VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out

Honest John Back Room » Legal matters
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Tue 4 Feb 2014 18:45
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - w0lf

Car parked at work. Colleague drove into an adjacent spot. Her nearside bumper rubbed against my offside front and rear doors. She has admitted liability and her insurers are keen to try to fix things.

There is a crease in the door panel below the bump strip, as well as paintwork damage to both doors and bump strips.

Took it to a couple of bodyshops - one wanted to replace the entire door outer panel and respray both doors completely with blending into the wing and rear pillar. One wanted to use bodyfiller to fill in the crease and respray.

Today took it to the third party's insurance repair company who would also do an assessment. Chap stated he would only authorise a repair, even if I didn't use their bodyshop.

Keep getting conflicting information from others. Do I have to accept whatever the assessor tells me? Can I reject a repair in favour of a replacement of the door panel? What happens if a bodyshop feels it needs a replacement instead of a repair?

Just completely confused. Thanks.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 4 Feb 2014 20:02
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - oldroverboy.

Having been in this position, and seen it at work when i was in a garage, Just be sure that you are happy with the people doing the work, I have seen instances where quite nasty damage has been beaten out and a bit of filler used and then prepared and painted. On my own car recently some kind person "gouged" the wheel arch quite high up. One bodyshop said new wing £180 +vat + painting +labour, other local said £250 and did such a good job I cannot tell the difference.

As it was me paying, (kind person did not leave a note, went for the 250, coincidentally my excess.

If in doubt let the insurers deal with it.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 4 Feb 2014 21:44
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - Falkirk Bairn

How old is the car?

New/nearly new I'd want new door skins.

15 yr old? beat/fill & respray is all you can hope for.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 5 Feb 2014 14:06
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - w0lf

Car is 5 years old now. I still look after it, take it to car shows etc. Any mismatch in colour or poor repair is gonna stand out like a sore thumb so want to it done properly.

At the moment, I'm going through the third party's insurance and they've said I can go to any bodyshop of my choosing but the only thing the assessor will authorise is a repair and paint of the affected areas.

Edited by w0lf on 05/02/2014 at 14:08

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 5 Feb 2014 14:22
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - skidpan

If the damage is not too severe fitting new door skins can cause more problems down the line than it will solve. There is a good chance they will fit pattern parts which will be a poor fit. They will never get the seam sealant 100% like a factory fit.

On any car I would prefer to have the panel repaired rather than replaced, the less disturbance the better.

Colour match will have nothing to do with repair or replace. Any good body shop should paint the whole side of the car and blow in the rear, roof and bonnet as necessary.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 5 Feb 2014 15:53
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - galileo

Colour match will have nothing to do with repair or replace. Any good body shop should paint the whole side of the car and blow in the rear, roof and bonnet as necessary.

Exactly right, I scraped a concrete post (curse the poor visibilty out of modern cars with thick pillars) with my Corolla, the bodyshop put in a new panel and resprayed the entire side to ensure a match. It was metallic silver, which, they said, is hard to match otherwise.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 5 Feb 2014 20:27
VW Golf - Bodyshops, assessors and sorting things out - elekie&a/c doctor
Door skins on these just bolt on.You could probably find a good replacement in a breakers in the same colour .and fit it yourself.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance