176 replies to this topic

[TOMVX220]

Feel your pain, did something similar about a year ago. Mine was written off needing a new front clam and crash-box (headlights were intact). 02 plate 35k miles.

Plus side is they are pretty easy to put back on the road if your insurance company will let you buy it back. Mine did, cost me < £2k to put on the road with a repaired clam.

The thing is I dont really fancy having a 'CAT D' etc, as im guessing they can be pretty hard to sell on which doesnt sound very appealing!!! The other issue is, what do I replace it with if I get a full payout?

[TOMVX220]

How much is a new front clam???

[Phear]

I would say 1/2 the VX's out there are Cat D, yes it devalues them a little, but I don't think it really makes them any harder to sell. Plus at the rate they are being smashed they're becoming so rare prices are bottoming out.

[Phear]

How much is a new front clam???

£3500 ish i believe.

[jonnyboy]

Spun doing no more than 30 mph going down a motorway slip road

Are these kind of spins in the wet, not something that could affect any high powered / RWD car ?
As people posting on here sometimes give the impression that the Vx220 is the only type of car that this could happen to

100% correct.

Not obviously commenting on this or any other individual incident but I think theres a combination of factors that gives us our annual "culling season"

Light car gives low grip in poor conditions
Short wheelbase and sharp setup VX lends itself to swapping ends quite easily
VX's dont quite have as much steering lock as I've known some cars making a slide that tiny bit harder to deal with.
Can quite often be peoples first experience of RWD cars
The big one of course is no traction control/ESP to keep you on the black stuff

Same is true of a lot of other cars of course. S2000 forums will probably get busy this time of year as a lot of earlier s2ks didnt have TC. We have a roundabout near work that claims S2K's every winter without fail.

I don't go in for the Diesel on road thing TBH. I've never seen anything like that in 12 years of driving.

[rcvaughan]

Sorry to hear this

[Crazyfrog (Fab)]

*sigh* not at you rsg or yob .............new one for me after

so let's put it this way if it is raining i must live the car and use the peugeot .................... no way i used the peugeot when it dosen't fit in the vx
i love driving this car in the wet and if you follow me with your rx8 i'll buy you champagne

[TOMVX220]

Spun doing no more than 30 mph going down a motorway slip road

Are these kind of spins in the wet, not something that could affect any high powered / RWD car ?
As people posting on here sometimes give the impression that the Vx220 is the only type of car that this could happen to

100% correct.

Not obviously commenting on this or any other individual incident but I think theres a combination of factors that gives us our annual "culling season"

Light car gives low grip in poor conditions
Short wheelbase and sharp setup VX lends itself to swapping ends quite easily
VX's dont quite have as much steering lock as I've known some cars making a slide that tiny bit harder to deal with.
Can quite often be peoples first experience of RWD cars
The big one of course is no traction control/ESP to keep you on the black stuff

Same is true of a lot of other cars of course. S2000 forums will probably get busy this time of year as a lot of earlier s2ks didnt have TC. We have a roundabout near work that claims S2K's every winter without fail.

I don't go in for the Diesel on road thing TBH. I've never seen anything like that in 12 years of driving.

I didnt see the diesel to be honest, but the crash did happen whilst leaving the petrol station at the motorway service station. I was just going off what the AA guy said, he did say that an elderly lady had crashed in the same place last week too. I have a BMW 130i so its not my only RWD car but agreed, traction control makes a big difference.

[rsg]

The big one of course is no traction control/ESP to keep you on the black stuff

I don't go in for the Diesel on road thing TBH. I've never seen anything like that in 12 years of driving.

but not the TC/ESP argument.

In 10 years of driving I've experienced diesel once, but that was following an old development Defender out the gates and round the roundabout at Gaydon. And I went back to have another few laps of the roundabout

Nobody should be relying on ESP/TC to save them in normal road driving conditions, only collision avoidance helping you control the car more.

[TOMVX220]

Am I guessing the insurance company wont be prepared to use a second hand / salvage front clam???

[jonnyboy]

I'll hold you to that m8 I would think the RX is at least as quick as the VX when its raining TBH!

[Sutol]

Sorry to hear this.

This may be of some help Clicky

Selling his clam with little damage.

eta/ btw front lights are closer to £900!!!

Edited by Sutol, 08 December 2009 - 09:03 PM.

[jonnyboy]

Am I guessing the insurance company wont be prepared to use a second hand / salvage front clam???

Doubt it but your best option might be to try and buy it back and repair it yourself. At least you know the extent of the damage and if you photograph it/document the repairs it will reassure a future buyer.

