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Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - scoobylh

Hi.

5 years ago I bumped into the car in front in a car park. No claim made on either side, but the front grill chrome trim was cracked and came away a little at the left. About 6 months ago I noticed a crack on my front number plate, someone bumping into me and leaving without trace. I didn't do anything about it, thinking I would get it fixed whenever

I have now discovered that someone has hit my car and bent the badge on the trim right down (so it looks curved), cracking it a bit, and the trim round the radiator is coming loose on the left. More importantly, a crack in the bumper (1 inch split) has appeared above the number plate too, presumably as a result of the shunt

I'm going to call my insurance company, but there's no third party - I can't even be sure when this happened as I've not driven my car for 3 weeks as I'd been away and haven't checked it when I got back until today - and historical damage may have caused some of the problem. I can't claim though them

the car is only worth £1,800 when totally spick and span, and this looks like v costly multiple repairs.

My questions are a) do you think it's safe to drive with a crack in the bumper above the number plate b) should I just call it quits and sell the car via We Buy any Car.com or similar? c) something else?

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - badbusdriver

What you are referring to as 'the bumper', is actually just a plastic cover. If it's appearance doesn't bother you then don't worry about it, no safety issues whatsoever.

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - gordonbennet

All the things you describe are merely coverings or trim, the bumper is only there for show these days and most of the time held in place with no more than half a dozen plastic clips.

Do not involve your insurer, none of these things are in least important or worth reporting, unless you really want to pay more next year because they deem you a risk, and yes this is what they will do.

In practice it sounds like a an hour spent on the usual auction site would source all the parts you need, if you can't fit a new grille or trim yourself, then no doubt a handy local garage chap would soon pop them on for you, a new number plate would cost around a fiver.

If the bumper is still solid and the clips securing it are not broken then i wouldn't worry about it, you could glue the split up, then paint over it if it bothered you, or you could find a used bumper but finding one in your colour could be a challenge.

None of these things are desperate, unless the trims or bumper are falling off or any of these cracks/splits have left sharp edges which would be a danger to pedestrians, if they are remove or gaffer tape the sharp edges temporarily and carry on driving until you can get the parts to fix.

WBAC or similar will knock the value a lot for these body defects, so i'd fix the present car if its a good one otherwise.

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - scoobylh

Thank you so much! I will get the parts and ask a local garage to fix and will glue the split. Panic over!

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - bathtub tom

I you're not too worried about the car's appearance, why not use duct tape over the damaged areas?

There's a Facebook page dedicated to taped, Mondeo bumpers: www.facebook.com/mondeotapebumper/

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - scoobylh

Who knew? Guess there's a FB Page for everything these days!

Skoda Fabia 2 (57) - When is damage not worth repairing? - Galaxy

Love it - That's brilliant!

I you're not too worried about the car's appearance, why not use duct tape over the damaged areas?

There's a Facebook page dedicated to taped, Mondeo bumpers: www.facebook.com/mondeotapebumper/

Edited by Galaxy on 10/06/2019 at 16:20