Extensive hail damage

[hoi polloi]

Although I only know you from these forums I feel deeply sorry for you... I remember reading in your posts how excited you were to get the new Golf...

For what it's worth, I know what you're going through - my then 2 y.o. Toyota Corolla copped it in Sydney's 1999 hail storm... The car was insured for $20k and there was $15k damage - the insurance company wouldn't write it off and although there was no glass breakage just about all the panels were replaced (even had a new roof welded on)... Needless to say it was never the same - had it for another year before trading it in...

On the bright side I have had paintess dent repairs done on other vehicles since and that is definitely the way to go if the car is not written off...

Regards,
- Anthony.

[Maverick]

The shine has defiantly been taken off the excitement of getting my new Golf... I feel really flat.
5 panels have been affected.... one month old and it looks like a wreck.
It will never be the same... I don't have a lot of faith in the whole idea of getting repairs done.

I guess AAMI are pretty safe in saying they will replace a new car that has been written off, because the car is worth around $32 thousand and it would have to be pretty bad to cost that much in repairs.

It doesn't have to cost $32,000 in repairs to write the car off. I'm not sure of the formulas they use but it only has to cost a certain percentage to be written off (maybe 80%) taking into account the disposal value.

What they take into account is the cost of repairs, the likely hood of repairs running over that cost and the resale value of the car as it is before repair.

Assuming you have $10,000 worth of damage to your car but the car will fetch $18,000 at auction they will write it off and a panel beater will buy the car, fix it up cheaply and sell it off. If there are many cars affected by hail there will be a backlog of repairs and they will take this into account along with the cars age.

In the case of your damage the roof is where the repair becomes very expensive as this is laser welded down the right and left side of the roof and they may write it off because of this even if the damage is less.

I'm sure they will do just about anything to avoid replacing it...
Hoping for a replacement but not high hopes. Don't think AAMI will really care too much if I'm not happy...

AAMI are a rubbish insurance company, do a search on here for the many problems that people have had. You can also do one on golfmkv.com where a guy crashed his car into a small ditch on the side of the road and damaged mainly the front wheel. The estimate for repair was around $10,000 but the repairer managed to screw up every panel on the car including underneath and the interior. The car spent three months going back and forth before AAMI decided to write the car off as it was going to cost at least $32,000 to repair the damage caused by the original repairer.

I hope that they do replace the car and don't repair it for your sake as you will spend a lot of time going back and forth if you have an eye for detail.

[Mk6 Golf]

Very Sad

My TSI...has been extensively damaged by yesterdays hail storm in Melbourne.

Aaaargh!!! I know I would be very sad if I were in your shoes! I'm very sorry to hear that however, unfortunately, I am unable to help with insurance matters. That said, I am glad you posted this "new car tragedy" story as it's made me re-think my insurance cover as I too have just purchased a new Golf (albeit the 103TDI model).

...I can honestly recommend Volkswagen's branded Allianz insurance. ...3 years new for old. Your choice of repairer and Genuine parts and labour only.

I must admit I had not given my new car's insurance much thought. I will now! Thanks for the tip.

[Mk6 Golf]

VERY very Sad

...I struggled enough to find the money for this one...

I feel your pain. Let us all know if the insurance company does the right thing by you, i.e. give you a new car! I agree with you, even if it's all fixed up, good as new, just knowing it was damaged is enough to spoil the joy.

[mr gee]

Sorryto hear about your ride. I was lucky to be home when the hail came and we never experienced hail that intense in our life. luckily, we only suffered minor damage to our house though my mate up the road at napoleon had all the windows smashed on the one side and leaks in the ceiling. his driveway looked like a tornado went thru

[Christopher]

Nic, sorry to hear about your car. It's a real shame what happened and you're not alone. I've got a fair few friends who's cars have been damaged...

But a quick question, say if the insurance companies writes it off and says it will provide you with a new car, will there be a long wait for the replacement?

[moniker]

This hail was so intense it collapsed part of the roof on Docklands stadium. Even praying to Mother Mary McKillop won't help repair the hail damage in Melbourne yesterday and she has more pulling power in the miracle area than dint busters.

Just making sure, the company is dent busters, not dint busters right??

[pologti18t]

Nic, don't listen to the naysayers regarding AAMI.

My Peugeot 306 GTI was damaged in the 1999 Sydney Hailstorm and was insured with AAMI.

It was at a repairer the next day and fixed in 2 weeks by a very good repairer. The paint work and finish was superb.

[Maverick]

Nic, don't listen to the naysayers regarding AAMI.

My Peugeot 306 GTI was damaged in the 1999 Sydney Hailstorm and was insured with AAMI.

It was at a repairer the next day and fixed in 2 weeks by a very good repairer. The paint work and finish was superb.

