January 2009
Hi there,
Having read Honest John for a long time, I now need some advice on behalf of my Dad and I hope some of you out there might be able to help.
On Monday my Dad was involved in an accident on his way to visit his mother. He was approaching a roundabout in the left hand lane (of two), when a girl driving a Ford KA came across from the other side of the road (over a kerb and grass verge and back down the kerb first!) and hit the side of his BMW 3-series. She then rebounded off and hit a Porsche which was slightly behind my Dad in the right hand lane. His airbags didn't deploy but the ones in the Porsche did (not sure if Dad's were faulty as they have thankfully never been used before. The police were called to clear the road and took statements.
The front door was very badly damaged, and the inside floor of the car was pushed in, the rear door was also damaged, the roof dented and the petrol cap stuck open.
My Dad called his insurers who arranged recovery and delivered a courtesy car on Tuesday morning.
The insurers have called today to say the car is a write off and have offered him £5,250. He paid £10k for the car approx 2 years ago and is going to be really out of pocket if he takes this offer. He has visited a BMW main dealer who advised that to buy a similar car would cost him approx £7,200.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation where an accident was clearly not their fault but they have been left out of pocket? Is there anywhere he can claim back the money he has lost?
I believe that if a car is written off, insurance is also terminated. The policy only started in September so that will be more money he has lost.
I have also heard that he could claim through her insurance rather than his own. Is there any benefit to this?
Dad has had a stiff neck and shoulders since the accident as well as some back pain. As an electrician, with a lot of work done above shoulder height, he has had to take some time off work. He is considering a personal injury claim to cover this time off (as he is self-employed so isn't paid for time off sick) - is there anyone in particular who comes recommended? Or anyone to avoid?!
I look forward to your responses!
Sarah Read more
Turbo is going on my 2.0T IV grand espace 52plate.
ive been quoted £1040 for the turbo from renault main dealer.
I also rang another renault main dealer and they told me £1500!
anyone know a good company that may do me a cheaper option ?
thanks
{Shouting in header removed once more!} Read more
Sorry I can't advise you re the turbo. But as a reformed Espace owner I do have a suggestion Gavin.
Park the thing, if it will make it that far, on the roughest, toughest street you can find with a notice in the window which reads as follows......
" Ha ! I'll bet there's no one round here bright enough to steal and torch this !! " " And what's more the ( insert name of local football team ) are a bunch of wimps who couldn't kick their way out of a paper bag"
This should, reasonably reliably, do you a huge favour in due course.........
:-)
how do i remove the old cable on an mx5 eunos, mk1? it seems to be pressed into a small bit of threaded black plastic within the door, but it doesnt turn? help! as the electric window will go down but not up! i have removed the door card and unbolted the motor, but cant get more access! Read more
Or try these: -
www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/226
Hi, just looking at buying a high mileage (over 100k) T Sport VVTL-i 2002 (think it's just pre-facelift, UK car). It runs well, checks out OK, etc but when it hits 7000rpm it misses .. I know these are supposed to take-off at 6000rpm and rev right into the red.
I don't believe it has been serviced for about 10,000 miles, so it could be something simple but any thoughts/experience anyone?
Cheers Read more
oh yeh that means xxx is going which costs 3K to repair
Sorry I'll get me coat ;-)
I have a 55 plate Tdci tourneo with all the toys, AC, heated seats, heated front and rear screens, etc.
my query is what voltage should i have?
at engine off i have 11.8 volts
running at 1500 rpm i have 14.8 volts
with everything on i have 14.08 volts
any ideas? Read more
its not the 11.8v that worries me, a 12v battery without the engine running isnt 12v anyway (from what i can remember from my apprenticeship anyway)
the only info i can find on newer setups says 14.5v when running/charging
www.bcae1.com/charging.htm
Where is the tap located on the car to drain water out of the fuel? Thank you. Read more
At least one version of the 2.1 (development of the XUD) ws available E/W in a variety of larger FWD PSA cars (Xantia, 406 etc). Never fitted as std to 306, might be able to shoe horn it in - don't know - seen it done on a BX.
... while cars don't have similar feature?
PS: I heard that in N America, front brakes on bikes are on left hand side (opposite to ours!) Read more
>>If full front brake is applied on a motorcycle at speed then the back wheel
will typically lift clear of the ground
Yes that's why I was asking about the provenance of the front / rear braking
ratios above.
As motorcycles have both a high centre of gravity and a short wheelbase the weight
transfer is a massive effect and the static weight distribution has little to do with
how brake force should be distributed during deceleration.
