Polo GTI, Hail damage, replacing Roof?

[Ryan41]

yooooo.

[ill0gitech]

Insurers choose this as the cheapest option.
You alternatives will vary from insurer to insurer, but you may be able to come to an agreement with the insurer to pay extra, or even directly with the repairer to offer them money to beat the roof rather than cut and weld.

I did the latter with NRMA in the late 90s - but the repairer was a relative, so he did it for free.

Who are you with and do you have a choice of repairer?

[ATYPIC]

Cutting the roof out of a car is just plain stupid IMO....they are just being lazy by cutting corners and I'm staggered this option was even considered. Insurance company is surely taking the pi#s!!

Can't remember who it was, but another forum user on here from Melbourne had major hail damage assessed and the car was deemed a write off. Fairly sure the insurance company found him a replacement, almost new polo, albeit in a different color.

I'd be seeking further information elsewhere.

[Ryan41]

yooooo.

[ill0gitech]

Just dont know how they quote a car without taking any photos? just jotting down points on a note pad and then move on to the next 50 cars lined up out the front..

In the wake of a big storm, yeah.

At least you have the choice of repairer, and at least it's drivable.
You may not need to tell NRMA, but any beating he does that is outside of what NRMA agrees to most likely won't be covered by their lifetime warranty - food for thought.
And this people, is why you go with an insurer that gives you some options

Cutting the roof out of a car is just plain stupid IMO....they are just being lazy by cutting corners and I'm staggered this option was even considered. Insurance company is surely taking the pi#s!!

It's what they do And keep in mind there is typically a measurable financial gain to these insurers by doing things like this. It may be a few dollars, but multiply that by 10,000 cars damaged in a storm, and it's quite a big number for them.

We should all take this moment to feel sorry for these poor insurers.... not

[halfcoast]

I had my Gti assessed for damage from the same storm and fortunately they are doing paintless repair. They did mention
about the roof and how it is laser welded in. They said VW approved cutting out the roof and tack welding in a new one and filling with sealant. The assessor and the repairer didn't seem impressed with this.

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[pontiff]

I had my Gti assessed for damage from the same storm and fortunately they are doing paintless repair. They did mention
about the roof and how it is laser welded in. They said VW approved cutting out the roof and tack welding in a new one and filling with sealant. The assessor and the repairer didn't seem impressed with this.

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My TSI has the same problem in that the roof is well and truly peppered with them, i looked at the options much like you and the reskinning of the roof was the easiest solution for the repairer depending on the amount of damage of course and as you say, cutting out and tacking in a new one is the VW approved repair for replacing the roof skin... (6R6 817 111 G - Roof vehicles without roof rails) and the sealer is (D 180 KD3 A2 - 2 pack body adhesive - High Strength) Elsawin has the instructions (can past if you want them) which is basically cut the old one, position the new one and seal / weld it into place

[ill0gitech]

VW approved doesn't mean it's best practice. It just means its something that can be done.

[QBDentFree]

If the roof is that badly damaged, and you can convince the repairer to fix it rather than replace, there is a good chance your entire roof will be skimmed with bog.
You would rather that than a brand new panel?

[Gambit]

I had my first Polo GTI hail damaged in Melbourne about 2 years ago. First things first, repairing a polo with a rewelded roof skin is the cheapest option and would highly devalue the car in the eyes of future buyers if you were to honestly disclose this.

I would stay clear of this option and vehemently object to it and let your insurance company know that its not an option for you.

Essentially you want the car to be written off and replaced with a new vehicle, pursue it till the ends of the earth.

Go to another top teir/high quality euro panel repair shop and explain your situation and get them to quote so high that it would not be financially viable for the insurance company to repair the car. Also go to the insurance approved repairer and try and get them to do the same in terms of quotes.

So essentially you get 3 quotes for the work, and fingers crossed they approve a replacement car.
Goodluck!

[pontiff]

Off topic for a quick split second, I bought my 77tsi from the pickles with 17k on the clock and only 14 months old for 10k from that hail storm.. The roof skins pretty riddled with dints but meh... The skins the polo's are thinner than the old polos for sure, in a recent heavy rain storm it sounded like a warzone, much louder than the old 6n1's. One of the downsides i guess of cars getting bigger, manufacturers have to try and save weight somewhere...

[RubAVeeDubDub]

You people do know that they're not actually going to cutting the "roof" off, its just the skin! A piece of metal that's tacked onto the frame. The frame itself is untouched.
Its not an uncommon fix for many cars. If its done by a proper panel beater, you will have no problems and the cars structural rigidity is not affected. Nothing to be alarmed about. Better that then bog.


For some reason people have a silly construct that if you touch the cars panel that somehow its then suddenly its no longer any good and next to driving a cardboard box. Unless you buy a new car, you could have bought a repaired one from the hailstorms and you'd be none the wiser. If no one told you, you'd happily enjoy the car. So why would you care?

Paintless dent repair is an option for lightly damaged panels, but more often than not in hail damage, the actual skin gets stretched because of the sheer amount of dents and therefore its best to be replaced.

As far as getting the car to be written off, it really is the insurers discretion. Sometimes you can talk to the panel beater to give a quote that will ensure the car will likely be written off due to the cost.
But they do demand high quality work that returns the car to its prior condition or better. Its why insurance work is so expensive.
Buyers don't need to know everything - doesn't affect the cars safety and how it drivers so why tell them?

[Gambit]

^ i think the whole point being, is that your the owner of the vehicle and therefore if there is a best case scenario you'd elect to choose the best case scenario with all the facts in hand. Despite it being just the skin, as mentioned if you resell with full disclosure after such a repair what do you think the resale would be?
Food for thought hey.

[QBDentFree]

Ideally, yes it would be nice if they wrote the car off and he got a shiny new one.
With that option out of the picture, I'd almost always prefer new panels over massive patches of bog over dodgy repairs

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