GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Toon on 27 January 2016, 15:30
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Thank you to the Turkish lorry driver with his 44 tonne left hand drive artic who side swiped my 8 month old GTI on the M4 last Thursday night. My wife was driving, overtaking you in the middle lane, when you decided to pull out when she was level with your cab because you didn’t use your mirrors and she was in your blind spot. Even better news was your inability to speak any English. The nonchalant way in which you tore off an International Insurance Certificate from a pad of them in your cab tells me this is just another regular mishap on your 3 week round trip from Turkey as you pilot your articulated missile around Europe. The Highways Agency Pretend Plod and the Police both said "yeah, we can easily see what happened here - happens all the time"
Fortunately my wife wasn’t injured, but my car now needs 2 new doors, a new alloy wheel, a rear wing and a wing mirror. You probably don’t even remember the incident as it’s one of many you experience on each trip. It’s a real shame your offside headlight was scratched. I hope you get it sorted soon. Don’t worry about me – I’ll have my car back in about 3 weeks.
My insurance is with Direct Line - they have been brilliant - car goes in to the repairers on Friday. They also have an international Turkish-speaking department who liaise directly with the insurers - such is the regularity of these sorts of accidents. Direct Line have their own repair subsidiary and they've been great.
Anyone got experience of lead time on these sort of parts? Are they all just standard Golf panels or is there anything "GTI specific" about them? Red lighting strip on inside front door perhaps?
(https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-JQ9XH7f/0/L/1-L.jpg) (https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-JQ9XH7f/A)
(https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-8N5FGqp/0/L/2-L.jpg) (https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-8N5FGqp/A)
(https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-fVFvCPF/0/L/3-L.jpg) (https://toon.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-fVFvCPF/A)
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Can't see the photos (as I'm at work) and can't really help in any way with your questions, but as you say, this happens all the time...
My Father in law was tagged on the back end of his car as a foreign lorry driver changed lanes - it spun his car round so the lorry was pushing his car sideways down the M11 for over a mile. The police know that as they measured the skid marks (from the road, not his underpants). The lorry driver only pulled over as his truck seemed sluggish and the smoke (from the car tyres) made him think there was something wrong with his engine.
In their defence (which pains me) although they should take a hell of a lot more care being in a LHD truck, the physical makeup does seem to make it massively difficult when attempting to pull out etc. Although when they did cock it up, if they showed a bit more compassion and remorse for it at the roadside, no doubt peoples opinions would be a little different!!
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make sure they replace all the panels and not just repair them :smiley: and also check the bodyshop is vw approved that are repairing it
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Yes - I've done that and the answer to both questions is yes :smiley:
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Kind of ironic seeing the IAM sticker in the window.
UK spec trucks have mirrors all over the place nowadays, mostly to make sure moronic cyclists can be seen and as Turkey is part of the EU...
You can have all the mirrors you like, it doesn't mean that a driver who probably spends 12 hours plus most days sitting in his cab uses them to good effect 100% of the time.
Thankfully it's just panel damage and not people damage and thankfully the insurance side is all ok. Still VERY annoying.
My 'other' car was parked up and hit by a truck about a year ago. The driver was fine and apologetic but his boss was the most hideous human being I've ever had the displeasure of speaking to and tried to wiggle out of any responsibility other than saying it was just a bumper scratch and he'd pay a few quid towards repairs, which kind of speaks volumes about how regularly this kind of thing happens, when I said I was going to go through the insurance as he wouldn't accept that the wing was also pushed in and scraped he said he'd just deny everything. SP Logistics if anybody is in Tyne and Wear. If I'd not been laid up really unwell at the time I'd have been on a plane up there to rip the guy's throat out. All down to attitude really, accidents happen and it's how it's dealt with that makes the difference. The car was/is quite old but was kept in absolutely mint condition so it's quite galling. I just don't bother with it too much now, I didn't bother getting it repaired, I'll donate it to my L driver sons and if they crash the thing into a hedge I won't be overly upset.
If that truck had hit my Golf I'd have been on that plane...
