Extensive hail damage

[nicandlance]

Here you go.

Are they yours???? OMG!
(And I agree... all good clean fun so far, nothing offensive)
God knows I need a laugh right now.....

By the way, is it true there is no provision for laser welding to be done on cars in Australia? If they tell me they have to replace the roof, perhaps I can use that to sway them from any decision not to write it off? After all, I bought the Golf for its safety (amongst other things), and the frame is a major part of that. If they spot welded a new roof on, it just wouldn't be as was.....

[Lima]

Hmm, sorry to hear of your woes. I'd definitely be seeking some advice from Volkswagen as well. Especially in regard to the laser welding.

On a positive note (of sorts) I hit a kangaroo in my then 3-week old MINI back in 2004. I was insured with AAMI and was able to nominate a preferred repairer to quote on the job. This didn't guarantee they would get the job of course, but I was advised I was perfectly within my rights to nominate one repairer to quote.

It was then explained to me by my AAMI contact that they would choose the "best fit" quote. That is, they would assess both pricing and scope of repair and if one repair was deemed to be better than the other then they would most likely take that option, regardless of price.

The upshot of that was my preferred repairer was chosen, and apart from it taking a total of 7 weeks to repair, everything was pretty much spot on when I got the car back.

AAMI was very easy and professional to deal with. YMMV of course, and their policies may have changed since then as well.

I don't insure with AAMI now, mainly because they don't offer windscreen replacement for ACT residents, and with both the GTI (QBE) and S3 (NRMA) having rain sensing wipers I'd rather have glass coverage for that than not.

[Intensive]

It is unlikely the car will be written off. You need to get a quote from a high end prestige panel shop whose aim is to make it almost impossible to detect the car has been repaired. They do exist- for example my wife's car ( another german marque unrelated to VW)- total repair bill > $30000 after the front end was removed by a turning truck. When traded the receiving dealer did not detect it had been involved in such a collision. Simply ask who BMW and mercedes recommend as repairers; however it extremely unlikely that a budget insurers will award them the job. What you can do however is after your car has been repaired take it to high end repair shop and pay them to inspect the car and indicate what rectification works are required. Unfortunately the panel shop that did the work will then have to fix the job to that standard- they are able to do this but they then lose money. The budget insurers are cheap for a reason- they pay the repairers less and therefore you will get the lowest quality repair possible. They get away with because most customers accept this with its "lifetime guarantee"

[nicandlance]

If I could swear on this forum, I would.......

(Although I have heard someone say that their one year old Mazda was written off after hail damage... wonder what the deciding factor was there?)

[cme2c]

Hi, Nic,

Sorry to hear about you car.

A mate of mine is a good smash repairer, in Blacktown. he fixed my Peugeot after I ran into something soft ( a Hyundai) and it drives perfectly, even years later.

He whinges about the cost of equipment to repair modern cars, and about some of his "competitors" that take short cuts, replacing panels when a side of the car should be replaced, repairing things that manufacturers say should not be repaired (very important with high strength steel.) He keeps up to date with courses in the latest techniques.

After the hailstorm,it took 9 months for the backlog of cars to be fixed.When the hailstorm hit here, there was basically a triage system, get the writeoffs written off, then fix those that are off the road or have major damage(like roofs etc), lastly those that have the odd dimple. He brought in a paintless dent specialist, sort of a "storm chaser" who follows hailstorms around NSW.

I urge you to find out, from VW or an authorised repairer, how the car SHOULD be fixed. It's not just the appearance, but your safety that's at stake. Like Maverick's picture......

John

[team_v]

If I could swear on this forum, I would.......

(Although I have heard someone say that their one year old Mazda was written off after hail damage... wonder what the deciding factor was there?)

Hail through the windscreen letting water into the interior could be a cause.

Water damage to the interior adn the electronics would be quite costly and then you have to add on the body work and replacement windscreen.

[cme2c]

before


after

[nicandlance]

I can not seem to take a break....
The windscreen mob just turned up to replace the screen, and ..... oops, bought the wrong one!
Idiots. Anyone hear me screaming?

Maybe I should get a tatts ticket for this Saturday - my luck has to change sometime!!!

[cme2c]

I can not seem to take a break....
The windscreen mob just turned up to replace the screen, and ..... oops, bought the wrong one!
Idiots. Anyone hear me screaming?

I can, and I'm in Sydney!

[pologti18t]

If I could swear on this forum, I would.......

