altercation with a parking bollard

blackers10 · 20-01-2006, 05:07 AM

hey guys

bad news from me today

i was at the shops/bowling alley with my girlfriend tonite and after having a PATHETIC attempt at bowling!! and then helping push start her friends boyfriends car(KC laser.. he left his lights on) ..

i went to pull out of the spot i reverse parked into earlier and forgot all about the 2 bollards next to me that blocked a "pedestrian zoned" space
i turned into it and it put a nice dent in my back left door and kept denting right into the middle of the back wheel

due to my wheels being wires i have diamond shaped thing in the middle that sticks out past the guards and rim and everything.. and this hit the bollard too knocking the car sideways (strong steel bollard now missing a bit of yellow paint)... and in the process has bent the back left wheel BACKWARD.. so it is turning left the whole time... (looks like all wheel steering)

im getting a quote from FTG for the parts to repair it (door.. and all bendables from a wheel being bent like that)

but if its a rather costly exersize.. im considering claiming it via insurance

will a claim like this send my already rating 6 (new to full comp insurance and had car since april with no prior insurance to make it cheaper) into the rating seven bracket??

and also due to being young and having 2 previous fines etc. i have an excess of around $1500...
can this be paid off?? or is it a lump sum??

thanks guys hope you can help
sorry about the long post

AWD Chaser · 20-01-2006, 08:16 AM

What Insurance company are you with. Im wth NRMA and had the same prob with a few fines (over the 1.5k mark).

Bascally, if your new to insurance, i think they now actaully give you a 25% no claim bonus rating. With your excess however, if you have told them about your fines, your excess (much like mine) will be around $2500.

Casper · 20-01-2006, 08:35 AM

blackers10 · 20-01-2006, 11:18 AM

im with RACQ..

gonna get some pics today

Mr Cube · 20-01-2006, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Casper

- Love that smilie.. I rekon the FF admin should add it to the smilie list..

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackers10

and also due to being young and having 2 previous fines etc. i have an excess of around $1500...
can this be paid off?? or is it a lump sum??

thanks guys hope you can help
sorry about the long post

I have a feeling your best chance of paying it off is getting a credit card/personal loan. Not sure if the insurance company will help you out that way.. They are quick to take money but giving it out they are tighter then a Nuns

blackers10 · 20-01-2006, 11:56 AM

i just took a squiz under the ***

and the thing that acts like a tie rod(does toe adjustment?) is bent like a banana

the control arms are both nic,e and square still
and the bolt passing thru the upper control arm bush is at a aweful angle..(same as wheel)

so it looks like the car is trying to turn left by having bent what gives it toe adjustment(dunno wat the bar is called?)

Dauphin · 20-01-2006, 12:20 PM

Oh no, sorry to hear about it! I hope you work it out and it isn't too much of a hassle.

LG · 20-01-2006, 12:33 PM

Dont worry, i made a mistake not so long ago. Maybe not as bad, but it can still get fixed.

Goodluck with it!

HLC · 20-01-2006, 05:15 PM

post pics.

Baboon_AU · 20-01-2006, 08:11 PM

if you are young and with full comprehensive insurance i would not claim anything unless the car is ridden off.. i am young and with full comprehensive but the i put the car in my mums name with me as a driver and instead of costing around $1500 its costing $800 with RAC.

GK · 20-01-2006, 09:31 PM

Sorry to hear of the misfortune, and to top off a bad night's bowling!

Hope you can post some pics, and get it sorted out soon. All the best.

GK

AUIII XR8 MAN · 20-01-2006, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackers10

and the thing that acts like a tie rod(does toe adjustment?) is bent like a banana

Well this part it not cheap. It's around $695 trade.

Try to find a secondhand one, it will be hard as no one makes a aftermarket one for the AU IRS, so they fly out the door quick because of the price of a new one.

I had to replace one of mine a litte while ago, I was lucky because I was able to get it at dealers price plus GST, which work out at $450 mark? They only put a little market up on them.

kryzak260 · 20-01-2006, 11:55 PM

I did a similar thing when i first got my licence to my EL Futura. It hit the rear drivers quarter panel and a bit of the back door, but was not hard enough to get the wheel. Ended up costing $450 for the panel work and paint.

Had the same thing happen to my drivers side rear wheel on my fairlane after a woman failed to give way into the side of me, with the drivers rear wheel taking the full impact.

I had that arm replaced, but it will never be the same again unfortunatly. I took it for a wheel alignment afterwards, and the hit wheel was quite far out of alignment. From memory, they could not adjust it far enough so adjusted everything else to suit the bad wheel or something. Dunno...

-Michael

TwistedEL · 20-01-2006, 11:59 PM

You have to check with the repairer about the excess. The way it works is the insurance company pays the repairer minus excess which you have to settle before they release the car. I had this problem the year before last, ran up the back of someone and smacked with an $1800 excess. Well over $5000 of damage on my car alone. My repairer said you pay you pay now... So I had to borrow the money of various family members :(

Sorry to hear about that