Anyway, yes, the interior panels are GTI unique but the bodywork is standard Golf. Make sure you get it repaired in a VW approved bodyshop if you want to preserve the corrosion warranties etc.
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Yeah - the IAM membership is mine and not my wife's. I was not in the car at the time. (I've been a member for 30 years and retake my test every 5 years - of course that doesn't make me a perfect driver)
The driver had been driving 2 hours - the Police checked his tachograph and breathalysed him too - all OK. And - yes - the cab did have additional mirrors for RHD roads but clearly they had not been used correctly. It was 2100 and obviously dark but he still couldn't see the Xenons from the GTI. He has admitted liability. The Turkish firm that own the lorry are a big company (EKOL Logistics) and the insurance company is one of the biggest in Turkey so I think things will be OK.
The accident repair shop is a UK wide chain owned by Direct Line called UK Assistance. They are VW approved. The assessor who came out to look at my car was very efficient and certainly knew what he was doing. In fact, he ordered the parts electronically from his tablet less than 10 minutes after leaving my house. I was most impressed with the way he plugged his tablet into the diagnostic port and downloaded the car history, spec etc. Very good.
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Father-in-law lives in Kent and sees this sort of thing on the M20 when foreign trucks have come off the boat.
We saw something similar happen down there. A CLK was in lane 2 overtaking a truck, when the truck started to pull across. The Merc braked and just squeezed back behind the truck. The truck driver must have seen him as he swung back into lane 1. I can only imagine that the Merc driver then flashed his lights as he began to overtake again only to be hit by the trailer as the truck moved over again.
I would have thought after the first near miss, the Merc driver would have held back, but the fact that he may well have 'flashed him out' without knowing what that meant probably says a fair bit about his driving and understanding of the unofficial ways of the road.
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Father-in-law lives in Kent and sees this sort of thing on the M20 when foreign trucks have come off the boat.
We saw something similar happen down there. A CLK was in lane 2 overtaking a truck, when the truck started to pull across. The Merc braked and just squeezed back behind the truck. The truck driver must have seen him as he swung back into lane 1. I can only imagine that the Merc driver then flashed his lights as he began to overtake again only to be hit by the trailer as the truck moved over again.
I would have thought after the first near miss, the Merc driver would have held back, but the fact that he may well have 'flashed him out' without knowing what that meant probably says a fair bit about his driving and understanding of the unofficial ways of the road.
Unfortunately as you say Simon, an all too frequent occurrence down this way. As well as the M20, often accidents of this nature on the A2. Part of my daily commute includes a section of A2 and regularly is disrupted by these sorts of incidents. You need to have your wits about you when driving amongst all these foreign lorries.
OP, glad none of your family were injured and Direct Line are being good to deal with. Hopefully, once the car is sorted, move on and put it behind you and give foreign truck drivers a wide berth.
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make sure they replace all the panels and not just repair them :smiley: and also check the bodyshop is vw approved that are repairing it
That would be one helluva truck load off ISOSPOON P60(filler) if my memory serves me right!
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make sure they replace all the panels and not just repair them :smiley: and also check the bodyshop is vw approved that are repairing it
That would be one helluva truck load off ISOSPOON P60(filler) if my memory serves me right!
they might try repair 1/4 panel in a similar way to this :smiley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkWm78ClA_M
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Ed China does it on Wheeler Dealers.
And how good is the you tube guy?
Serious skill involved in doing that.
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Looks very experienced with the tools. Wonder about the strength of panel/chassis members after the 'repair' though. Puts you off buying second had as well!!
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Seen Ed China using that piece of kit. They'll replace the doors and the 1/4 panel. Once repaired should be all good. It's a real shame about the car tho, as long as she wasn't hurt thats the main thing.
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Seen Ed China using that piece of kit. They'll replace the doors and the 1/4 panel. Once repaired should be all good. It's a real shame about the car tho, as long as she wasn't hurt thats the main thing.
have seen worse being repaired :whistle:
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Me too, we're a wee bit more professional nowadays tho. My father had a MK2 escort that was 2 half's. Good car tho!