(Although I have heard someone say that their one year old Mazda was written off after hail damage... wonder what the deciding factor was there?)

If it was a $15K Mazda2 then the repair cost may have exceeded the worth of the vehicle

Nic... my Peugeot 306 GTI had the best paint job on it after the hail repairs. It was insured with AAMI.

From the AAMI website for new cars under warranty:
"New genuine parts will be used except for the replacement of windscreens and window glass for which Australian manufactured, Australian Design Rule compliant parts may be used."

[diesel_DSG]

Just like nicandlance my car too got caught in the storm. It has about 20 or so dents surrounding the body with about 6 dents located on the roof. I've got full comp with RACV and am still waiting to hear back from them as their lines have been jammed the past few days, so i've had to lodge a claim via email.

My car is a 118TSI manual with votex body kit, sunroof and fog lights - 3 months old.

Is there any chance it's a write off or would the damage be too minimal???
Rough estimate for repair???

Thanks in advance

HI Rufus,

I work for RACV, and we basically have had more than a months claims lodged since Saturday afternoon - about 16000, with more than 60% of them motor claims. This is FAR worse than the Black Saturday (being in the Metro area, higher density of policy holders)

Without an assessor seeing your car, its virtually impossible to determine whether your car is a total loss or not. Assessment centres are in the process of being set up (the Altona one started taking cars today, the Waverley one will be in tomorrow).

Now given that your car is a new (ish) car, unless the damage is catastrophic, its unlikely that your car will be a TL.. Nanna's 86 beige Corona on the other hand....

We are setting up paintless dent removal sites along with the assessing sites - modern paintless dent removal is pretty impressive, im a picky prick and i'd be happy to have it done to mine (not just saying this because I work for the insurer).. no cars will be bogged up, you can count on that.

Please dont believe all the negative rubbish you may read or hear about insurers, believe that there are 1000's of people dedicated to helping you out and that we are doing our very best to do just that!

Deez.

[Maverick]

Please dont believe all the negative rubbish you may read or hear about insurers, believe that there are 1000's of people dedicated to helping you out and that we are doing our very best to do just that!

Oh come on, are you saying that all the people who have had so many problems with claims with companies like AAMI are making them up?

AAMI use the cheapest repairers and do below standard repairs because most people won't pick it up and when they do the repairer has to carry the cost of repair. And AAMI are not the only one's who do this, NRMA went down this path in NSW with repairers having to quote over the internet by looking at photos of the smashed cars (which was backed out after a while IIRC).

Insurance companies are in business to make money and the best way to keep the prices low and keep profits up is to screw the repairers and ultimately the client. This is why I went to a company that allows me to get my own quotes and choose my own repairer, after having been through the AAMI claims process a number of times and seeing the repairs quality drop with each one I wasn't going to insure the GTI with them.

[diesel_DSG]

Yep, thats the way AAMI roll, you drop your car off at their assessment centre, then use the cheapest repairer, then you pick your car up from the assessment centre - so you never get to see the squalid conditions in which your car was repaired.

Yep, NRMA rolled a similar thing out in NSW a few years ago, then promptly rolled it back in when it was unworkable (and due to the MTA taking them to court about being locked out of the quoting process)

RACV doesnt roll that way at all, but you can believe what you choose to believe about it. IF people feel so strongly against insurers, hey, no one is holding a gun to anyones head to get comprehensive insurance!

Insurance companies are a bit like coppers, everyone hates em till they need em!

Deez

[Maverick]

Yep, thats the way AAMI roll, you drop your car off at their assessment centre, then use the cheapest repairer, then you pick your car up from the assessment centre - so you never get to see the squalid conditions in which your car was repaired.

At least in Queensland you generally pick the car up from the repairers.

RACV doesnt roll that way at all, but you can believe what you choose to believe about it. IF people feel so strongly against insurers, hey, no one is holding a gun to anyones head to get comprehensive insurance!

Insurance companies are a bit like coppers, everyone hates em till they need em!

Settle down, I've never been with RACV and have only commented on my experiences with AAMI that are not isolated. There's no mention of people hating insurance companies but hating certain companies. Just because people might hate Hyundai's doesn't mean they hate all car manufacturers.

[macdoc]

How much water entered the car and where did it get in? Windscreen / side windows etc.

Take a couple of photo's of the broken glass if you can & post them up.

I deal with insurance companies & assessors all the time (repairer), I may have a couple of suggestions for you.