Maybe she should make up her own mind, there are hundreds of complaints on here about AAMI and very few positive posts. Go and talk to smash repairers and they will tell you what they think of AAMI. And take a look at the places that do AAMI repairs, you won't find any of the places with good reputations dealing with them.

Their business model is based around lowest quote get's the job, the repairers who are desperate for business go to the AAMI depot, take a quick look at the cars and submit their bids. The company that submits the lowest bid get the work. They than have customers pick up direct at the repairer because they know that most customers wouldn't have a clue and would miss bodgy repairs and it saves them from having to deal with the others who have to sort it out with the repairer.

I've had a number of claims through AAMI over a 7 year period and they were getting progressively worse each time. The last time the manager was making wild claims about it coming from the factory with the rear fixed window (subaru outback) sticking out over 10mm from the body when it was just the build up of adhesive (four times the window came out and the last time they scratched the tint all over).

Occasional you might get an ok repair but there would be few and far between unless you want to explain how the lowest price can afford to do a good job when AAMI screw them throughout the process.

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=13327&highlight=aami

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=3368&highlight=aami&page=2

http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/newforum/upload/showthread.php?t=21385&highlight=aami&page=3

And the example I used earlier.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72420

"It has now been 6-weeks of waiting for my Insurance repairs and I have finally got my baby back. The problem is my baby now looks retarded and wails like a banshee... every single panel is misaligned, covered with imperfections and the metallic elements of the paint aren't matched correctly. As well as this I have a CONSTANT METAL ON METAL GRINDING NOISE which is loud as fark. My passenger side power window doesn't work - parts are yet to arrive. My GTI foot sill insert (passenger side) is also missing. My steering wheel now shakes when doing 100km on smooth tarmac (all details are listed below) "

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78889

Four months of screwing around and they finally write the car off.

"Well its been 4 months since the stack and after numerous conversations with my insurer, my GTI has been written off"

[G-rig]

I agree, AAMI is $H1T, I would never recommend going with them for a slightly cheaper premium. This is based on no choice or repairer and horror stories i've heard.

[Corey_R]

I've personally had a good experience with AAMI BUT I did it with a decent amount of risk. Firstly, knowing how bad the AAMI repairers were, I'd go to them, get a quote. I'd then take it to who I wanted to repair a car (a GIO and Allianz certified place) and had to pay for them to do a quote!. The reason for this is that most repairers also know how bad AAMI are and won't provide a quote for free because they know AAMI's policies.
Thankfully though, on both occasions, after taking the car to the AAMI inspection warehouse and talking to the assessor, I've been able to take the car to the place I wanted, as the bodgy AAMI certified repairers always leave something really important off in order to get the job - so the assessor had to give it to the repairer I wanted due to it being a more complete quote.

As soon as I was old enough for a good insurance company to insure me - I switched away from AAMI.

I was only driving a Toyota back then, but I would NEVER risk a good car like a VW Golf with AAMI though.

My tsi is just over a month old and has been extensively damaged by yesterdays hail storm in Melbourne. Huge hailstones have smashed the windscreen, damaged the bonnet, roof area, passenger door and rear corner panel. Bonnet and roof have sustained the worst with the surface looking like a golfball. Divets every 2-3 cm.
I am comprehensively insured, but am worried it won't be will be deemed a write-off. If it is, AAMI will replace the car for a new one, but the last thing I want is a brand new car with 4 non original panels. I could just cry!!!
Does anyone have any experience in this area and does anyone know whether the insurers are likely to try and repair the car instead of replace???

I think that you may have some chance, as Maverick said, the Golf uses several laser welds. These are really hard and expensive to repair locally if they need to replace panels. So you may be lucky. Cross your fingers

[G-rig]

Should have rolled it at the same time.

[Maverick]

I think that you may have some chance, as Maverick said, the Golf uses several laser welds. These are really hard and expensive to repair locally if they need to replace panels. So you may be lucky. Cross your fingers

I'm picturing some dodgy backyard repairer sitting on the roof arc welding the new piece in now with the cars battery connected so he can listed to music

Should have rolled it at the same time.

Bit hard to do when the car is stationary

[pologti18t]

Maybe she should make up her own mind, there are hundreds of complaints on here about AAMI and very few positive posts. Go and talk to smash repairers and they will tell you what they think of AAMI. And take a look at the places that do AAMI repairs, you won't find any of the places with good reputations dealing with them.

Exactly how is your comment helpful as she IS insured with AAMI and she needs to get her car fixed...

[Maverick]

Exactly how is your comment helpful as she IS insured with AAMI and she needs to get her car fixed...

That's right but she is now aware that AAMI's repair are not to scratch so should pay extra attention to the repair process, the repairer and the finished product if AAMI should go down the repair path.

Forewarned is forearmed and all that.

On the other hand I could just ignore it or lie and say that AAMI are a great repairer but that goes against the purpose of the forum doesn't it?