It could be goodbye...

[passatpout]

Well, that's torn it.

I woke up today and had a perfectly functional, undamaged, smoothly operating Passat, which had just ticked over 115,000km.

Then I went to a Christmas party today... during which, the fury of the heavens was unleashed and the hail was coming down with lethal ferocity.

Now I have a Passat where the only undamaged panels are the near side rear door and tailgate. At a rough count, about 30+ dents in the roof, about 20 in the bonnet, 1-3 in each of the other damaged panels, a windscreen with an almost perfectly circular crack, a damaged sunroof frame, a broken indicator diffuser on the off-side mirror, and possibly some wheel damage.

So, I'm getting ready to say goodbye, if need be. While I think it's repairable, it may not be, and I'm prepared to accept the fact that it may not be worth fixing.. The claim's been lodged just now, but I doubt I'll hear any more back this year..

Here's hoping that there are some answers before the next road trip, at the end of January...

[anthony]

If the roof is damaged,it will be a write off,thats what happened to my beloved Jetta last year,and only the boot,binnet,and roof were damaged.
It will be sold as a repaitable write off,I was really devestated when this happened to me,as my car had only done under 56 000 kilometers,and was in perfect condition.Someone picked up a good car.............

I now drive a new Accord Euro...

[Declanny]

Anthony, can I ask which insurance company you were with? My Jetta got roof, boot and bonnet damage yesterday, and I wasn't sure if the damage was bad enough to be a write off. I've done just over 40000 kms.

[wai]

Comiserations to all you with hail damage after the storm in Melbourne. A few years ago I was caught in the storm in Sydney. Fortunately there were only a couple of minor dents that were not noticed when I traded my then Hiace SBV in on my Caddy Maxi Life.

I know it is cold comfort to those affected, however one thing I do is carry some blankets with me in the car so that should this happen to me again, I can at least try and get something over the car to help protect it. Needless to say, a blanket will not protect against every size of hailstone, but it will help. Things like bonnets, boot lids, and doors are relatively easily repaired or replaced. It is the fixed panels that are the problems.

It is then the insurer you are with. I am with AAMI that gives me a new for old for the first 3 years if it is written off. After that it is the agreed value less depreciation.

When you look at the check sheet of an insurance quote you realise that it will not take much before the vehicle is written off. The insurer will pull the plug at anywhere between 30% to 50% of the insured value.

[The_Hawk]

The insurer will pull the plug at anywhere between 30% to 50% of the insured value.

I don't know if it's a fixed percentage but insurers will usually pick the cheapest option for them. IE if they can pay you out and sell the car in it's current condition and end up financially better off that will likely be the way it goes.



All else aside, I have never had to deal with these things, but what happens if they do write off a hail damaged car? Do you simply hand over the keys and walk away with a cheque? (Which could be a huge pain given VW's delivery times).

Or will the insurance company let you continue to drive the car for a period while you order/wait for your replacement vehicle? I wonder if there is any negotiation in that space. On one hand, what do they care? On the other is it better to dump a whole pile of hail damaged cars into the market at one time or better to spread them out a little ...

[wai]

All else aside, I have never had to deal with these things, but what happens if they do write off a hail damaged car? Do you simply hand over the keys and walk away with a cheque? (Which could be a huge pain given VW's delivery times).

Or will the insurance company let you continue to drive the car for a period while you order/wait for your replacement vehicle? I wonder if there is any negotiation in that space. On one hand, what do they care? On the other is it better to dump a whole pile of hail damaged cars into the market at one time or better to spread them out a little ...

The normal thing is that they give you time to remove your personal effects, hand you the cheque, collect all the papers/keys/manuals/etc. and that's it.

The damaged cars go to places like Carlins Motor Auctions in Sydney (and others around the country) where they are disposed of to trade and private buyers. You would be quite surprised how much some people are willing to pay for a hail (or minor accident) damaged vehicle. In fact,this is where the vast majority of trade-ins go. My Hiace SBV went to the auctions the next day. The only time they keep the vehicle and try to re-sell it themselves is if it is a very special one. You would be amazed how many near brand new cars are auctioned. The dealers do not want a near new one competing with their brand new stock.

[frozze]

I
All else aside, I have never had to deal with these things, but what happens if they do write off a hail damaged car? Do you simply hand over the keys and walk away with a cheque? (Which could be a huge pain given VW's delivery times).

That's how it works AFAIK. My close friend had a badly damaged car because of the hail, drove to the assessment centre and they pretty much took her keys after assessing it. She was shocked and unprepared, thinking that it was only an assessment and a decision will only be made at a later date or something. She had to packed everything in the car and cabbed home! She didn't get the cheque immediately though.. But it wasn't a long wait..

[kleung]

I know it is cold comfort to those affected, however one thing I do is carry some blankets with me in the car so that should this happen to me again, I can at least try and get something over the car to help protect it.

What a great idea! I keep a travel rug in the car for when I have to cart large stuff around in the cabin, but I never thought to use it to protect the roof in a hailstorm...

It is then the insurer you are with. I am with AAMI that gives me a new for old for the first 3 years if it is written off. After that it is the agreed value less depreciation.

New for old replacement only applies for the first 2 years, not 3, as per AAMI's Comprehensive Car Insurance policy documents.

When you look at the check sheet of an insurance quote you realise that it will not take much before the vehicle is written off. The insurer will pull the plug at anywhere between 30% to 50% of the insured value.

I asked that question of the AAMI claims team the last time I made a claim - they told me that they generally won't write off a car unless the repair cost exceeds 100% of the insured value of the car.

[passatpout]

Any update on the outcome? Hope it all worked out ok for you

OK, the latest... It was assessed last night at the RACV hail centre in Essendon. We were worried at first, since some of the comments as we parked it weren't encouraging - and compared to the other 6 or so cars that were being checked, it was a shocker.

The first comment from the assessor was that it would be a "complete" or "comprehensive", something like that and which didn't have a good connotation.. They then explained that meant that a repairer would be assigned straight away, and it would be fixed no question. One assessor actually said he loved hailstorms, since they gave him lots to do...

Anyhow, after about 10 or 15 minutes waiting, the assessor came to see us, and said he needed to talk to us about the car... Which had us worried. He then said that it would need to go to a panel beater to get quoted, and since it was a VW wagon, it would need to be a specialized repairer. They then assigned me to Eurostyle in West Melbourne, and advised me to contact them for a time. Based on the quote, they'll advise what they'll do with the car.

Since we're going away for a fortnight, in a fortnight, planning about a 3,000km road trip, we asked about that, and were told to use the car for the trip (if we can handle using it with the damage, which we can), then get it booked in for the quote when we return. The assessor actually said that if people have trips planned, he tells them to take the car on the trip, since that way any dings or scratches from the road will be fixed with everything else... Good advice, in my book..

So, in about the second week of February, I'll arrange for it to be quoted. Fortunately it's only about a 5 minute bus ride from work, so relatively convenient. And hopefully it'll be fixed shortly after, preferably while I'm away for work in the last week of February.

As an aside, the toll from the storm in my wife's family alone stands at 7 cars written-off, 2 potentials (including mine), 3 other damaged cars, a damaged boat, and 2 damaged houses.... But luckily no injuries...

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:47 PM ----------

Also meant to add that the windscreen was replaced on Wednesday night (was originally meant to be Tuesday afternoon, then Wednesday morning.. you get the drift)..

Tossing up now whether to see, if the entire car is resprayed, about changing colour....

[anthony]

Keep the colour,as door jams,inside of motor,boot are not likely to get resprayed,and for resale,keep your colour origional.