Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Sad times indeed.....

This morning on my way to work I had a bit of an accident, pulled out onto one of the fast moving roads near me the A338 and as I pulled out onto the roundabout a motorbike appeared from no where and slammed into the side of my pride and joy..

It has been reported to the insurance company already and will be collected on Thursday 8th January for assesment but been told 99% it will be a write off and as I pulled onto the roundabout the claim is being made against me so awaiting word on what they will do and whether they will sell me back the car to repair.

She needs:

new o/s front wing
new drivers door and glass
new o/s rear passenger door
Some o/s suspension investigation as think something is properly bent or broken underneath

Heres some pics of the damage..











So fkn annoyed as didn't see a bike on the roundabout and reckon he was speeding with the level of damage done but Police have advised I maybe prosecuted for driving without due care and attention as closed a main road into Bournemouth for 45 mins this morning.

Proper gutted for you mate... Though it definitely is repairable, but again, with all the legal crap, that's what makes the cost go up.. At least you and the other party are ok, that's the main thing. Keep us posted with news mate, hopefully it'll work out ok.

Yeah cheers mate...

Car is repairable but depends on insurers now and what they do next tbh, more concerned about what the police do as if I get done for driving without due care and attention I'll loose my job as company won't insure me on works van etc..

Having a sh*t start to 2015!!!

Well you can only look ahead at the end of the day and hope for the best.

So sorry to hear this. Hope you and the biker are ok.

The car will 100% be written off, they should offer it back to you.

One bit of advice i would say is if you still have the car in your possesion then keep it, tell them they are not taking it anywhere for inspection.

TurboDan wrote:So sorry to hear this. Hope you and the biker are ok.

The car will 100% be written off, they should offer it back to you.

One bit of advice i would say is if you still have the car in your possesion then keep it, tell them they are not taking it anywhere for inspection.

I had the same with the police when I had a blow out in my Passat estate I had a choice go into a canal or central reservation and I chose the central reservation and took out a 40 mph sign.
I didn't hit anyone or hit another car and police said I mite be done for driving without due care and attention but because the Passat had had an mot 5 days be for I wrote it off they couldn't say it was down to a vehicle defect.
I took pictures of where the car was and the road condition and pictures of the tread on tyres with a rule in the tread to show they were at legal depth my advice is get anything fixed that maybe a mot fail I know this sounds daft but they cant prove you had the work done be for or after.
You need to get pictures in another car the angle at which you were and show it was a tight angle and he came out of your blind spot always say you were doing the speed limit and the police will just fudge off ive not hear'd anything back from police but recived my bill for the 40mph sign over a grand.

joe cavalier sri wrote:

TurboDan wrote:So sorry to hear this. Hope you and the biker are ok.

The car will 100% be written off, they should offer it back to you.

One bit of advice i would say is if you still have the car in your possesion then keep it, tell them they are not taking it anywhere for inspection.

I had the same with the police when I had a blow out in my Passat estate I had a choice go into a canal or central reservation and I chose the central reservation and took out a 40 mph sign.
I didn't hit anyone or hit another car and police said I mite be done for driving without due care and attention but because the Passat had had an mot 5 days be for I wrote it off they couldn't say it was down to a vehicle defect.
I took pictures of where the car was and the road condition and pictures of the tread on tyres with a rule in the tread to show they were at legal depth my advice is get anything fixed that maybe a mot fail I know this sounds daft but they cant prove you had the work done be for or after.
You need to get pictures in another car the angle at which you were and show it was a tight angle and he came out of your blind spot always say you were doing the speed limit and the police will just effing off ive not hear'd anything back from police but recived my bill for the 40mph sign over a grand.

Also you have to say the bicker was speeding it sounds harsh but you have to protect yourself .

Cheers Dan & Joe,

Cav was only mot'd a month ago and as for proving the biker was speeding is nearly impossible as I didn't even see him until he hit the car and that's now a memory black spot.

On my side is my driving record and the fact I drive anything up to 500 miles a week with my job which shows as I have not had any accidents in 10yrs until today, wondering if the police are throwing this term around to try and scare people in to pushing for convictions.

