Brand new GTI - Rear ended today

[Corey_R]

No - you definitely do not go through AAMI to get your car fixed. You go through QBE - otherwise, EVERYONE would just go with the crappiest insurer. QBE will recoup the cost from AAMI afterwards.

[ConR]

No - you definitely do not go through AAMI to get your car fixed. You go through QBE - otherwise, EVERYONE would just go with the crappiest insurer. QBE will recoup the cost from AAMI afterwards.

very true....thanks for all the info everyone! makes me feel ALOT better than I did 5 hours ago...haha

[Bora Sport]

Bad luck for sure however. Back in around 1976 my mate was continually rubbing it in to me at the time that he would be getting one of the first new Golfs sold in Queensland. He finally picked it up on the Friday afternoon. He was out in it with his girlfriend for its first real drive the folowing Sunday ie 2 days later. He was cruising along at about 70kph when an idiot in an EH Holden turned across in front of him without warning. The guy claimed that the sun was in his eyes and he didn't see my mate coming.

Result was that my mate and his girlfriend spent about a week in hospital and a few weeks off work and he gained the reputation for being the owner of the first Golf ever written off in Queensland (and probably Australia).

[ConR]

Damn man. Reading all of this, I feel really lucky that it wasn't worse than what it seems to be: some damage to a piece of plastic.

Mate of mine last year, bought a loaded 2009 Volvo XC60. Two weeks into, got rear ended by some young girl that didn't even have a license. Got hit HARD too...she was going 50km/h. Even Volvo's aren't that strong. Long story short, took over 3 months to get his car back on the road, as no repairer was stocking any parts for his Volvo...all had to be ordered from Sweden...and they assessed the damage to be $5k less than his cars' original value...so they wouldn't replace it with a new one for him. He's basically driving a rebuilt Volvo now.

[pologti18t]

and they assessed the damage to be $5k less than his cars' original value...so they wouldn't replace it with a new one for him. He's basically driving a rebuilt Volvo now.

They write the car off at a far lower % of the replacement cost than that....
For someone who works for QBE shouldn't you be asking your own company how things work?

[ConR]

They write the car off at a far lower % of the replacement cost than that....
For someone who works for QBE shouldn't you be asking your own company how things work?

I work in IT for QBE. I have called them already. No claims officers around on Saturday to ask any questions.

[goodfella]

The dude is insured with AAMI too, which worries me, as they don't let you choose your repairer.

hmm...thanks for that info...but wondering, I'm not insured with AAMI...I'm with QBE (I also work for them). .

My bad for assuming you were both with AAMI

[STV4SYT]

I had to do a rear bumper on my mk5 last year.

Didnt put it thru the insurance as the cost was around the same as my excess.

Chances are the P plater will have an excess for $1000 or even more.

It shouldn't cost more than $1000 to get a new bumper painted and have the reverse sensors re-fitted.

I personally wouldnt bother going thru the insurance for it, just get a quote from someone reputable.

On the other hand you could probably get the bumper filled and repainted (as long as it isn't cracked) for $350 - $400) easily.

I found the paint match was better after it was painted too as it was matched to the paint on the car whereas in the factory the cars and bumpers are not necessarily painted at the same time, so slight variations in batches of paint can happen.

[ConR]

Thanks for the info! I'm not at fault, so I figured I would go through my insurance. Saves me from running around. Just need to go get a quote hopefully.

Maybe I can get the panel beater to take a look at the creak coming from my b pillar too!!

[AznGti]

That's really unlucky, only 300 kms on the clock. Only a few weeks ago, i had a p plater reverse into me = =. Got a quote, about $1900 to get a new front bumper. Currently still waiting on the parts to come in.

p platers these days.

[ConR]

That's really unlucky, only 300 kms on the clock. Only a few weeks ago, i had a p plater reverse into me = =. Got a quote, about $1900 to get a new front bumper. Currently still waiting on the parts to come in.

p platers these days.

Agreed. I wasn't so clumsy when I was on my P's (or L's as they were called in Canada). Never had an accident once. In fact, this is my first fender bender ever.

Oh man, three weeks ago, and still waiting for the parts? Sigh, that worries me now.

[Maverick]

I had to do a rear bumper on my mk5 last year.

Didnt put it thru the insurance as the cost was around the same as my excess.

Chances are the P plater will have an excess for $1000 or even more.

So? He can choose to deal with the insurance company direct if her prefers and keep his insurance company out of it. The choice is his when the letter of demand arrives from the insurance company.

It shouldn't cost more than $1000 to get a new bumper painted and have the reverse sensors re-fitted.

I personally wouldnt bother going thru the insurance for it, just get a quote from someone reputable.

And if it does end up costing more or there is more damage? Or the colour doesn't match? Or the sensors stop working? The insurance company means he has one place to go to resolve problems not deal with a deadbeat directly.

On the other hand you could probably get the bumper filled and repainted (as long as it isn't cracked) for $350 - $400) easily.

Why would you want to do that? It won't look the same and the bogged up area could fall out later on.

Screw the P plater, he should learn to watch where he's going. Next time it might be a pedestrian he hits because he's too busy facebooking or texting.

I found the paint match was better after it was painted too as it was matched to the paint on the car whereas in the factory the cars and bumpers are not necessarily painted at the same time, so slight variations in batches of paint can happen.

There is no way that paint that is manually sprayed and mixed is going to be anywhere near the quality of the factory paint which is painted in a multi million dollar spray booth (tens of millions IIRC) by a robot that sprays them all day with the exact same paint used on the car and with consistent quality.

[ConR]

Ya, I agree. If I was at fault I would prolly fix it myself. But since it's not my fault, I would rather have my insurance company sort it all out. Will have enough headaches as it is bringing it to the repairers, and being without the car for at least 3 or 4 days.

Regardless, I wanted to tell my insurer about it to be safe. I also didn't want to deal with his insurer directly, as I don't like AAMI's policy of not being able to choose your repairer. QBE certainly does, and I'm sure in this case they won't care, as they will flick the bill over to AAMI to pay.

I'm regretting not accepting the guy's offer of letting his mate fix it though =). There needs to be a better emoticon for sarcasm

[Troy Boy]

From my experience, if I were you, I would go through my insurance company - choose your preferred repairer, and your insurance company will send the invoice to the "at fault" drivers insurance company. His/her insurance company then provides the options to their client (not your problem).

I would recommend a repairer that you are comfortable with...I had some recent work done by a VW specialist in Rosebery/Mascot, so if you're interested, I could pass on the details.

[ConR]

From my experience, if I were you, I would go through my insurance company - choose your preferred repairer, and your insurance company will send the invoice to the "at fault" drivers insurance company. His/her insurance company then provides the options to their client (not your problem).

Ya thanks Troy.

I've decided to do that: go through my own insurance. Only that the car is so new that I haven't been able to lodge a claim yet..haha. They're waiting for payment to clear, even though the payment has gone through on my credit card (paid in full for the year), and I've received the PDS and policy info in the mail. I told them that I want to choose my own repairer (my insurer). They said that's fine, but they want to review the quote first to ensure it's valid.

The guy I took it to wants to replace the whole bumper for me (Straightline in Brookvale). I don't have an issue with that at all. In fact, I prefer that. I'm just not sure if my insurer will approve that, as the damage really is minimal. I would have thought they could repair it with a hair dryer =). He mentioned to me that my car is so new, they usually will replace the whole damage part. Anyone know if this is true? I really don't want them to just reshape my bumper. Feel more comfortable with a new one.