Hi Guys... haven't posted much here for the past few months but I'm going to be very mercenary and ask for your advice now. To cut the story short, my Ed30 has been hit from behind. The rear bumper (both top and bottom parts have been damaged with paint removed and stress marks on the plastic. The rear hatch (boot) also looks slight misaligned with the passenger side vertical gap slightly larger than the driver side although that may only be becasue the bumper is out of place. Thing is, I have it booked in today and tomorrow at 2 different garages to have assessed and I need to know what questions to ask and what I should ensure they look for. I really don't want to leave any stone unturned in making sure the car is checked out as thoroughly as possible. What worries me is that there may be more damage that can't be readily seen. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
To those who want to know what happened, here's a run down. My Ed30 was in slow moving traffic yesterday when some complete t055er decided to drive his banger aka Vauzhall Vectra into the back of my pristine Ed30 - had just washed, waxed and detailed it it 3 times the day before. Anyway, the guy tried to fob me off saying it was minor... at that point I had to remind myself how much time I'd be doing inside if I pranged him with my fist. The impact certainly wasn't minor and I my legs and body went flying and if it wasn't for the seatbelt I would have hit the steering wheel quite hard. It was a busy dual carriageway so we decided to drive to the next roundabout and talk there - its not as if he was going to get away from me in a Vectra. When we stopped again, the guy again didn't give me his name and tried to give me a mobile phone number - not something I was going to accept in the middle of Sparkbrook, Birmingham which has a bit of a reputation for being a dodgy area. My wife's cousin who was also a passenger decided to phone the police at this point as the guy wasn't being co-operative and we were suspicious that he may not be insured. Suddenly the guy's mouth burst into life and gave me a landline number and said he owned a bodyshop just round the corner and we could go there and sort out all the details. He still said it was minor and refused to accept liability!
I told him it was a £30k car - £32k with the finance - and that the VW dealer or recommended bodyshop would decide how minor or major it was. I've also now got lower back pain and stinging pain in my left arm as a result of it being violently yanked from the steering wheel and will be taking the guy to the cleaners.
At the end of the day, I'm really p155ed off because I am a stickler for factory finish and originality and specifically bought this car from new to be sure it had no history of an accident or anything of the sort. As far as I am concerned a pristine history is priceless to me and its gone. It was going into the garage this summer as I was going to get another Mk5 GTI to do high mileage and family runs in.
