GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk8 => Topic started by: nubedriver on 15 March 2025, 16:12
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Walked outside to my car this morning and noticed somebody had hit my car!! I am 100% sure there was nothing yesterday evening. Not sure what I should do now? Find CCTV, go through insurance etc?? Can someone please advise, I think i might be f'd!!!
(https://i.postimg.cc/653bL2hT/Screenshot-2025-03-15-161138.png) (https://postimg.cc/Yj5xtSZw)
(https://i.postimg.cc/QNSnTk1R/Screenshot-2025-03-15-161156.png) (https://postimg.cc/c6gmq3Dm)
(https://i.postimg.cc/NFNJvBQg/Screenshot-2025-03-15-161212.png) (https://postimages.org/)
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The headlight damage will likely mean a replacement light unit which won’t be cheap. Likely to be best to go for an insurance claim and get it sorted.
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I take it you have no dash cam ? Otherwise I agree probably will be a bill of near £3k plus. I remember years ago my xenon’s were damaged on my mark v in an accident and they were nearly £1k each then so the new lighting system and probably new bumper / wing. When I see this it just shows the lack of integrity out there nowadays as they would know they have done this. Get a dashcam fitted front and rear at the same time the repair is done.
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Bastards. That's my take on it. Someone hit my car in a car park a few years ago and drove off. I still wish evil on them.
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That’s really annoying. I’d personally try and get a private quote for it and see.
Has the wife’s behaviour changed recently? 🤣
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116476677294?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SqKciVBmSkO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tp2LCNeJSEm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
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From what I can see, a new headlamp would be around £1,200. The bumper could probably be repaired relatively cheaply. I think personally I would avoid an insurance claim for damage around £2k due to the long term premium impact.
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Thanks for the replies. Managed to fit the top right of the bumper back in. Matches the other side which is good. Will attempt to get the CCTV futage of where I think this *may* of happened.
I've found some VW Golf MK8 headlight lenses for around £100 on Ebay. Would this be sufficient or would the whole headlight have to be changed?
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
No, managed to get the bumper back in and it looks as good as it can. It's just the headlight crack and the marks on the bumper now. The marks can be fixed for quite cheap, it's just the headlight I might be f'd on!
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
No, managed to get the bumper back in and it looks as good as it can. It's just the headlight crack and the marks on the bumper now. The marks can be fixed for quite cheap, it's just the headlight I might be f'd on!
I posted you a link in my post above for a second hand 8.5 GTI headlight on eBay, did you not check it out?, you’d just need to swap over the LED control units from your original headlights, which is easy! at that price I would have already bought it if I were you. You wont need to code anything as you’d be using the original controllers, May just need alignment, but unlikely it would be far out of whack. Bumper off job to fit it though, which again, isn’t very difficult, easier with two people but not a necessity.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116476677294?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SqKciVBmSkO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tp2LCNeJSEm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
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Thanks for the replies. Managed to fit the top right of the bumper back in. Matches the other side which is good. Will attempt to get the CCTV futage of where I think this *may* of happened.
I've found some VW Golf MK8 headlight lenses for around £100 on Ebay. Would this be sufficient or would the whole headlight have to be changed?
The lenses are VERY difficult to replace, and generally involve baking the light in a low oven to soften the adhesive, you’d then need new butyl adhesive putty, Your car is an 8.5 anyway isn’t it??
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For a car that’s 6 months ish old, I’d bite the bullet and go the insurance route (clearly getting as much info on the suspect as possible). My wife caused £2.5k worth of damage to a mini clubman in a car park knock 18 months ago, premium went up about £200 when renewed in March 2024 and is back down to previous level this year. Clearly premiums and increases depend on many factors, but you may be surprised.
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For a car that’s 6 months ish old, I’d bite the bullet and go the insurance route (clearly getting as much info on the suspect as possible). My wife caused £2.5k worth of damage to a mini clubman in a car park knock 18 months ago, premium went up about £200 when renewed in March 2024 and is back down to previous level this year. Clearly premiums and increases depend on many factors, but you may be surprised.
This is a good point, and besides being nearly new, who knows what damage is underneath the skin, but the OP does give the impression that apart from the cracked headlight it’s only minor damage, difficult for us to truly assess from forum pictures however, but if a second hand headlight and a polish brought it back up to standard, then I know what I’d do.
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Maybe get a Bodyshop to provide an estimate so you can have an indication of damage and then decide - for £350 for a new headlight unit to fix the problem if the damage is minor, no brainer. If damage more than that, I’d suggest insurance dependent on your claim / age / NCD protection / convictions history etc.
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
No, managed to get the bumper back in and it looks as good as it can. It's just the headlight crack and the marks on the bumper now. The marks can be fixed for quite cheap, it's just the headlight I might be f'd on!
I posted you a link in my post above for a second hand 8.5 GTI headlight on eBay, did you not check it out?, you’d just need to swap over the LED control units from your original headlights, which is easy! at that price I would have already bought it if I were you. You wont need to code anything as you’d be using the original controllers, May just need alignment, but unlikely it would be far out of whack. Bumper off job to fit it though, which again, isn’t very difficult, easier with two people but not a necessity.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116476677294?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SqKciVBmSkO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tp2LCNeJSEm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I've seen this mate. How would we know if it's 100% the correct part though? They do look pretty similar. Not sure how I can check the correct part, unless I remove the headlight myself...
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For a car that’s 6 months ish old, I’d bite the bullet and go the insurance route (clearly getting as much info on the suspect as possible). My wife caused £2.5k worth of damage to a mini clubman in a car park knock 18 months ago, premium went up about £200 when renewed in March 2024 and is back down to previous level this year. Clearly premiums and increases depend on many factors, but you may be surprised.
Would you do this even if you couldn't get CCTV? There'd be no other party involved, not sure how it works in scenarios such as this.
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
No, managed to get the bumper back in and it looks as good as it can. It's just the headlight crack and the marks on the bumper now. The marks can be fixed for quite cheap, it's just the headlight I might be f'd on!
I posted you a link in my post above for a second hand 8.5 GTI headlight on eBay, did you not check it out?, you’d just need to swap over the LED control units from your original headlights, which is easy! at that price I would have already bought it if I were you. You wont need to code anything as you’d be using the original controllers, May just need alignment, but unlikely it would be far out of whack. Bumper off job to fit it though, which again, isn’t very difficult, easier with two people but not a necessity.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116476677294?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SqKciVBmSkO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tp2LCNeJSEm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I've seen this mate. How would we know if it's 100% the correct part though? They do look pretty similar. Not sure how I can check the correct part, unless I remove the headlight myself...
(https://i.postimg.cc/TwZfxXDL/IMG-4909.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jwQG6mvt)
It is the correct part, it has the same part number as the headlight on my GTI (5H2.941.059.AA) , if you open your bonnet the sticker is on top of the headlight. Plus it’s an 8.5 headlight with the red stripe, it’s bound to be right.
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Absolutely infuriating. Been there :angry:
If it was just the bumper scuff it wouldn’t be so bad. An easy fix, a couple of hundred would do it. But the headlight is cracked there, right? That’s not going to be cheap, I’d guesstimate up on 1500 quid for the headlight unit alone. Is the wing damaged?
No, managed to get the bumper back in and it looks as good as it can. It's just the headlight crack and the marks on the bumper now. The marks can be fixed for quite cheap, it's just the headlight I might be f'd on!
I posted you a link in my post above for a second hand 8.5 GTI headlight on eBay, did you not check it out?, you’d just need to swap over the LED control units from your original headlights, which is easy! at that price I would have already bought it if I were you. You wont need to code anything as you’d be using the original controllers, May just need alignment, but unlikely it would be far out of whack. Bumper off job to fit it though, which again, isn’t very difficult, easier with two people but not a necessity.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/116476677294?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SqKciVBmSkO&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=tp2LCNeJSEm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
I've seen this mate. How would we know if it's 100% the correct part though? They do look pretty similar. Not sure how I can check the correct part, unless I remove the headlight myself...
(https://i.postimg.cc/TwZfxXDL/IMG-4909.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/jwQG6mvt)
It is the correct part, it has the same part number as the headlight on my GTI (5H2.941.059.AA) , if you open your bonnet the sticker is on top of the headlight. Plus it’s an 8.5 headlight with the red stripe, it’s bound to be right.
Cheers, I will check. What's your thoughts on images of the ebay part like this? Normal after been taken off and still good to purchase?