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Me too, we're a wee bit more professional nowadays tho. My father had a MK2 escort that was 2 half's. Good car tho!
unless esure is your insurance company :grin:
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Replacing the entire door skin is cheaper, easier and quicker and as Insurance will be paying cost is not an option to them.
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Not wishing to patronise anyone and I realise this is in hindsight, but it's good practice to overtake trucks with a lane between you or if you're on an A road a couple of beeps of the horn as you're going past if it looks like they may try to overtake. This is commonplace in China for example where people are constantly blowing their horns on the roads. I know it's a different culture in the UK and is often seen as being aggressive but if they want to stick two fingers up as you go past, fine, it's better than the alternative.
Sorry to hear about your wife's accident. Hope all gets sorted for you.
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You'd have thought in these times of electronics manufacturers of trucks and to some extent cars, could have the controls interchangeable between lhd and rhd. Anyway, glad to hear of no personal trauma to the OP's wife, dents are easily sorted.
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You'd have thought in these times of electronics manufacturers of trucks and to some extent cars, could have the controls interchangeable between lhd and rhd.
You mean like road sweeper or gully emptying lorries?
www.truckandtrackmagazine.com/news_item.php?wnID=6115
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You'd have thought in these times of electronics manufacturers of trucks and to some extent cars, could have the controls interchangeable between lhd and rhd.
You mean like road sweeper or gully emptying lorries?
www.truckandtrackmagazine.com/news_item.php?wnID=6115
I was thinking more where one set of controls could be moved accordingly. I've seen it work on some concept cars.
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Kind of ironic seeing the IAM sticker in the window.
UK spec trucks have mirrors all over the place nowadays, mostly to make sure moronic cyclists can be seen and as Turkey is part of the EU...
When did Turkey join the EU? I hate being alongside trucks. I tend to wait behind until a gap is there so I can get past it quickly.
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Kind of ironic seeing the IAM sticker in the window.
UK spec trucks have mirrors all over the place nowadays, mostly to make sure moronic cyclists can be seen and as Turkey is part of the EU...
When did Turkey join the EU? I hate being alongside trucks. I tend to wait behind until a gap is there so I can get past it quickly.
Aren't they an associate member or something? I don't think they're proper members but I'm sure they had some sort of member benefits? I'll have to google it later when I have more time. They were forever trying to gain proper membership but it's a long time since I had to deal with such things so maybe I'm 30 years out of date! I'd assumed if their trucks were trundling all over Europe they'd have to meet EU standards for safety etc.
Maybe it's just NATO they joined properly? Or did they not?
Moving swiftly on...
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Kind of ironic seeing the IAM sticker in the window.
UK spec trucks have mirrors all over the place nowadays, mostly to make sure moronic cyclists can be seen and as Turkey is part of the EU...
When did Turkey join the EU? I hate being alongside trucks. I tend to wait behind until a gap is there so I can get past it quickly.
Aren't they an associate member or something? I don't think they're proper members but I'm sure they had some sort of member benefits? I'll have to google it later when I have more time. They were forever trying to gain proper membership but it's a long time since I had to deal with such things so maybe I'm 30 years out of date! I'd assumed if their trucks were trundling all over Europe they'd have to meet EU standards for safety etc.
Maybe it's just NATO they joined properly? Or did they not?
Moving swiftly on...
Definitely NATO.
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Turkey are not members of the EU due to (amongst other things) still being seen as an occupying force in an EU country (namely Cyprus)
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The car is in the repairers now and the work is going according to plan. Should have it back next week - will post "before and after" pics when ready.
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Just a slight word of caution with UK Assistance. About 18 months ago, a lady decided the lane she was in wasn't wide enough for her Toyota Yaris and thought she'd use some of my lane, smashing my wing mirror off in the process. To be fair, she admitted liability and her insurance company, Direct Line, were absolutely excellent.
The car needed a new wing mirror, and the drivers door respraying. Unfortunately the work undertaken by UK Assistance was shocking. Not only that, the car returned with a gouge out of one of the alloys. Fortunately I'd been very meticulous and taken loads of pictures before it went on the lorry. Of course, they said it was there before hand but thanks to the date stamps on my pictures (taken the same day it was recovered), I could prove it wasn't.