I have always been told those percentages are a guide only.
Riding a motorcycle properly / safely is a highly skilled thing!
Id go as far as to say most 'bikers' do NOT possess all the skill required!
to control a motorcycle requires a lot of feel, and use of all the senses, including smell (diesel on road) taste can be a part as well alongside smell.
A skilled motorcyclist becomes part of the machine.. understands every movement, noise, feel of whats happening, and adjusts the inputs as and when needed - sometimes before most people would even realise... maybe a difference in grip.. that kind of thing.
get everything right... theres no better feeling!
get one thing wrong... theres a big possibility of never feeling anything again.............
BTW... i include myself in the 'most 'bikers' do NOT possess all the skill required!
in my youth i was lucky... now im older and steadier...
hey,
got a problem with my focus. when i start driving the cars fine bt when the engine warms up this happens:
when i come up to a junction or round about or anything that makes me slow to a stop my revs drop to almost nothing. sometimes it will recover but most the time the car stalls. does any one have any ideas why this could be? cheers rob. Read more
My Rio's rear washer supply pipe has presumably split, I think this runs (no pun intended) behind the interior door sill trim as the driver's side carpet is now nice and squishy. The car is under 2 years old, looking through the warranty booklet this may be an 'act of god' or not as it is written in legalise.
Anyone here think that warranty might cover this? I think I the screenwash was dilluted at 1 to 4 so possibly on the weak side for the cold temps of the last 2 days (last topped up just before chrimbo) and my car lives outside.
I've not spoken to the supplying Kia agent yet. Read more
I Rang the garage this morning and spoke to the service manager and asked if he minded (due to difficulty in me finding time to fit in a dealer visit) if I tackled the job even though car is still in warranty. He was quite Ok about this and told me how to remove the sill trim panel fasteners, also he mentioned that this happens frequently on Skodas as mentioned by a previous poster. Went out to car after lunch and popped off the trim bits and found the loose hose, re-connected and all Ok again, 10 minute job. I'm happy! Thanks for all the advice here.
Hi All,
Had a slightly unusual situation travelling down the motorway on Monday afternoon. Wasn't pushing it in any way, but caught up a with a convoy consisting of a fire engine, response van and unmarked Passat estate with blue lights flashing. As wasn't going that fast had seen them well in advance, and seen other drivers overtaking. As I approached I was reluctant to overtake in case they were responding to an incident on the motorway and I could become an obstacle to them, so pulled in some way behind the Passat to see what happened. Was a trip to the dentist, and had allowed plenty of time for any hold ups.
The convoy carried on past the first junction (22), and about halfway between 22 and 23 the Passat pulled into lane 1 as traffic lightened. I took this as a sign was OK to pass, but was being overtaken myself with the van still in lane 2. By the time was clear for me to pull out could see we were approaching more traffic in lanes 1 and 2 so waited in case the tender needed lane 3, but with clear roads coming up to J23 I overtook. In the end I didn't see any incidents, but as I left the M5 at Taunton (J25) the speed matrices were set to 50, and there was a marked Police 5 series on the roundabout at the bottom of the slip road parked up with blue lights going.
Ever since I have been wondering if I had got this right, or should I have done it differently. One thing I should add was that when I caught up with the convoy, traffic was still light behind me, but one of the things that prompted me to pass was could see a handful of cars starting to build behind and could see this developing into a bit of a tailback. The eye opener for me was other drivers reactions. All the cars that overtook crept past slowly, taking an age to do so with the potential to block the convoy in and slow them down. Looking in my mirrors going past J23 the convoy was all in lane 1, with cars overtaking in lane 2, and lane 3 clear. Although there was a car coming down the slip lane, which then joined ahead of the convoy, no one moved into lane 3 to give room, but didn't see if it did get blocked in. Read more
Thanks, FC........(retreats back in to comfortable anonymity)
Browse
>>I would certainly have sued the third party personally for any sum of which I
>>happened to be out of pocket resulting from the accident. Not her insurers, her
>>personally!
It's exactly the same thing. One has insurance to cover ones own potential liabilities. So if you sue the individual, and win, it will be the ins. co that pay up.
You don't, BTW, pay your insurance company to do all the work. You pay your ins. co. to insure your car. If you then require them to do the work in settling a claim, they will hit you in future years with increased premium, lost NCD (even if you've insured it...). And they possibly won't bother reclaiming your excess from the third party's ins co either. Why should they bother? it doesn't cost them anything one way or the other.