Thread: Expensive Defender roll over

Originally Posted by 87County

While I would like to see you have a crack at it Mitch, be aware that on a 90, 110, or 130, that once the original alignment of the panels and bulkhead is stretched or crimped it is almost impossible to return it to anything like original even with new doors.

That was more of a 'hypothetical' have a crack at straightening it out. I won't be bidding sadly.

Looking at the pictures. Why didnt the air bag go off?

Originally Posted by karlz

Looking at the pictures. Why didnt the air bag go off?

Bwahahahaha

Originally Posted by Tombie

Why do you say that?

Because I observed the normal looking tyre profile, because I have seen a couple of rollovers due to lost grip in the high country, because it was a question that came to mind based on those factors. It seemed unlikely that the towie would have pumped them up. I then looked further into it, and found the car was in Dubbo, so those things were probably not the cause, and I said so.

Anyone who has done time in the high country knows the value of a bigger footprint and softer sidewalls.

Originally Posted by JDNSW

A car becomes a statutory write off when the cost of the repairs less the value of the damaged vehicle exceed the sum insured.

In at least some states, or maybe it is some insurance companies, water entering the interior is automatically a write off, because of ongoing issues with flood damaged cars a few years ago.

There is nothing about being 'a bit quick' - the process is set down in black and white and is automatic as soon as the numbers are available.

That is State based, and not entirely correct. What you describe is a Financial Write Off, for insurance purposes. There is nothing to stop someone repairing a car that has been written off on financial grounds, but insurers won't do it for obvious reasons. If you want to spend 10,000 dollars repairing a 2,000 dollar car that is your look out.

A statutory write off is generally a car that is deemed unsafe to repair, that is, it is damaged in it's integrity so that it cannot be returned to the state where it complies with the ADRs that were in place when it was manufactured. What I find interesting is that NSW deems cars to be Statutory Write Offs when Victoria doesn't. I have seen cars in yards in NSW with SRO plastered all over them that would be deemed repairable down here.

My understanding is that the situation is as I described for NSW. The previous term "repairable write off apparently no longer exists in NSW - all write offs are "statutory".

Originally Posted by JDNSW

My understanding is that the situation is as I described for NSW. The previous term "repairable write off apparently no longer exists in NSW - all write offs are "statutory".

That was why I mentioned NSW specifically. The laws there are draconian. I was in a wreckers in Smithfield recently. There was a six month old Ford Mondeo Titanium, less than 20,000 km. A 50 + thousand $$ car. It had been in a usual little traffic accident, front/rear. All the doors and the bonnet and tailgate worked perfectly. The airbag had not deployed. A ( I admit, very quick ) look underneath showed no rails were bent, all damage seemed to be cosmetic. In Vic, that car would have sold at auction for $35,000 minimum. In NSW, it was called a SRW, and was thus worthless as a car. I would say that took a further $20,000 off it's value, as who wants panels etc. off a car if anything else like it is already written off?

NSW is driving up all our insurance premiums for nothing. A car should be assessed as a SRW by someone qualified in the auto industry, not by some shiny arse in the insurance, or worse, RMS industry.

What is happening is that much of the body structures are now being made of alloys that once fatigued can not easily be repaired and are strength compromised.

These are the next generation of throw away items.