Oops :d

[robadob]

Managed to crash my Celica

Still waiting for the insurance people to take a look at it, so in the mean time, take a look at some pics and see if you can guess how much it will cost to fix (or if it's a write-off).

Rest of the pics are here:

Crash Pics

Small = 1024x768 for ppl on slower connections

Large = 2560xsomething

Fortunately I walked away from this with only minor whiplash

[GiJoe90]

Glad to hear you're ok. I'd say it's a write off, looks like a lot of work to fix that!

Joe

[Big_Sid]

Dude!!! How the hell did that happen???

Glad you're ok. Maybe it's not a write off. New front and rear bumpers, bonnet some work on the rear offside quarter panel and a new rear offside wishbone & stub axle etc.

Still gonna be expensive, but don't think they could really justify writing it off.

Let us know how you get on.

[dawesy]

should be repairable. from looking at the pics, the damage is looks worse than it is. body damage is fairly limited some mild suspension damage (mainly the strut) has the side airbag deployed?

keep us informed. glad to here you got away with minor injuries hope your well again soon

[GT4 BOOSTER]

looks like a classic jam sandwich you had there mate.i dont think it will be a write off , its mainly cosmetics.

[Tom.B]

looks 50:50 ..depends on insurance company. It looks worse than what it is (im guessing) but any rear nowadays they just write it off. Glad you are ok though matey thats the main thing

[daktari]

Ouch. Glad it wasn`t any worse for you matey. From the looks of the pic, the actual Shell looks straight. As previously mentioned mainly cosmetic and suspension. Provided it doesn`t need jigging i`d say they`ll probably repair it.

What sort of speeds were involved?

[martint]

like everyone else is saying, hopefully looks worse than it is! how did it happen? :!Removed!:

[gordypix]

Ah man, sorry to hear and see this. Glad you Ok though - Keep us updated on the progress please.

[Moffmo]

ouch :(

Hope the insurance claim is a quick and easy one for you matey

[robadob]

Well, basically I think I took a left corner too fast for the conditions (the road was that dodgy 'just rained and brought up all the oil' condition) - although having been back past the site where it happened with a few people I'm beginning to wonder if I didn't have a flat back tyre or something !Removed! like that.

I came round the corner and after I'd come out of it the back end slipped out from behind me. I tried to control it but it was fish tailing and I went across the other side of the road, 2 wheels on mud (nice for trying to stop) and then there was a parked car in the way, so I had to swing it back out to the left which took me back across the road and into a tree/ditch. When I hit the tree it was an almost square on impact but alot of the force was turned into rotational as i basically endo'd and pivoted round the tree.

None of the airbags deployed and the windscreen was intact.

The damage to the rear of the car was caused when I clipped a fence when I was sliding along the mud. The damage to the front was from the tree impact. And the damage to the rear wheel was from the car landing sideways with 90% of the weight on that wheel.

I should hear from the insurance people tomorrow. Bet they love me; I only joined with them about 10 days ago ;)

Will keep you posted on what happens...

[daktari]

Well good luck anyway.

[robadob]

The crash was last Thursday morning - picked up my courtesy car Saturday morning and I've got it for 14 days.

They tried to palm me off with a Fiat Cinquecento piece of s***. They said I could upgrade to a Focus for £5 a day (to which I said "err, no thx") and they came back to me and said that they had a lot of Focus' lying about so they would do me a deal for £3.50 a day. I thought about it for a bit and decided that it would be worth the £50 for two weeks. When I got there they had actually run out of Focus sized cars (don't ask how or why) so they had to upgrade me again, but for free :D

So I've got a brand new Vauxhall Vectra SRi which isn't that bad. Not quite the performance or handling of the Celica ;) but a tad better than a Cinquecento...

[robadob]

Oh and in terms of speeds initial speed around 70mph and final impact estimated at 30mph ish...

The road used to be a national speed limit and I've driven it every day for a year (on my way to work) and taken that corner faster with no hassle (which is why I'm starting to think it might have been something to do with the rear tyres)

[itsared1]

Sorry to hear about your car mate looks quite bad, glad to hear you are ok though.

I think that the car will be written off, due to past dealings with insurance companies I have learnt a few things. Panel damage, although you know for a fact that it will just pull out (if a minor dent) or if it is a major you get the part second hand really cheap the insurance company does not see it like that, they will replace the whole panel. From the parts I can see look like front bumper, rear quarter back bumper bonnet hopefully that will be it panel wise if the boot is damaged as well then they will replace the whole lot, realistically you are looking at replacing half a car.

If the chassis is twisted then it will be written off Insurance companies do not use Jigs. From what I remember if the chassis is twisted then you can't even buy the car back, something to do with the "cut and Shut" culture.

I do hope that I am wrong and they say they will repair the car it look(ed) sweet .

If not remember that you life is far more important and you still have it so make the most of it............buy another Celica,

[Spuffington]

(which is why I'm starting to think it might have been something to do with the rear tyres)

←

.....or might just have been going too fast!! ;)

But whatever, good to see you came out ok and that the Celica kept you safe. Like itsared1 said - if it is a write-off, then at least you're ok and the insurance money will stump up for another.

[robadob]

Well, heard from the garage it's at this morning.

They have costimated:

£8000 body work

£4000+ engine work

and the chassis is "badly twisted".

So they are going to recommend a "no-repair" to the insurance company when they take a look at it "some time later this week".

I'll be yoinking the satnav out of it, so if anyone wants a Toyota satnav system for cheapness gimme a PM!

[DefiantFrog]

Sorry to see that :( , but glad your ok... :)

Not interested in SatNav, but wouldn't mind the seats! Chances of a cheeky swop, I think, would be slim...

[Spuffington]

Satnav is the b*ll*x - didn't pay for it as it was already on (ex-demo) car, but would go for it every time now.

Just a bit strange when it tries to pronouce French place names though, as I found out last week!!

[robadob]

Yeh mine was on the car when I got it (sunroof too :D).

The insurance people were skittish enough about letting me take the satnav out so I don't think they'd be too happy if the seats went missing - it's not like you'd not notice ;) I only convinced them to let me take the satnav because it wasn't officially declared on the policy/schedule - unfortunately neither was the sunroof but they won't let me take that LOL

So, now I have to wait for the engineer's report to filter through their systems and then they are going to get back to me with an offer. I'm not taking anything less than £13k and gonna try to push them for £14k or so. I'll keep posted as to what happens.

[CraigR]

Sorry to hear about your accident, and I'm glad your ok.

Try and find out which scrappy its going to if its a write off

[robadob]

Rar!

Finally got an offer from the insurance company valuator...

The car has been declared a total loss and I was offered £14,000, to which I accepted. I was expecting between £13,000 and £14,000 so I'm happy with that offer.

I asked the guy if he knew where the car was to be taken now that it's "scrap" and he said that it would probably be a company called Silverlake (or Silver Lake) based in Southampton. So if any of you are after the parts (the whole interior was in perfect nick) then try to get hold of Silverlake next week and ask about a Blue Celica TSport that has come in from Nationwide Car Repair Center in Wokingham and you might get lucky.

Unfortunately I've been tempted away from the world of Mr T by a loverly mint condition Ford Focus RS Turbo (yes, I know it's a ford :!Removed!: but it's like s**t of a heated shovel). Sorry everyone! It was fun while it lasted ;)

[Spuffington]

How much did you buy the T-Sport for? When, etc? Did you loose much money on it?

Can't blame you for the FRS - I had a Fiesta Zetec-S and despite the problems with longevity etc. I loved it and was after a Focus RS until I fell in love with the T-Sport. Good luck with it.......hope you don't have any more accidents.

Take care

[robadob]

I paid £16,500 for the TSport back on August 31st 2004, so it's "depreciated" £2500 in just about 9 months. But then I've got the satnav box out of it to sell so you can knock a couple of £100 (hopefully) off the depreciation.

I've taken out GAP insurance on the FRS - opted not to on the TS (regretting it now!) - so should the worst happen I won't lose anything other than my pride!

Just looking for a dump valve for the FRS now ... ;)

[robadob]

Oh yeh, I just remembered something the insurance guy said...

I asked him about the twisted chassis and how that would surely make it a write-off and he said that actually they could and WOULD put it on a jigger to bend it back. Which is not what I've heard from people - so there you go :) I guess it must just vary from insurance company to insurance company.