What made you UNHAPPY today!

[bogle]

Oh my V8 Esprit needs fiberglass repair on the front passenger side wheel arch.  Could you tell me what they charged you on the wheel arch?  It's probably being billed to the "lady".  I know they need to prep and paint.  Is it a front or rear wheel arch?

[Colin P]

14 hours ago, Alfa2Evora said:

 

If it ends up going through my insurance then that opens up a whole new can of worms because although I declared all the modifications to them and they applied an additional premium as a result, they're now maintaining that they're only obliged to return my car to its 'as it left the factory' condition, i.e. with a standard S1 bumper. So I don't really understand why the extra premium was required if they're not covering its replacement

 

Hi Dave, you won't like this, but I use the same insurer and declare modifications. They are very clear both when you tell them and in their documentation that they do not cover the cost of modifications and that repairs will be to standard spec. Whilst you may not roll over on this one, you will not win it. Your best bet is to politely negotiate with them on the basis that the Win Ace bumper is cheaper than a genuine Lotus one and try to convince them that it is a win win to replace it with the non standard item.

[Alfa2Evora]

10 hours ago, calvan said:

................I think you will be in a better position to decide on a course of action if you get professional confirmation of your legal rights and the required standard of proof where you are.  

The body repair shop that I'll be using (eventually) put me on to an Independent Motoring Consultant who specialises in providing accident assistance, and as it happens is a particular fan of all things Lotus - he certainly appears to know a whole load more about them than anybody at my insurer does, that's for sure. He's been really helpful already, confirming that I'd done all the right things so far and pointing me towards what actions I should be considering next.

6 hours ago, calvan said:

.................We got out of the car and had walked about 20 feet when we heard a "crunch". The driver of the pickup had decided to back up before leaving his space and put his trailer hitch into the nose of the Elise. He apparently didn't see it because it is too low.

 

Oh no. Please tell me I haven't put a curse on everybody else on here, . Hope you get it all sorted without too much fuss.

A few weeks ago, in the main car park at the same hospital, I had an 'old dear' in a Toyota Landcruiser come within inches of smacking into the side of the Evora as she attempted to pull into a space that was way too narrow for her leviathan at the angle she was approaching it at - she was so short in stature that she was sitting on a cushion on the seat, but was still looking through rather than over the steering wheel. Luckily I was still standing next to Evora and screamed "STOP!!!!" at her otherwise she would have carried on in blissful ignorance. Her response was that if she'd hit it, it would have been my fault for having "such a stupidly f*****g low car that nobody can see".  My response that it would have been her fault for "being such a shortarse she couldn't see out of her car properly" was met with a stony glare.

 

[andydclements]

9 minutes ago, Colin P said:

Hi Dave, you won't like this, but I use the same insurer and declare modifications. They are very clear both when you tell them and in their documentation that they do not cover the cost of modifications and that repairs will be to standard spec. Whilst you may not roll over on this one, you will not win it. Your best bet is to politely negotiate with them on the basis that the Win Ace bumper is cheaper than a genuine Lotus one and try to convince them that it is a win win to replace it with the non standard item.

On thus one though,, Dave doesn't need to "win" with his insurer if it goes directly to the other insurer. They don't have any choice but to reinstate him to the financial position he was in, so either repair to how it was pre-crunch or pay out based on the value of the car as it was irrespective of whether modified or not. That all relies on the other party's insurer agreeing to pay at all.

[Alfa2Evora]

@Colin P We've been insured with them for years on the SAAB and the ALFA. Both of them are 'modified, in that they have upgraded exhaust systems (and a different rear valance to accommodate this in the case of the Italian), and Admiral used to provide full cover (it's one of the reasons we went with them and stayed with them) so I thought nothing of it when I added the Evora to the multicar policy. 

Now I know why the additional premium was less than half the renewal quote of the insurer I had been using for the Lotus - somewhere back in time they've amended the T's & C's of the cover but I don't recall ever seeing a notification on this, 

Live and learn, live and learn. The 'negotiate price and availability benefits of aftermarket versus OE' was one of the options I was considering.

Hopefully though, as @andydclementsis saying, the other driver will come clean and it'll all go through their insurance which will fix it to 'as per pre-incident' condition.

[andydclements]

Several years ago I had a heated discussion with a repairer (and insurance company) over a repair to a bumper & associated bits on a Peugeot 306 hot hatch. They'd fitted the bumper 9and sprayed it etc) with the bumper approx 10mm from the face of the exhaust tip, bumper covering it.  They argued they'd got the bumper based on chassis number, and so it must be right and I must have fitted a different exhaust and different bumper, so prove it's wrong.  They thankfully added that they even have another one in the workshop right there, so we walked to it and I politely pointed to the exhaust cut-out on the very different bumper and the exhaust being just like mine, they then had the audacity to moan that they'd already painted the new bumper so couldn't return it. FFS. As if their incompetence is somehow my fault. It wasn't the end of it, they tried to return the car with a faulty exhaust, the very reason it had been taken off the road immediately after the crash was that the exhaust had been the focus of the impact and cause  it to deform and leak badly. When they repaired it they said it was all out of shape and that's why it leaked (inferring it was faulty and not caused by the accident). I just love Insurance companies, they and their "approved repairers" (possibly cheapest bunch of cowboys they could find) are so easily proven wrong.

