SNAP!

[Gaz-VTR]

It's finally happened, I crashed my car.

Was going round a really bad bend last night on a national speed limit road, the back end kicked out and I span across and took out a bus stop! My mate and I walked away uninjured but I'm still shaking.

I'm in need of some advice, The front end is caved in, bonnet, left wing, crossmember and bumper - cosmetically. The only mechanical damage as far as we can see is the radiator, it starts fine and drives well but can anyone tell me - can it be repaired?

I'm towing it to a bodyshop to have a look at tomorrow, insurance is out of the question as i'm only third party, but before I do I'm toying with the idea of just sourcing the parts myself and fixing it with the help of a few friends.

[Elliott]

badluck.

[Matty_Mills]

Write off mate.... front end looks too mangled to be financially worth repair to me
i may be wrong however

[Shellz]

Sorry to hear.

There seams to be a lot of crashes! A lad i know crashed last night too! :(

[EH_Fella]

*insert comment about buffing/polishing/t-cutting it out*

Might be some welding work required on the front struts (£££), best see what the body shop says. Did the radiator slam into the alternator? On my Ibiza rebuild it had, so buggered some bearings and left me with a nice noise!

[Leemc2008]

Keep reading same thing lately..

The rain comes out and everyone crashes.. and then says.. but I was doing the speed limit..

DRIVE TO THE ROAD CONDITIONS!! Speed limit is a limit, not a target..

You wouldnt drive in the snow at 70mph on motorway/dual carriageway.. you have to slow down in the wet as well.. also.. bends in the road.. called corners..

[Gaz-VTR]

it was dry...

[Gaz-VTR]

*insert comment about buffing/polishing/t-cutting it out*

Might be some welding work required on the front struts (£££), best see what the body shop says. Did the radiator slam into the alternator? On my Ibiza rebuild it had, so buggered some bearings and left me with a nice noise!

My mate has welding equipment etc, aswell as every other tool under the sun. I'm not sure about the alternator but would I be right in saying I should be able to get the front crossmember from a scrappies and replace that one?

[Leemc2008]

You span your car, in the dry, doing the right speed..?

[katiescar]

thats gona be a write off for sure! might be wrong, but . .... . ........ bad luck!

[Gaz-VTR]

The right speed for the road yes, but the corner.. probably not! I admit I was careless and it's a valueable lesson learned!

[katiescar]

there's a good 1000 plus of damaged parts and paint and labour! what yeart is it?

[katiescar]

got a spare slam panel if you need it!

[Leemc2008]

Ok mate.. Was only going to say next.. could check whether or not something broke and caused the accident? If you admit you were going faster than your probably should then I wont say any more..

I crashed a Renault Megane a few years back after a track rod end came off after it had been changed at a garage. Destroyed the car hitting a post at 50mph.. I had no steering though.. very scary.

[ryanmt]

needs to be stripped down and the inner wing inspected. Everything else can be sorted fairly easy really.

[Gaz-VTR]

I'm still puzzled as to why it was so severe but it got me thinking, my tyre pressure on the back left was a bit low I had noticed earlier yesterday morning and I meant to get round to sticking air in but forgot. when we got out the car last night that very tyre had slipped right off the rim!

[djflipsaxo]

iinsurance wright off anything... trust me!
i have had 2 written off and were no where near as bad as urs mate
but u maybe lucky!!!
bad luck though mate

[JamesR]

id just sell it as spares or repair and look for a new saxo, the time effort and money wont be worth it in the long run, if uve modded it ( the crashed one ) salvage wot u can and put it on your new one. its only a suggestion but its wot i would do. up to u though.

[EH_Fella]

My mate has welding equipment etc, aswell as every other tool under the sun. I'm not sure about the alternator but would I be right in saying I should be able to get the front crossmember from a scrappies and replace that one?

Yeah - my rebuild included welding, panel beating, new panels, spraying, headlights, bumper, foglights, new radiator..now I got engine parts on trade, a mate helped with the work and the welding..god knows how much I spent spraying and buying panels.

Luckily I owned a 1.4 Ibiza (never used it myself lol) so donored the bonnet and lights, did a quick fill/spray over the old cracked bumper and took the car for an MOT - told the guys it was a write off so they checked the front end over..failed on rear brakes and a brake cable on the front end was hanging too low :panic: Easy fix though and saved a fortune as if I'd had everything sprayed etc before an MOT and it failed (and wasn't going to be cheap to pass) I'd have wasted tonnes of money.

Funny thing is though, I sold it to someone and he's told me the ECU went bank (this is 6 months down the line) so you can never be sure the long term damage. Also, don't forget to check tracking!

[potatopete]

DRIVE TO THE ROAD CONDITIONS!! Speed limit is a limit, not a target..

You wouldnt drive in the snow at 70mph on motorway/dual carriageway.. you have to slow down in the wet as well.. also.. bends in the road.. called corners..

Some very sound advice there.

[Fishy_SAFC]

I repaired mine in almost that exact same state. Think it came to about £850 an it was back on the road. Of course you could buy a new car for that but i couldnlt be parted from mine.

Would have come to more but the only part I didnlt do was the respray. I rebuilt the rest.

[JC-Furio]

Dibs on the S wheels if you break :y: