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..

[anthony]

Declanny,my Jetta was insured with Allianz.

I had 4 days until my car was picked up by a tow truck,and went to auction about 2 months later,where it was sold to a person buying lots of good cars,which had hail damage.
He then resold all these cars for a profit...

Took about 8 weeks to get paid out,but I got a good payout.
I wanted the new Jetta,which was not out yet,so changed brands reluctantly,but am now happy with the way things turned out...

[passatpout]

So a bit more...

Deciding to be prepared, I've started looking (briefly) at potential replacements.. and started off with another Passat wagon.... almost against my better judgement. Dammit, as much as the reliability of mine was just about enough to stop me from ever touching another VW, everything else about the car is just about too good to go past - economy, size, comfort, fittings, ride, handling, performance, etc... Had to laugh though, when the remote seat release in the boot pulled out of the wall when I went to give it a go, just after I'd given the dealer hell about VW reliability...

Also heard from the insurance today that they'll replace the windscreen next week, and that based on the details of the car, it'll probably be repaired, but no details yet for when it will be assessed (RACV are yet to establish their assessment centres, but I imagine that when they do they'll pump them through and give some fairly quick answers).

At the least, it'll be up for a new bonnet, dents removed from roof, doors, quarter panels, sunroof repairs, potentially 1 new door skin (the remaining panels can be beaten out), a new plastic strip under the windscreen wipers, new wiper blades, new windscreen (being fitted next Tuesday afternoon), and a full respray (paint is damaged on the roof, plus repairs for the dents and new panels won't leave much original paintwork undamaged..).

Anyhow, I'm keeping open minded about it all now... I'll either wind up with a new car, or a repaired old one...

[WestOiler125]

So a bit more...

Deciding to be prepared, I've started looking (briefly) at potential replacements.. and started off with another Passat wagon.... almost against my better judgement. Dammit, as much as the reliability of mine was just about enough to stop me from ever touching another VW, everything else about the car is just about too good to go past - economy, size, comfort, fittings, ride, handling, performance, etc... Had to laugh though, when the remote seat release in the boot pulled out of the wall when I went to give it a go, just after I'd given the dealer hell about VW reliability...

Also heard from the insurance today that they'll replace the windscreen next week, and that based on the details of the car, it'll probably be repaired, but no details yet for when it will be assessed (RACV are yet to establish their assessment centres, but I imagine that when they do they'll pump them through and give some fairly quick answers).

At the least, it'll be up for a new bonnet, dents removed from roof, doors, quarter panels, sunroof repairs, potentially 1 new door skin (the remaining panels can be beaten out), a new plastic strip under the windscreen wipers, new wiper blades, new windscreen (being fitted next Tuesday afternoon), and a full respray (paint is damaged on the roof, plus repairs for the dents and new panels won't leave much original paintwork undamaged..).

Anyhow, I'm keeping open minded about it all now... I'll either wind up with a new car, or a repaired old one...

Hi, my Passat suffered over 100 dents in the March 2010 Perth hail storm and RACWA assessed the damage, found it was repairable due to the value of the car. My complete roof (turret) and bonnet were replaced and all other panels were repaired then the car totally resprayed. Excellent job, was in the shop for 3 weeks but came out perfect, no creaks, rattles or overspray. All new decals, side strips included.
And at the time, as only a few weeks after the last Melb hail storm, replacement cars were very few and far between!