Car Collision prior to part exchange

[Kieranm9091]

Hi All,

I have a new Corolla on order, it is due April although specifics to be confirmed yet. Yesterday evening a drunken driver collided with a parked car which in turn hit my car on the way forward. Everything so far has been dealt with the insurance and all is sorted there with the driver at fault getting the claim on their insurance. The car is drivable and and the damage is to the rear bumper (Rear crash bar slightly damaged alongside protruding through bumper) and tail light passenger side.

The garage for the insurance company has said the repair can be done at the end of April, however with a mid-April estimated delivery, this is not ideal as my car was the part exchange. Has anyone had experience with this kind of scenario prior to delivery? Or know of the next steps?

The estimate could very well change, although so far since early Jan I have heard nothing so far so I am regarding that as it's current delivery.

[oldcodger]

Suggest you speak to the insurance company explaining the problem and ask if they have any other Approved garages in your area,  would think there would be a few in a large area like Merseyside.   Even if there are and they also cannot do the work in your timescale, ask about  using a garage of your choice who can do the work in time, though if possible , that will involve various caveats from the insurer.

[Bernard Foy]

That was very unlucky for you and I’m sure that they will re-evaluate the trade in terms when informed. In the meantime Old Codger, has made a useful suggestion.

[Kieranm9091]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:00 PM, oldcodger said:

Suggest you speak to the insurance company explaining the problem and ask if they have any other Approved garages in your area,  would think there would be a few in a large area like Merseyside.   Even if there are and they also cannot do the work in your timescale, ask about  using a garage of your choice who can do the work in time, though if possible , that will involve various caveats from the insurer.

I think the main caveats are that if using my own garage, it's £200 excess and I do not receive the courtesy car paid for in the policy. Looking at the approved repairers I can find, the nearest one afterwards is around a 1hr 30min drive. The current is 25min drive from my home.

I have read somewhere, someone had a similar occurrence with one of their customers went through the head office and the customer's insurance to make the deal that the work is done even if the change of ownership happened. Enabling the part exchange at the original value and the dealer was still able to put the car on the forecourt, no cost to them except waiting a little longer. I don't know what dealer/make/franchise that was, not sure if that's happened to anyone else or Toyota could do something like that, will have to contact them tomorrow.

[Parts-King]

Body shops are currently rammed with work and getting an appointment at an insurance approved body shop will be tough. There may also be a delay in parts due to the current climate in logistics. Speak to the insurance company 

[Kieranm9091]

On 3/17/2022 at 5:22 PM, Parts-King said:

Body shops are currently rammed with work and getting an appointment at an insurance approved body shop will be tough. There may also be a delay in parts due to the current climate in logistics. Speak to the insurance company 

Just called the insurance, they said the same thing about the body shops being rammed because of the storm and covid causing issues. The garage they gave me is the only one that they have near me and said that others will be the same. She mentioned to contact my Toyota, discuss with them and they can potentially contact my insurance with my permission to see what can be done. I guess that's a job for tomorrow, will have to pop in and see them.

They did mention using my own garage but with the caveats stated earlier. To me that's the last resort if I get some solid info on the April estimate.

Just my luck for this to happen, lucky it's roadworthy unlike the other innocent car involved. 😐I guess this would not be the first time the dealer would have had this happen, but wouldn't be a common thing.

[Mojo1010]

Sorry to hear this.

Firstly it's not a write off so u dont have to tell the Toyota dealership anything. 

If your new car is on time for mid April, tell them u want to delay pick up until may? 

[Kieranm9091]

24 minutes ago, Mojo1010 said:

Sorry to hear this.

Firstly it's not a write off so u dont have to tell the Toyota dealership anything. 

If your new car is on time for mid April, tell them u want to delay pick up until may? 

Do you think I should wait for the build to start before contacting them to say pick-up is to be delayed? Not sure when is a good time to say April wouldn't be ideal.

[bigblock]

I wouldn't hide the fact that your car has had accident damage repaired when you exchange it for your new Corolla at your dealership. Toyota always ask if your car has been involve in an accident when buying a new or secondhand vehicle anyway. I asked a Toyota salesman if it makes a difference if a trade in has had repair work. His reply was that if the repair was done professionally it wouldn't go against you. Lets hope in this case that your new Corolla will arrive later than expected.

[Cyker]

Depending on the age of the car they usually don't care as they send them off for auction half the time anyway, so if it starts to get awkward might be worth getting the insurance and dealer to sort it out between themselves.

Sucks if this was your Yaris T-Sport - They seem to be having a small revival in popularity lately!

 

[Kieranm9091]

Thanks for the help everyone, I went to my Toyota to speak to them regarding my order and the exchange. I was told the estimate currently is first/second week May which works out for the repair to happen on the 25th April. He said that the repair has to happen and that if the car arrives early, they will hold it till the repair is sorted.

Hopefully the timing works out alright, the car is now deemed non road worthy, so potentially the repair could be done sooner depending on demand with non road worthy cars at the local insurance garage.

[Guest]

22 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

Sorry to hear this.

Firstly it's not a write off so u dont have to tell the Toyota dealership anything. 