[2.2 NA]

the crash did happen whilst leaving the petrol station at the motorway service station.

Were you pulling out of the petrol staion, accelerating with the wheels turned? (Just trying to figure out how it happened)

[vocky]

Am I guessing the insurance company wont be prepared to use a second hand / salvage front clam???

they most likely will if you ask them

clam and headlights would be approx £3500 + labour + paint, so probably £4500 - £5000 using new parts

60% of market value = cat D, so £6300 for a £10500 car

[peterg]

I didnt see the diesel to be honest, but the crash did happen whilst leaving the petrol station at the motorway service station

ah, then it's quite possible the diesel was actually on your rear tyres from the service station then rather than on the road...

in 37 years of driving and around a million miles I have seen diesel on the road plenty of times, when you ride a motorbike (as I have for well over 20 years as well as cars and trucks) you learn to spot the rainbow effect on the tarmac and can even smell it sometimes it's usually on the exits of petrol stations or on roundabout frequented by buses and lorries (in the past I've often seen fuel sloshing out of filler caps of overfilled lorries)

I've driven lots of front and rear wheel drive cars and occasionally 'have a play' when I can feel the surface is slippery on roundabouts and never yet lost it but then I've done several skidpan courses and trackdays so I know what it feels like and how to deal with it - first skidpan was done in 1973 at Brands Hatch as part of the racing school in a mk1 Escort on bald tyres pumped to 60psi and a course covered in water and diesel that you'd struggle to walk across

Tom, I'm sorry you've pranged the car but as said above, loads of these cars are Cat D and at least you know it so better to get it repaired and keep it than get the money and buy an 'unknown'. Get on a Carlimits day or just find a local skidpan course and learn how to deal with the situation in the future

[Yellow_or_black?]

This place has some of the best advice - and also some of the worst. It really gets my goat when people dish out 'stuff' veiled as knowledeable advice, when they don't have the facts to hand. If it is a guess, or you are surmising, or merely repeating something you have read - then say that. There are people on here whose insurance company have sanctioned the use of second-hand parts - AliM springs to mind straightaway. In her case, her insurance company sanctioned it to prevent her VX being written off (as I recall). Unless one is familiar with the insurance company the OP is using, and the particular terms of his policy - how does anyone know what the likelihood is that they will agree to him using used parts? The guy is clearly stressed enough, so dishing out comments like: definitely a write-off, probably won't be able to use second-hand parts - when we don't know, aren't really helping the chap PS Do Walshy's high-speed bend in the wet (as we did) and you'll soon find out how grippy these cars are; and how most of the time they do exactly what you tell them to - nothing more and nothing less

[techieboy]

I don't go in for the Diesel on road thing TBH. I've never seen anything like that in 12 years of driving.

but not the TC/ESP argument.

In 10 years of driving I've experienced diesel once, but that was following an old development Defender out the gates and round the roundabout at Gaydon. And I went back to have another few laps of the roundabout

Christ, I was almost a casualty last night. Whilst sawing off the bottom of this years Christmas tree, I knocked over a container of paraffin and oil in the garage and got it on the soles of my shoes. That combined with a wet driveway and carrying an 8' tree almost saw me on the bonnet of the Audi.

Whilst the old "blame it on diesel excuse" is overused, it does happen and you really can just be a passenger. They had to close a 10 mile stretch of the M8 (I think) last week or the week before because some truck had been merrily dropping diesel for miles. Likewise, driving back from Fab's yesterday, 2 lanes at the South Mimms roundabout were also coned off due to a recently filled truck pissing it out all over the road.

[TOMVX220]

And.................... if it is a write-off and I buy it back, where would I go about getting it repaired properly???? This is really not the news I wanted. I'd hoped to be honest and felt fairly confident that it would be repairable and not a write - off, the damage looks and seems sp insignificant. So basically, its all due to the cost of these parts................ which is due to availability? The cost of the headlights etc

[Crazyfrog (Fab)]

Christ, I was almost a casualty last night. Whilst sawing off the bottom of this years Christmas tree, I knocked over a container of paraffin and oil in the garage and got it on the soles of my shoes. That combined with a wet driveway and carrying an 8' tree almost saw me on the bonnet of the Audi.

i will be a casualty when i drink the armagnac and trying to go in the spa at 3 am
i can blame the diesiel good techie petrol


i must follow my two simple rule keep the car in the drive when it is raining and don't go anymore over 5500 rmp or i will blame vocky