[calvan]

7 hours ago, bogle said:

Oh my V8 Esprit needs fiberglass repair on the front passenger side wheel arch.  Could you tell me what they charged you on the wheel arch?  It's probably being billed to the "lady".  I know they need to prep and paint.  Is it a front or rear wheel arch?

The damage on my V8 is to the left rear wheel arch extension. A woman backed an Audi Q5 into it in a parking lot and hit the arch extension absolutely square on, which in a way was fortunate. The main bodywork was untouched and when the arch extension was stressed the urethane adhesive holding the mounting bolts to the extension let go and didn't pull the fasteners out through the bodywork.

I sourced a replacement wheel arch extension from Dave Bean Engineering. They have (or had in July) a right rear extension in stock and managed to find the left side in the UK. It should arrive at their place today and will cost me US$550 plus shipping to me from California. 

SJ Sportscars didn't have the extension I wanted in stock but can make them. As I recall the cost of the part was similar but I didn't check shipping from the UK to the west coast.

I checked with JAE but didn't hear back so I don't know what availability is like from them. In fairness, I made the mistake of using the "contact us" feature on their website instead of a direct call and I'm never confident that those enquiries get through.

I didn't ask about front arch extensions but Dave Bean, SJ and JAE will be the usual suspects to check with.

[pete]

Ward on lockdown,9 cases covid

[ChrisJ]

Any idea as when you will be escaping ?

[bogle]

Pete, 

Please tell the warden of lockdown that you are innocent.  The Exige Gods are not amused and they demand an end to all this silliness.

Hang tight,

Bill

[Alfa2Evora]

Unbelievable!!!!! My neighbour (the one I've ranted about before) is at it again. He knows I'm on permanent nights - we've swapped tales in the past when comparing the rotating shifts he was working then to my nights-only routine.

Today he was out in his driveway, which gets to within 10 feet of my bedroom window, and looked over and saw me closing the blinds at about 9am. Any person with half a brain, given our 'history', would think "Oh, that'll be David away to his bed then" you would think.

So why then am I sitting here, just 2 hours later, wide awake and listening to him using a petrol-powered hedge trimmer to tackle the leylandii hedge that encircles his property?   Bloomin' unsilenced 2-stroke engine - you can probably hear it at the other end of the village, let alone from where I'm sitting.

It's tipping it down with rain for Pete's sake (other names are available) but I suppose he's hired it for the day and is determined to get his money's worth.

[Kimbers]

I have COVID. Again. 3rd time in 2 years FFS

[Sparky]

I spent almost 3 hours driving my sister home on Saturday as she'd gotten ill and tested positive whilst staying here.  Will I get away with it?  Dunno.

[Alfa2Evora]

Words fail me. It's just as well for our amateur tree surgeon that 'justifiable homicide' is not acceptable as a defence in this country.

I'm on my way out to the car to go and visit Jennifer and chummy is out at his front hedge. "Oh hello. I'm surprised to see you out and about at this time of day. Not working tonight?" He was a few nanoseconds away from wearing that hedge-trimmer as a necklace.

He just stared blankly at me when I controlled my response and limited it to "Possibly not. I don't think it'll be safe to be at the wheel of a 40-tonner on the hour and a bit's sleep I've had so far".

I arrived back from the hospital about 10 minutes ago hoping that I might be able to squeeze in another 3 hours or so before I need to leave for work, but oh no, he's still at it. 

[bogle]

David,

You are not catching any breaks.  What a prick!  Amazing the thoughtlessness of this pseudo tree doctor.  

[windymiller]

tested positive for cv19 for the first time ! 😞 apparently i have a new variant the manocrom strain is much much stronger than ther lesser femicrom variant

[bogle]

At least you still have your humor.  It hasn't taken that away!

[windymiller]

thought id fire the heating up today just to check all ok and a newly installed grundfos (last season) stuck cant turn it via impeller screw 😞 so lit fire instead as i cant be arsed to fix it today !! 🤣

[Alfa2Evora]

This should really have gone in the "What made you unhappy for the past 6 weeks" thread but since it doesn't exist and I didn't want to create yet another new thread in this ever-expanding series, I'll just post it here.

As if I haven't had more than enough to contend with of late, I've also been dealing with a several-weeks-long saga surrounding our daily driver Alfa Romeo Giulietta. A fair proportion of the on-going grief emanates from that esteemed organisation, The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and in fact I think it does deserve its own separate thread which I'll get around to preparing later.

With its MOT (annual safety inspection for those not of this land and therefore unfamiliar with this term) due at the end of September, I stuck the Giulietta into our nearby independent Alfa specialist a week or so in advance as I knew that there were a few things that might need attention - the rear brakes were near the end of their life and I could hear some clunks and knocks from suspension bushes for starters.

A couple of days after I left it there, I got the dreaded "We think you should come and have a look at this" call,  . With more than a little trepidation, I attended their workshop to be shown that although it's a modern model, it would appear that it is a real Alfa after all with a lot of shared 'features' from the 'classics' of old, not least their reputation to dissolve in the first shower.

This is the rear wheel arch where it meets the rear of the door sill at the bottom of the C-pillar.

Apparently, Alfa had the brilliant idea of stuffing the sill full of foam rubber (already removed prior to the photo) for sound deadening but of course all it became was a giant sponge soaking up a few gallons of rain water along with no doubt road salt from the winters, which it then retained in close contact with the minimally protected insides of the sills. No wonder I couldn't get the extending 'wand' to go very far inside each of the drain holes when I was trying, on several occasions, to inject rust-inhibiting wax into those cavities,  .

Here's a shot of further up inside the wheelarch showing how little surface protection has been applied by the factory before installing the arch liners which of course then conceal this area from general view - out of sight, out of mind and all that.

.....and a shot of the suspension turret which is of course a load-bearing structure so will be a major issue sooner rather than later.

OK, so I acknowledge that the car's now 12 years old and has done almost 120k miles but we've owned it from new and know its exact history - it's been pampered and cosseted all its life with frequent steam-cleaning of the underside and regular applications of rust inhibitors in the areas I could reach. I dread to think what state it would have been in if I'd just ignored these albeit temporary preventative measures.

Anyway, the metalwork guru at the garage performed his magic over the following days and weeks and fabricated repair panels for the bottom sections of the wheelarches and the C-panels, and the rear 12 inches or so of the door sills on both sides of the car. 

They had warned me that they would probably end up resorting to painting everything in that area with a black rubberised paint but would try to make it look like a neat factory-intended protective section (a bit like the shark's fins on the Evora) rather than just slapping the stuff on at random. Imagine my surprise therefore, when I went to collect the car this morning, to discover that they had in fact managed to repaint the whole area in the original Rosso Competizione finish - no mean feat as it's a 3-stage pearlescent red and by all accounts a real bar steward to replicate and blend into the surrounding 'old' paint.

I was even happier when he said that they'd had to mix a larger quantity of paint than was needed just for this small job so rather than waste it, they'd noticed that the front bumper had a number of stonechips so they'd taken the liberty of flatting it back and repainting it, at no extra cost as a gesture of goodwill to me as a customer of more than 30 years standing,  . I've still to get the bill for the whole job so when that drops into my In-box in the coming week, I might not be smiling quite so much.

As time was pressing on, I drove straight from the garage to the hospital to do Jennifer's lunchtime assist. While I was there, I heard a car alarm going off. Jennifer is in a different section of the ward now from which you can't see the car park but you hear alarms all the time, and I didn't recognise it as being necessarily the Alfa's, so thought nothing of it. When I got back to the car about an hour later though, the display on the instrument panel was advising that the alarm had indeed been triggered. A quick walk round the car revealed the reason.................

Unbe-blinkin'-lievable, . The paint's barely dry for pity's sake. What is it with people in white cars in that car park? At least it's only a surface scrape this time rather than what the Evora suffered, but still somewhat vexing shall we say?

 

[johnpwalsh]

Gees David. Your not half getting it just now bud. Hopefully the garage has some touchup left and can flash it over for you.

[Alfa2Evora]

@johnpwalsh I know John. I'm just wondering who I've upset that much, . Beginning to feel that I should maybe just lie down in the middle of the pavement somewhere with a sign reading "Go on. Take a kick. Everybody else has so why should you miss out on all the fun?" 

[bogle]

Another trip to security to review the video tape?  You've probably gotten to know them a little better since the Evora incident.  Do you think it could be the white BMW again?  What are odds...probably better than the Powerball currently at $1.6 billion US.  If it is the BMW again, the person obliviously needs new contacts or glasses.  Plus their insurance company will cancel them.

 

 

[exeterjeep]

Gosh.  David this has not been the best year of your life , really hope next year is better for you in so many ways.

[NAC63]

Wow I thought rot like that on modern day cars was gone with the 80s. Can't believe another scuff 😡

[andydclements]

You really need to find a spot where the cameras are continuously covering it.