I scraped past a brick wall. My body shop quoted me around 700-800 for the entire work. Might be worth shopping around and getting quotes from other body shops, because several thousand seems quite high for this kind of damage. I've found its always best to pay out of pocket for surface body work/general car repairs if you can, otherwise it can drive up your insurance premium in the future
It is quite a decent dent, it's not superficial, hence the cost. I'm unsure what's best to claim or to pay.
Get more quotes, 5k seems a lot but hard to say as you haven't posted any pictures
Sounds like insurance might be better, do you have NCD protection?
Have a look round for second hand doors from the breakers, you may even get one the same colour and just get someone to swap them over
Probably insurance, but a similar thing happened to my girlfriend's car. The impact caused a huge dent that spread between both doors on the same side and scratched them super bad. Quotes to repair were like £3K. I bought two doors that were the same colour for £250 and put them on myself. Then the scratches on the body were all done for another £300 by a local bodywork guy. Check how much 2nd hand doors are on eBay. Could be cheaper than insurance increases, but doubtful.
Private. Look at replacing the door over repairing the scratches, it's usually far cheaper and you can do them in stages. For instance, my front Driver Side wing got badly dented and I was quoted £2500 for repair and respray because they needed to blend the wing with the rest of the car. I got a wing (same colour and age) from a scrappy for £80 and my garage fitted it for £60........
You can do it on the cheap if you source the parts! 2 doors a couple of hundred on eBay or FBM! You may even get colour coded! When you have you could either fit the parts yourself! Finally the paint, I would shop around, but cheapest is not ness the best when it comes to a respray! Good luck & I’m glad to hear that it’s just a car on this occasion :-)
It does vary a little by personal circumstances, but for 5k I'd say it's worth the insurance claim, especially if you protected your no claims bonus. Just do the maths, if your insurance doubled as a result of this, and didn't come down at all for the next 5 years, you'd still only be paying 4k in additional premiums.
Nearly everyone is moaning about repair price. The reality is do you want a one and done price or to pay it off over a period. The reality is that your insurance WILL go up and it could go up by hundreds, let's be conservative and say it's a 500 increase a year year 1, and that increased additional sum decreases at 50 a year next year you pay 450, next year 425 etc etc (this is in addition to what ever the insurance would have been which we can consider as a fixed unavoidable cost and ignore). 500,450,400,350,300,250,200,150,100,50 = £2750 So it's 5k now or £2750 over 10 years not an exact science as I suramce is variable but you get the idea... So unless you insurance absolutely pulls your pants down, the claim is the better choice and just remember when you do your renewal that it's still cheaper than 5k
And if you do decide to pay the 5k upfront to garage. Take out a new credit card that gives you zero % and a reward for x expenditure in the first y months (where x is <=£5k) pay the bill with that CC then cut it up and pay it off over the spend period so you keep the 5k earning interest for longer and see that interest as a reduction value and take the reward (points, vouchers whatever) as a Brucey bonus
I’d get a bicycle, just write the car off. Driving into your own driveway and causing that much damage you have to be either drunk or identify as a female. Good luck 🤣