If your new car is on time for mid April, tell them u want to delay pick up until may? 

+1 to this. I'd not give the dealer any excuse to talk you down on part exchange value.

I've seen people buy 'approved used' cars from dealer franchises which they claim (on paper) had never been damaged or repaired but clearly were, and then the garage just said 'we can only go by the background check services'...

[2badmice]

On 3/17/2022 at 4:49 PM, Kieranm9091 said:

Hi All,

I have a new Corolla on order, it is due April although specifics to be confirmed yet. Yesterday evening a drunken driver collided with a parked car which in turn hit my car on the way forward. Everything so far has been dealt with the insurance and all is sorted there with the driver at fault getting the claim on their insurance. The car is drivable and and the damage is to the rear bumper (Rear crash bar slightly damaged alongside protruding through bumper) and tail light passenger side.

The garage for the insurance company has said the repair can be done at the end of April, however with a mid-April estimated delivery, this is not ideal as my car was the part exchange. Has anyone had experience with this kind of scenario prior to delivery? Or know of the next steps?

The estimate could very well change, although so far since early Jan I have heard nothing so far so I am regarding that as it's current delivery.

I work in car repairs and you're very lucky to get the end of April indeed.  

Reading by your replies it looks like you've found the most obvious in that there will be a delay in you getting your new car.  

We have a strong relationship with the dealers on our estate that if a customer is trading in their damaged car, they leave it with us and the dealer to sort out the handover and the customer has walked away with their new car.

We just needed the customer to head back for a signature when completed.

Everyone was happy.

[Kieranm9091]

On 3/20/2022 at 3:35 PM, 2badmice said:

I work in car repairs and you're very lucky to get the end of April indeed.  

Reading by your replies it looks like you've found the most obvious in that there will be a delay in you getting your new car.  

We have a strong relationship with the dealers on our estate that if a customer is trading in their damaged car, they leave it with us and the dealer to sort out the handover and the customer has walked away with their new car.

We just needed the customer to head back for a signature when completed.

Everyone was happy.

The insurance did say that because of the storms, the repairers are extremely busy. I think just waiting the time and having the insurance do the repair, the dealer are happy as they know it’s being sorted.

I am not sure on other peoples experience with having repairs prior to part ex, mine just said it will not be a problem and is something they have had before.

[Roy124]

Nightmare.  You need to be put back in the sane position as you were before the crash.  Ordinarily that is an acceptable repair.  

On this case it is to restore the value of your part exchange deal. Let us suppose the crash repair drops the exchange value by £1000 then the insurance should factor that in too. 

[2badmice]

On 3/20/2022 at 6:35 PM, Kieranm9091 said:

The insurance did say that because of the storms, the repairers are extremely busy. I think just waiting the time and having the insurance do the repair, the dealer are happy as they know it’s being sorted.

 

I am not sure on other peoples experience with having repairs prior to part ex, mine just said it will not be a problem and is something they have had before.

It's just crazy at the moment, Covid saw a load of Bodyshops go under right at the beginning and some others since.  Along with Brexit, loss of drivers, reduction in silicone being manufactured for car manufacturers, plus the storms, has had a huge impact in the industry.

 

Good luck!

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 3/20/2022 at 7:51 PM, Roy124 said:

On this case it is to restore the value of your part exchange deal. Let us suppose the crash repair drops the exchange value by £1000 then the insurance should factor that in too. 

In reality the insurer will repair the car to the same physical  standard as it was before the accident, and that is where their responsibility ends.

[Roy124]

The repair certainly but you still need to be put in the same condition as before the claim.  If you have an injury then you get compensation.  If you experience a loss because of a change of circumstances you should again be compensated.  

The phrase is loss adjustment and if you don't ask...... 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Insurance policies specifically cover compensation for injury, etc. They don't provide cover for loss of value.

At the end of the day, all the dealer will be bothered about is whether the car has been repaired, not written off, and put in a similar state to when the part exchange was agreed, bearing in mind the lengthy wait times when ordering new cars.

If they're not happy about reselling the car, it will be sold on or go to auction.

[Kieranm9091]

4 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Insurance policies specifically cover compensation for injury, etc. They don't provide cover for loss of value.

At the end of the day, all the dealer will be bothered about is whether the car has been repaired, not written off, and put in a similar state to when the part exchange was agreed, bearing in mind the lengthy wait times when ordering new cars.

If they're not happy about reselling the car, it will be sold on or go to auction.

Exactly this, my garage said that providing its fixed, they will hold the new car until it is and go or everything as it was before. They are happy it’s done through the insurance and Toyota approved repairers etc.

The car is in fact done, I told the insurance that I was not happy driving the car as if the bumper came off on one of my motorway trips to work, I would be liable. So I demanded the car be made ‘non road worthy’ and given a courtesy car. Low and behold, a week after the incident, it’s been repaired and pretty well done too.

if I had not said anything, kept driving it in the fairly dodgy condition it was (which I have seen many people drive theirs in waiting for repairs) it would have waited till the 25th April which was not ideal. So out of this, I’m happy, Toyota are happy and the insurance are happy to rid of me from their phone lines