Not only that, they needed 3 goes to get the paint finish spot on. They left loads of sanding marks, overspray (all over the alloys...), and weird marks all over the place. Ended up getting a claims manager from Direct Line out to view it, and as soon as he saw the car he was horrified and arranged to get it sorted until I was happy.
Hopefully they'll do better with yours!
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Just a slight word of caution with UK Assistance. About 18 months ago, a lady decided the lane she was in wasn't wide enough for her Toyota Yaris and thought she'd use some of my lane, smashing my wing mirror off in the process. To be fair, she admitted liability and her insurance company, Direct Line, were absolutely excellent.
The car needed a new wing mirror, and the drivers door respraying. Unfortunately the work undertaken by UK Assistance was shocking. Not only that, the car returned with a gouge out of one of the alloys. Fortunately I'd been very meticulous and taken loads of pictures before it went on the lorry. Of course, they said it was there before hand but thanks to the date stamps on my pictures (taken the same day it was recovered), I could prove it wasn't.
Not only that, they needed 3 goes to get the paint finish spot on. They left loads of sanding marks, overspray (all over the alloys...), and weird marks all over the place. Ended up getting a claims manager from Direct Line out to view it, and as soon as he saw the car he was horrified and arranged to get it sorted until I was happy.
Hopefully they'll do better with yours!
was it the car in your signature they fixed the red mk7 :smiley:
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Just a slight word of caution with UK Assistance. About 18 months ago, a lady decided the lane she was in wasn't wide enough for her Toyota Yaris and thought she'd use some of my lane, smashing my wing mirror off in the process. To be fair, she admitted liability and her insurance company, Direct Line, were absolutely excellent.
The car needed a new wing mirror, and the drivers door respraying. Unfortunately the work undertaken by UK Assistance was shocking. Not only that, the car returned with a gouge out of one of the alloys. Fortunately I'd been very meticulous and taken loads of pictures before it went on the lorry. Of course, they said it was there before hand but thanks to the date stamps on my pictures (taken the same day it was recovered), I could prove it wasn't.
Not only that, they needed 3 goes to get the paint finish spot on. They left loads of sanding marks, overspray (all over the alloys...), and weird marks all over the place. Ended up getting a claims manager from Direct Line out to view it, and as soon as he saw the car he was horrified and arranged to get it sorted until I was happy.
Hopefully they'll do better with yours!
was it the car in your signature they fixed the red mk7 :smiley:
It was yes, I'm intrigued as to why you ask?!
(http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc481/birchyboy87/PH14%20FHJ%20Mk7%20GTI/DSC_0051_zps50vw0xyc.jpg) (http://s1214.photobucket.com/user/birchyboy87/media/PH14%20FHJ%20Mk7%20GTI/DSC_0051_zps50vw0xyc.jpg.html)
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Just a slight word of caution with UK Assistance. About 18 months ago, a lady decided the lane she was in wasn't wide enough for her Toyota Yaris and thought she'd use some of my lane, smashing my wing mirror off in the process. To be fair, she admitted liability and her insurance company, Direct Line, were absolutely excellent.
The car needed a new wing mirror, and the drivers door respraying. Unfortunately the work undertaken by UK Assistance was shocking. Not only that, the car returned with a gouge out of one of the alloys. Fortunately I'd been very meticulous and taken loads of pictures before it went on the lorry. Of course, they said it was there before hand but thanks to the date stamps on my pictures (taken the same day it was recovered), I could prove it wasn't.
Not only that, they needed 3 goes to get the paint finish spot on. They left loads of sanding marks, overspray (all over the alloys...), and weird marks all over the place. Ended up getting a claims manager from Direct Line out to view it, and as soon as he saw the car he was horrified and arranged to get it sorted until I was happy.
Hopefully they'll do better with yours!
was it the car in your signature they fixed the red mk7 :smiley:
It was yes, I'm intrigued as to why you ask?!