(https://i.postimg.cc/pTMkBQjD/Screenshot-2025-03-16-143043.png) (https://postimages.org/)
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I didn’t see that picture to be honest, I read that it had a mounting tab that had been repaired, but I didn’t realise the lens seems to have a hole in it! It’s hard to tell if it’s the lighting or is actually lens damage?! You’d have to ask the seller, presumably though the actual body of the light is cracked where the badly executed repair is, they said the broken tab had been repaired, but it looks like a little more than that, you can actually buy tab repair kits from VW but if it’s cracked the housing as well those won’t repair the damage beyond the tab, the seller looks like they have a cardboard packaging box in one of the photos, which suggests to me that they replaced the headlight and are selling the damaged one, that makes me think the damage is worse than they are saying it is, now I look more at the pictures, I probably wouldn’t buy that light unless the seller sent some better pictures of the extent of the tab damage, that’s the only set of second hand 8.5 headlights i can find online, you’d have to make the call as to wether the light is in good enough condition by getting more info, you may well be stuck with having to buy new, which would then be quite costly I think, an insurance claim may be the best option providing you’re comprehensively insured.
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I didn’t see that picture to be honest, I read that it had a mounting tab that had been repaired, but I didn’t realise the lens seems to have a hole in it! It’s hard to tell if it’s the lighting or is actually lens damage?! You’d have to ask the seller, presumably though the actual body of the light is cracked where the badly executed repair is, they said the broken tab had been repaired, but it looks like a little more than that, you can actually buy tab repair kits from VW but if it’s cracked the housing as well those won’t repair the damage beyond the tab, the seller looks like they have a cardboard packaging box in one of the photos, which suggests to me that they replaced the headlight and are selling the damaged one, that makes me think the damage is worse than they are saying it is, now I look more at the pictures, I probably wouldn’t buy that light unless the seller sent some better pictures of the extent of the tab damage, that’s the only set of second hand 8.5 headlights i can find online, you’d have to make the call as to wether the light is in good enough condition by getting more info, you may well be stuck with having to buy new, which would then be quite costly I think, an insurance claim may be the best option providing you’re comprehensively insured.
Yep, I am fully insured comprehensively. My voluntary excess is £500 and compulsory is £500. Meaning £1000 deducted straight away from any claim. New headlight would cost £1.2/1.5K, body work couple hundred max. Should be maximum £2K repair. Then you have to factor in possible premium increase extra. Just contemplating a few things before going ahead :(
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Yep, I am fully insured comprehensively. My voluntary excess is £500 and compulsory is £500. Meaning £1000 deducted straight away from any claim. New headlight would cost £1.2/1.5K, body work couple hundred max. Should be maximum £2K repair. Then you have to factor in possible premium increase extra. Just contemplating a few things before going ahead :(
If I were you I'd avoid an insurance claim in those circs. Assuming the light still works, I'd get the paint sorted first then hunt around for a salvage headlight. Cars are written off all the time, one will come along soon enough.
Also to bear in mind, if you claim this time, what about if you have another in the next few months? Insurance will really screw you over. Happened to me, only two bumps I've ever had were in the same car about 6 months apart.
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That’s a fairly heavy excess, skews the maths of a claim a bit if you can get a decent 2nd hand light unit.
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Looking again at those pictures I’ve decided that the lens of the light is not damaged, confirm with the seller that the tab is the only damage/repair and that it’s solid, if it is I’d buy it, that tab will be hidden anyway, as long as it’s strong and water tight and in the correct place (which it looks to be) you’re good to go, you could always have someone improve the tab repair if necessary, but like I said, it will be hidden, at 300 odd pounds and considering your excess, get it bought! Get the bumper sorted at chips away or such like and I’d expect you’d be all in for under £600, plus you could sell your cracked light for a few quid too.
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Looking again at those pictures I’ve decided that the lens of the light is not damaged, confirm with the seller that the tab is the only damage/repair and that it’s solid, if it is I’d buy it, that tab will be hidden anyway, as long as it’s strong and water tight and in the correct place (which it looks to be) you’re good to go, you could always have someone improve the tab repair if necessary, but like I said, it will be hidden, at 300 odd pounds and considering your excess, get it bought! Get the bumper sorted at chips away or such like and I’d expect you’d be all in for under £600, plus you could sell your cracked light for a few quid too.
