My beloved 2007 380 SX copped a beating on X-mas day. The roof is well and truely peppered with dimples (too many to count) and the boot has a few. The bonnet for some reason fared pretty well and only has a couple and the top of the driver guard has a dent. I'm waiting to hear back from my insurer for an assessment appointment. Agreed value is $15K so I'm not sure what they will do. It would be a shame if they write her off as she has only done 77K and has factory warranty until early 2014.

I took a photo with my iphone but being molten red and sunny the dents are hard to see; so I have not uploaded it. They are relatively shallow but she is very dimpled.

Any thoughts on whether it would be written off?

Daughter's Lancer SX was behind my car and suffered more damage. Her roof and bonnet have lots more hits and the edge of the rood sides (outside the rubber roof strip) are dented in a few places. also her front guard tops and door windows sill tops are dented. Her car is just outside the 2 year new car replacement window. Her agreed value is 21k plus so maybe she has more chance of a repair. I gather it all depends on repair cost and salvage value.

Fortunately the windows all held so at least both cars are driveable (and not subject to water damage) while we await a verdict from the insurer.

Interesting that the 380 withstood the hail better than the lancer. Guess that Aussie steel is a touch tougher.

Doubt it will be written off.. my VR-X got smashed a while ago by hail and didnt get written off.. its valued at 7K and it was an estimated 4k+ to repair =]

Thanks Always; that's encouraging. :-)

While you are waiting for the insurance company to get back to you, take the car to a crash repairer and ask for a quote. This will give you a better idea of what the insurance company will do. One option open to you, is if they write off the car, is to buy it back and get it repaired privately. It really depends on how the $$$$ work out.

Historical note: TJ on the left was bought as a hail damaged repairable write-off. Perth, in march last year, had some hail. Damage was similar, roof, bonnet, boot lid, top of guards, doors. I can vouch that the time needed to repair hail damage is quite extensive - hence the insurance company tends to pay out rather than repair, but each case is different. A low km 380 is more valuable than a 9 year old TJ. Good luck.

Buying back and getting it repaired is not really an option anymore in Victoria as Insurance companies have to report write-offs to Vic Roads who then require a VIV inspection before re-issuing the VIN number. Apart from costing over $500 VIV inspections are not what they used to be and require photos and receipts, then you need a road worthy again (another $150) and then you can re-register (another $600) but only after you've made an appointment with Vic Roads (another $60). The lingering problem for the owner is, that a car that has been a write-off and has had a VIV inspection will have a note next to it for Vic Roads which then means when the car is subsequently sold the new owner can't just submit a RWC and send the transfer papers in the post but instead has to book a appointment for a Vic Roads inspection every subsequent owner of the car has to do the same.

Thanks Madmax & Ernysp76. I knew a buyback, in a writeoff scenario, would require a VIV and create a history but didn't realise it was required for every subsequent owner. I also doubt I could organise a repair any cheaper or quicker than my insurer. I'm resigned to having to look for another vehicle if she is written off but am hoping that they see the roof as not insurmountable given there is no pillar damage and the boot and bonnet do not too many dents. On the fordforums site they were saying that with FG they can remove thr turrett welds and put in a new skin relatively easy whereas that was not an option on Bfs etc. I'm hoping that the black rubber strip on 380s and lancers is like the FG

About ten years ago my Verada KE was extensively hail damaged - mainly the roof. Took it to a dent removal place and it came back 100%. They also took out a few extra dents :)
If the indents aren't too deep (haven't stretched the skin) this is definitely the way to go.

About ten years ago my Verada KE was extensively hail damaged - mainly the roof. Took it to a dent removal place and it came back 100%. They also took out a few extra dents :)
If the indents aren't too deep (haven't stretched the skin) this is definitely the way to go.

That's the way to go. On a newish 380 it won't damage the paint either. Much better than the method I used, grind the dents, fill in, repaint the whole car. lol

Deep dents can be heat shrunk (?) back into shape apparently. A couple of very informative youtube clips on this - "dent repair" for those who are interested.

Thanks Madmax & Ernysp76. I knew a buyback, in a writeoff scenario, would require a VIV and create a history but didn't realise it was required for every subsequent owner. I also doubt I could organise a repair any cheaper or quicker than my insurer. I'm resigned to having to look for another vehicle if she is written off but am hoping that they see the roof as not insurmountable given there is no pillar damage and the boot and bonnet do not too many dents. On the fordforums site they were saying that with FG they can remove thr turrett welds and put in a new skin relatively easy whereas that was not an option on Bfs etc. I'm hoping that the black rubber strip on 380s and lancers is like the FG

Just to clarify there is no VIV required with subsequent owners just a Vic Roads inspection.