I know their assessor personally who does their safe driving courses as he uses one of my sites for driving lessons etc so going to have a chat with him, as for insurers the car has been booked to go in for assessment so I get a hire car as I need transport 24/7 with my job as a regional supervisor / engineer I can be called to site emergencies at any time of day or night and we only have one works vehicle in my area which is a pool vehicle.

Hoping once paperwork done I can get the car back and repair it but we'll see as if the offer is any good I may just cut my losses and find something else to play with

Sorry to hear this ,hope all goes well for you.

From my past experience you'll probably start getting snippets of memory during the next week or two to fill in the gaps, especially when you finally get to sleep

Ok, so 2 phone calls so far with my insurer and one valuation which I told them to go away and rethink as the car is worth much more and all modifications were declared to them...

Now just playing the waiting game on their reply and in the meantime I have been told the vehicle has been rated as a Cat C write off meaning I can repair it if I choose to do so which fingers crossed I will be soon as I can get it back from my insurer who has it locked away miles from where I live but left me with a hire car which I needed all be it a 1.2 Fiesta..

Quick question

As there is no engineers report available I need some infor as the drivers wheel camber was out after the accident with the top of the wheel being in further than normal and the bottom out, apart from a buckled alloy wheel what else would cause this and what parts will I need to sort it out??

All the help truely appreciated guys so thanks

Good luck with this Mike, it's sounding better than it did. If you do decide to get the car back on the road and the drivers door is too far gone I've got a nautilus blue door from a gls here in good condition, everything but the door harness, was planning to keep it but you could have it for £20 if you could get it down to where you are

Metallicav wrote:Good luck with this Mike, it's sounding better than it did. If you do decide to get the car back on the road and the drivers door is too far gone I've got a nautilus blue door from a gls here in good condition, everything but the door harness, was planning to keep it but you could have it for £20 if you could get it down to where you are

Cheers mate

Just waiting on insurance company to run the numbers now so hopefully she'll be back on the road in a week or two, spoken to a local breaker and he has one the same colour at the yard currently so depends on how long the insurers take as to whether he'll keep it for me.

Fingers crossed so far

I've seen a few with excessive negative camber following a bump Mike, usually caused by the tube section of the strut assembly having kinked. Simple enough fix with a doner suspension leg.

Yes - I would have considered a bent suspension leg.
I would also give the wishbone a look over.

Nothing too serious... just swapping out old bent parts and fitting straight bits.

Cheers chaps mucho appreciated

Ding ding seconds out for the final round....

Mike wins by arguing and generally being a pain in my car insurances arse refusing their valuations!!

It worked though so payment of nearly £900 minus the excess, 1 months insurance and buy back of £68.50 from the breaker who has it in their yard currently so just under £300 to repair the car but has been valued at Cat C so will require another Mot and Vic check in due course which is nearly a £100 for those 2 alone!!

Just shows the insurance companies are there to make money for themselves as they valued it from Glasses guide at £505 but then apparently checked another guide that gave the near £900 figure, strange how they almost doubled their valuation after I threatened to contact the ombudsman..lol..

So should have the Cav back next week and will be stored securely for a week or so while repairs are undertaken on her, hope to be back on the road properly by end of the month!!

Can't wait until you get it back on the road, they've messed you about enough!

Good to hear that your cav lives on Mike, sounds like you have been properly messed about by your insurance company. They had no reason to take your car away, the assessor could have come to your house - hope that you checked it when it came back if it had been sitting in a breakers! Some insurance companies like to take the piss and show their authority but the bottom line is that you are now sorted and can get back to enjoying your car!

vauxhallnutter wrote:Good to hear that your cav lives on Mike, sounds like you have been properly messed about by your insurance company. They had no reason to take your car away, the assessor could have come to your house - hope that you checked it when it came back if it had been sitting in a breakers! Some insurance companies like to take the piss and show their authority but the bottom line is that you are now sorted and can get back to enjoying your car!

Cheers mate

Still awaiting its return but if I don't get the call tomorrow I shall be rattling someones cage again, will also be checking it top to bottom to make sure nothing missing although I did strip a few bits prior to them getting hold of it!!