Just scheduled a repair for the marks at chip away. They quoted me £260. As this is a business lease, I’ve now leaning towards handing the car back in at the end of its term with the damage to the headlight. Likely it will cost less than insurance. Not sure lease company would be happy an non original part :(
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Looking again at those pictures I’ve decided that the lens of the light is not damaged, confirm with the seller that the tab is the only damage/repair and that it’s solid, if it is I’d buy it, that tab will be hidden anyway, as long as it’s strong and water tight and in the correct place (which it looks to be) you’re good to go, you could always have someone improve the tab repair if necessary, but like I said, it will be hidden, at 300 odd pounds and considering your excess, get it bought! Get the bumper sorted at chips away or such like and I’d expect you’d be all in for under £600, plus you could sell your cracked light for a few quid too.
Just scheduled a repair for the marks at chip away. They quoted me £260. As this is a business lease, I’ve now leaning towards handing the car back in at the end of its term with the damage to the headlight. Likely it will cost less than insurance. Not sure lease company would be happy an non original part :(
If the light hasn’t got any holes in it and it’s just the stress cracks, and given that it’s a business lease, that might be a good call!. I don’t know how it would or wouldn’t react with the polycarbonate lens, you could test on a discreet area, but I’m wondering if windscreen stone chip repair solution would as good as hide those cracks, as it is so thin that it can trace its way into windscreen cracks which then essentially disappear, could be worth a punt before you hand it back, provided that it doesn’t react.
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Just scheduled a repair for the marks at chip away. They quoted me £260. As this is a business lease, I’ve now leaning towards handing the car back in at the end of its term with the damage to the headlight. Likely it will cost less than insurance. Not sure lease company would be happy an non original part :(
I pretty sure they wouldn't. Aren't you contractually obliged to inform them that a (non-trivial) accident has happened as a condition of the lease agreement? They may well stipulate how the repair is performed, even if you hold the insurance. I have to admit that I have never leased a car, but assumed that is how it works. How long till the end of the lease? If a few months away then your 'Plan B' might be worth considering, but I think they would still expect to be informed at the time the damage happened.
If you own the car, the usual debate about whether to put the repair through your insurance or not (depending on the repair cost, etc) is totally up to you, but that does not appear to be the case here.
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If you lease a vehicle then you are just liable for damage to it. When you return it they inspect it and charge you for any apparent damage. I've never seen them insist on being told about dents or scratches...
Can be quite expensive if they charge you but on the other hand it's done by a collection agent who is taking your car straight to auction so often not paying much attention...
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If you lease a vehicle then you are just liable for damage to it. When you return it they inspect it and charge you for any apparent damage. I've never seen them insist on being told about dents or scratches...
Can be quite expensive if they charge you but on the other hand it's done by a collection agent who is taking your car straight to auction so often not paying much attention...
Yep, just going to get the bumper sorted and hope for the best for the headlight. Might take a look at the end of the term and see if there's anything I can do before I hand it in. Not worth a claim and instant deductible £1000.
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If you lease a vehicle then you are just liable for damage to it. When you return it they inspect it and charge you for any apparent damage. I've never seen them insist on being told about dents or scratches...
Can be quite expensive if they charge you but on the other hand it's done by a collection agent who is taking your car straight to auction so often not paying much attention...
Yep, just going to get the bumper sorted and hope for the best for the headlight. Might take a look at the end of the term and see if there's anything I can do before I hand it in. Not worth a claim and instant deductible £1000.
Arval’s 2024 end of lease damage checklist and associated charges are at the link below; this is essentially the BVRLA industry standard guidelines that I dare say most (all?) vehicle leasing companies would use. Lamps and lenses are covered on page 5, and for holes and cracks to the lens, replacement of the lamp unit is a requirement with the associated charge being the OEM price of a new headlamp unit.
So it would certainly be worth finding a good used replacement before the end of your lease term, otherwise you’re likely to be faced with paying the cost of a brand new headlamp replacement at whatever VW’s list price is at the time. That’s assuming the collection agent spots the damage when they collect the car.
https://www.arval.co.uk/sites/default/files/229/2024/09/Car%20damage%20charge%20matrix%20May%202024.pdf
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Word of warning with Arval too, they will charge you via direct debit, there is no other way of paying them so you can't for example pay any charges on a cred card to spread things out.. they stung me for nearly £1k on DD at the end of a lease last year for excess mileage (was cheaper than the monthly cost over the 3 years).