Unlikely that it would be written off..

Replacing the turret, bonnet and bootlid cover most of the major dents, the remainder will either be dealt with using PDR/Push to Paint.

A little trick for people.. Get yourself a Heat Gun & Dry Ice and you should be able to pop a few shallow dints out, Google the process and there should be a few little lessons or how to's on it.

SuFz :ninja:

Thanks All. I'm feeling more confident it will be repaired. Apart from service costs and a window regulator and rear mirror both on warranty she has been faultless since I bought her in January 2009 with 39K on the clock. Haven't even had to do the brakes yet so I'd be sad to lose her. Mrs M would be even more sadder as she rates it the best car we have ever had; even better than an AU we bought new and kept for 9 years. Will let you know how I go but I suspect I won' get an appointment till mid-late January.

Who are you insured with..?

AAMI. They have been very good in the past for me and family. From looking on the net, it seems they generally repair rather than writeoff

The amount of hail damaged cars I have purchased in the past I don't hold much luck for you I am afraid

Most panel shops will charge upwards of 2.5 k for roof skin alone, add boot, bonnet, guard and then if any pillars are done is all over especially when so many cars got hit at once

I agree with Mal, alot of cars that have copped it are really no point getting repaired. I mean over the 2 days ive gone to work at another panel shop just for the holidays, 240 cars have come in to get assessed and what ive seen there are some heavily damaged cars.

I mean unless you can purchase parts 2nd hand and know someone who can help you do the work really cheap etc etc, you may have luck in buying a car worth repairing and driving.

Car will be assessed on 6 Feb.

A lot of the repairable write off vehicles I purchased were AAMI, often is cheaper for them to simply write off, get back what they can and pay out. Unfortunately a lot of this is caused by the panel shops stitching up the insurance companies. This is done in turn because the insurance companies often expect the job to be done below cost and refuse to pay for a lot of the costs for materials for the work needed. In short, insurance assessors are idiots a lot of the time, you should see the parts requests I get often because some assessor thought it was best

On the flip side, you should also see some of the wrecks that are considered a repairable write off and then you look at some with almost no damage and classified as a stat write off. Often leaves our heads shaking in wonder

With your car, will really be up to a lot of factors including the amount of damage, if the parts needed are available still, how much the parts are, when the damage can be repaired and how many cars there are out there to have repaired. When the storms hit a couple years back, many cars were ditched because there simply was not the resource for the insurance companies to repair these cars despite some companies actually opening up specialised repair centers to try and cope with the demand.

Thanks Madmagna; always good to get a view with someone with industry experience. It will be interesting to see what they do. Hopefully the bonnet and boot will be seen as a relatively easy PDR repair as there are not lots of dents. The big problem is the roof. Guess I am in the lap of the gods and it will depend on what assessor looks at the car on the day.

Car will be assessed on 6 Feb.

6th of Feb, just for an assessment? Thats a bit far fetched? I would expect a few days to get inspected, if not even done already via email/photos from crash shop which they do 99% of the time and then assessors come out if they need another look. Then you gotta get it assessed and then wait god knows how long to get it repaired.

Personally, thats not a good enough turn around for me.

my mate had his car hail damaged on Xmas day, was assessed 3 days later, and I beleive he is getting an answer today or tommorow as to whats happening.

6th of Feb, just for an assessment? Thats a bit far fetched? I would expect a few days to get inspected, if not even done already via email/photos from crash shop which they do 99% of the time and then assessors come out if they need another look. Then you gotta get it assessed and then wait god knows how long to get it repaired.

Personally, thats not a good enough turn around for me.

my mate had his car hail damaged on Xmas day, was assessed 3 days later, and I beleive he is getting an answer today or tommorow as to whats happening.

Now to be realistic, there were 1000's of cars damaged, people can not in some cases even get into their houses thus the lower priority things like a car that has been damaged BUT is still able to be driven is lower on the list. I am sure that those affected do not mind waiting a few extra days in order to get those who have been worse off than them assessed and up and running agian

Again with the big storms here in Vic a couple of years ago, some cars took 12 months to be paid out and taken by the insurance companies, still even now the odd one is filtering through pickles

... In short, insurance assessors are idiots ...

I take offence to that!

With AAMI.. We are doing what we can to save as many vehicle as possible. But as Mal has said our hands are tied in some situations.

SuFz :ninja:

I take offence to that!

