Thread: I went against my own intuition

Hello All,

Goes to show that you should listen to that little voice in your head or that feeling of caution - which I ignored. I was after some new flywheel bolts for my Series 3 with a Holden 202 motor. Despite the bolt kit being available from eBay I took down the part number and drove my daily driver to Supercheap Auto. The part was listed online on their catalogue so I figured I would just go and check if they had the bolts available in their store. It would save some time and I could work on the car today. Nope - the bolts had to be ordered in ... due to the public holiday ... blah ... blah.

I then went to Repco - no the parts are not listed. So off to Autobarn I go. As I was driving there I thought maybe I should just keep going and drive home. A little while later, when I was about to turn into the Autobarn entrance that is off a side street, I thought maybe I should park in the street and not in their car park... Nope two strikes of not following the wee little voice - thought.

No the part was not available and when I came out of the front doors I noticed someone hanging around my car. There was one car park space between my Commodore wagon and a Toyota Landcruiser V8. The bloke was wearing an eye patch. Once I unlocked my car the bloke walked up to me and apologies for hitting the side of my car. He must have been parked in the opposite side and reversed into the empty space next to my car and side-swiped the rear passenger door and the front passenger door. With only one eye functional it would have been difficult to use the mirrors.

Insurance details were exchanged claims have been lodged and I lose my car from the 9th of January until whenever. Due to the floods up in North Queensland I was put on hold for a very long time. Luckily I have comprehensive insurance which means I get a hire car. I do have to secure $200 on my card though until the hire vehicle is returned and I get my car back.

While I have been declared "not a fault" it means I am not out-of-pocket and do not have to cough-up the excess fee. It is still a pain in the arse. Just goes to show that one should listen to the little voice.

BTW I just ordered the bolts from eBay... like I should have done in the first place.

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

I dropped off the car at the insurance company's recommended panel-beater this afternoon. They are going to replace the rear passenger door and respray it. The passenger side front door which was also side-swiped is going to be bogged up and resprayed.

I am not happy about this at all as my car is not filled with bog. I will be getting a second rate repair. Before accident no bog - after accident nice shiny coat of paint over a couple of tins of bog. If the car was not comprehensively insured I would have gone to the wreckers and chosen the best two doors available. I would have then replaced the two damaged doors. The replacement doors would be sanded down and resprayed to match the rest of the car. Alternatively, I would have put the two replacement doors in the back of the car - a station wagon and asked the panel-beaters to fit and spray the replacement doors.

Oh I am going to be without my car for two weeks and after that I will be expected to accept a second rate repair. A nice shiny coat of paint over a couple of tins of bog.

The amount of time it would take to unbolt the old door and bolt on the replacement door and prepare it for a respray would take less time and cost less money; than the amount of time it will take to prepare the door to accept the thick layer of bog to cover the dent and then prepare the door for painting.

I have sent a message to the insurer stating my displeasure about the current approach to the repair.

Am I wrong to think that a car should be returned in a similar condition than it was before the "at no fault" accident? Not happy Jan!

Kind regards
Lionel