(http://i1214.photobucket.com/albums/cc481/birchyboy87/PH14%20FHJ%20Mk7%20GTI/DSC_0051_zps50vw0xyc.jpg) (http://s1214.photobucket.com/user/birchyboy87/media/PH14%20FHJ%20Mk7%20GTI/DSC_0051_zps50vw0xyc.jpg.html)
park it under a street light at night see if you can see a difference in shade :smiley: as red is terrible to get right
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Just a slight word of caution with UK Assistance. About 18 months ago, a lady decided the lane she was in wasn't wide enough for her Toyota Yaris and thought she'd use some of my lane, smashing my wing mirror off in the process. To be fair, she admitted liability and her insurance company, Direct Line, were absolutely excellent.
The car needed a new wing mirror, and the drivers door respraying. Unfortunately the work undertaken by UK Assistance was shocking. Not only that, the car returned with a gouge out of one of the alloys. Fortunately I'd been very meticulous and taken loads of pictures before it went on the lorry. Of course, they said it was there before hand but thanks to the date stamps on my pictures (taken the same day it was recovered), I could prove it wasn't.
Not only that, they needed 3 goes to get the paint finish spot on. They left loads of sanding marks, overspray (all over the alloys...), and weird marks all over the place. Ended up getting a claims manager from Direct Line out to view it, and as soon as he saw the car he was horrified and arranged to get it sorted until I was happy.
Hopefully they'll do better with yours!
I hope so. Fingers crossed. Direct Line own UK Assistance so I'm hopeful
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Got the car back from UK Assistance today - perfect. Like new. They've done a great job. Here are the "after" shots
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-RGjtTQM/0/XL/13-XL.jpg)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Cars/GTI-mishap/i-tSFJvdn/0/XL/15-XL.jpg)
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Looks stunning and quick turn around
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I agree with what the boss man said ^^^^^^^
Black just looks so good for five minutes one cleaned up like that.
And those Santiagos :drool: :drool:
A happy outcome from a very unfortunate event.
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quick turn around
Yeah - 10 days it was away (and Direct Line pay me £10/day for every day over 7 days off the road so that's a few pints and a curry). I will not miss the hire car Hyundai i30 diesel I've been driving for the last 10 days that's for sure. Again - Direct Line paid so all I need now is the Turkish insurance company to admit fault and I'll get my £150 excess back too. Could be months :sad:
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It should be up to your insurance company to claim the excess from the other party. I'm sure you shouldn't have paid it at all.
My cousin had a bump recently when a neighbour reversed off her drive into the side of his car for which she admitted liability. Whilst the car was being repaired, he had a phone call saying they were from his insurers and he would have to pay the excess before he could get his car back as the claim was going to be settled 50-50. It sounded legitimate as they knew all the details, but obviously he disputed it. Soon after he rang his claims handler, who told him that they hear of these sort of scams all the time.
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Car looks stunning!!
Black is the business when it's clean.
Glad everything worked out well for you in the end.
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It's unsurprising that the OP had to pay the excess and wait to get it back, tearing off a copy of the insurance and handing it over was no admission from the insurance company (even if the driver admitted to it), merely providing insurance details following an accident. Unless you have legal cover and an upfront admission of liability from the other side or irrefutable evidence of fault (dashcam footage or a few independent witnesses), the insurance company pretty much always assume that it could end up as an "at fault" claim if the other side change their story later and want your excess "just in case".
When my GTD got nudged from behind, it looked to be a clear case of them ploughing into the back to me at the end of a sliproad to a roundabout (which is exactly what happened), with pictures that demonstrated the expected aftermath to both cars and positioning, but the other side's insurance was met with a wall of silence when requesting their customer's admission of involvement. That dragged the admission of blame out, they agreed to pay up without admitting blame ("payout without prejudice"), and I still had to pay my excess and wait until my insurance company had their money in the bank and make a claim against the other side to get my excess back. took about 11 weeks to get the car repaired (between the shortage of parts and wall of silence) and another 4 weeks to finally get the "without prejudice" judgement agreed and payments to start coming in.