With AAMI.. We are doing what we can to save as many vehicle as possible. But as Mal has said our hands are tied in some situations.

SuFz :ninja:

LOL, sorry no offense was meant at yourself BUT I must ask, how do you guys assess these cars as the 380 I have repaired would have been an easy fix, I spoke to my panel shop when I first got the car, they told me for "insurance" repair that max cost would have been $4500, I got it done cheaper as I pay direct lol. The market value for a 2008 380 series III SX is way above that. Even if you allow a blow out to $6500 for repair, would still be cheaper than selling the car at pickles and paying out the insured

LOL, sorry no offense was meant at yourself BUT I must ask, how do you guys assess these cars as the 380 I have repaired would have been an easy fix, I spoke to my panel shop when I first got the car, they told me for "insurance" repair that max cost would have been $4500, I got it done cheaper as I pay direct lol. The market value for a 2008 380 series III SX is way above that. Even if you allow a blow out to $6500 for repair, would still be cheaper than selling the car at pickles and paying out the insured

Long story short.. The Mexican Assessors run a different show down there, in comparison to us here in QLD.

Along with that.. A lot of the time, its customers agreed values.. Earlier today, a young lady and her 380 SX Series II - AV is $6800.

70% of $6800 = $4760

Not hard to do that dollar amount worth of damage at insurance rates.

SuFz :ninja:

[QUOTE=..GONE..;1460467
70% of $6800 = $4760

Not hard to do that dollar amount worth of damage at insurance rates.

SuFz :ninja:[/QUOTE]

Are you saying that if repair quote is > 70% of agreed value then veh is "repairable writeoff" ?

Are you saying that if repair quote is > 70% of agreed value then veh is "repairable writeoff" ?

You also have to factor in what the insurance company will get for the wreck, the assessor does their report but the ultimate decision is made by the loss adjuster, while most of the time they will agree with the assessor sometimes the figures just don't stack up in favor of a repair, that is value of the repair is more than the agreed value less the value of the salvage. One thing insurance companies don't tell you though is that you can organise your own independent assessor, as all assessors are supposed to be independent that insurer must agree with the assessment, it is a good shortcut to getting a assessment done quicker, we use it a lot in country areas.

Are you saying that if repair quote is > 70% of agreed value then veh is "repairable writeoff" ?

Rule of Thumb - Its a WRITE OFF (Whether Repairable or Stat is negligible)

SuFz :ninja:

Thanks to ..Gone.. (SuFz), I have a much sooner assessment appointment for my car. This is really good for me as it will mean it will happen well prior to having to pay my rego this month and saves me having to worry about getting a refund of rego should the car be written off. One again my thanks SuFz and Lucky I'm with AAMI.

No Dramas mate!

Lemme know how it goes..

SuFz :ninja:

Well the 380 is booked in for early February with local shop for repair. Will be a two week job I understand. It was a borderline call as they were thinking of writing her off but given I was keen for repair they agreed to authorise a repair with no need to push. AAMI can through for me.

Congratulations mate! That's awesome news:)

That is great to hear, at least there will be 1 less coming up at auction now, is sad to see all of these great condition cars with pretty much sfa damage being written off, what a bloody waste and given that 99% of them will be purchased by our northern melbourne mates, dodged up and put back on the road anyway.......

Hey mate..

Good news.. Nice to see they got you booked in for February too.

Happy to be of assistance mate!

SuFz

Thanks again ..Gone.. Early February is great especially since absent your help that would have been an assessment date not a repair date.

why so long for a assessment day i was told pick up tommorrow know by monday / tuesday ???? if must have claim down abit but there say there was a little delay been a couple of days. but good luck with your repair

Over 23000 claims will give you a few delays in assessment. But luckily we got him in a little earlier and got him some great news in the end!

SuFz

End of the day, I'm not too worried with a little wait as i had a car with minor cosmetic damage which meant it was still driveable. I know some people had far greater damage and inconvenience. More importantly I got an assessment that meant I got a repair rather than a convenient writeoff. Luckily I also have the comprehensive hire car option so I'll get a six cyclinder hire car for the length of repair. AAMi also are repairing my daughter's lancer which copped more dents in more places, so she is happy too. All in all, things are progressing well and the panel shop is a long established business and the owner seems a nice guy, so hopefully I'll get a great repair, like in the past through AAMI.

thats good to hear hope you will be happy with the work they do.

Thanks all for the good wishes. Been driving my lancer wagon the last two weeks and hoped in the 380 today. Much nicer ride so glad they are fixing her.