Car repair advice please!

Spikey

Spikey

Spikey

Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2004
Posts
5,992
Location
North East, UK
Hi all, unfortunately I had an accident in early december and basically I was doing 35mph in a 50 and hit black ice and lost control of the car and went into the side of a water tanker in the left hand lane. The car is currently getting repaired via Nationwide Auto repairs in Gateshead and I'm expected to have the car back on the 28th. The car was perfectly drivable until they collected it but not long before the accident I had the tracking done because it was way out when I got the car from the Mazda dealer and it made a big improvement.

This is my first claim and I'm wondering if I should be phoning the repair shop and making sure they check the tracking/balance etc? It felt alright after the crash but I'm just wondering if the impact may have knocked the tracking etc off? Not sure what I should be getting them to check so any advice would be greatly appreciated! I have enclosed a pic of the damage. As you can imagine I don't have 100% faith in garages and don't want to be driving a car that's not set up correctly. It's due for an MOT/Service as soon as it's out of the repair shop and I don't want to have to pay to get anything adjusted via my own garage if it can be done via insurance. Thanks.

photoxuz.jpg
 
It looks like the wheel has taken some of the impact so it would be wise to get the tracking and geometry checked as a precaution.
 
Thank you, I'll make sure I give the garage a call and mention it, I don't know masses about cars but I do know it has been lowered (I've got paperwork from previous owner) so that the ride height is better. Is that part of the Geometry? (sorry for sounding thick!). I'm using the Yokohama A11A tyres as well, is there anything better suited to the snow/ice ie a winter set of tyres I could get as I believe the A11A's are not designed for these conditions?
 
Nationwide are a zoo, I'd rate UK assistance over nationwide any day, if it's not right take it back and back and back.

They are very used to throwing back together company cars and fleet hire cars to give a monkeys, don't accept anything other than what your happy with.

My Mazda was missing trim inside and the new door wasn't even in line and my wife's Zafira they didn't even paint the door handle still had a scratch on it

Both cretins
 
Spikey said:
Thank you, I'll make sure I give the garage a call and mention it, I don't know masses about cars but I do know it has been lowered (I've got paperwork from previous owner) so that the ride height is better. Is that part of the Geometry? (sorry for sounding thick!). I'm using the Yokohama A11A tyres as well, is there anything better suited to the snow/ice ie a winter set of tyres I could get as I believe the A11A's are not designed for these conditions?
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The Geometry includes everything that is attached and part of the suspension and steering systems. Lowering the car can affect the geometery as it can cause the wheels to bow inwards. You fix this by adjusting the camber but not all cars have camber adjustments. A decent garage repairing the car would see the damage to the wheel and check all the suspension components as a matter of course.
As for tyres no idea mate. In the snow and ice most tyres will be a bit crappy unless you go for specific snow tyres but I doubt its really worth it tbh...
 
maccapacca said:
Nationwide are a zoo, I'd rate UK assistance over nationwide any day, if it's not right take it back and back and back.

They are very used to throwing back together company cars and fleet hire cars to give a monkeys, don't accept anything other than what your happy with.

My Mazda was missing trim inside and the new door wasn't even in line and my wife's Zafira they didn't even paint the door handle still had a scratch on it

Both cretins
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice mate, I've not even paid the excess yet, do I pay that to the insurance or the garage? I'd rather see the car in person before I pay anything, I take it I'm within my rights to do this?
 
They'll get you to pay the excess when you either pick it up or they deliver it, take a torch, you probably won't notice any tracking problems for a couple of days but take it back if any problems
 
Thanks, I'll definately give it a good check and I'll also get my local garage to give it the once over.
 
As said, the wheel has clearly taken a decent 'thwack' so it will be part of the repair.

I had a simmilar situation, got the car back and it was pulling to one side quite badly.
Called the garrage back and they took it back and sorted it as part of the claim, also replaced a broken door speaker that they missed.
 
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Nationwide Gateshead did some repairs for me, painted my rear bumper 6 times each time it was wrong and the paint finish was shocking. I ended up getting the insurance company to agree getting the work done by a company of my own choice who did the work correct at there first attempt.
 
morgan25 said:
Nationwide Gateshead did some repairs for me, painted my rear bumper 6 times each time it was wrong and the paint finish was shocking. I ended up getting the insurance company to agree getting the work done by a company of my own choice who did the work correct at there first attempt.
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Doesn't fill me with much confidence lol I have a local paint shop I've used before so if it's shocking they will be getting used.
 
Update: Phoned garage and asked them to check tracking and geometry, they phoned back saying it was being done anyway. Can never be sure with garages so I will still get it checked out when I get it back.
 
Update:

Hi guys, just another update to say I've just collected the car from Gateshead. They've done an amazing job, looks great and the tracking seems spot on. Got it booked it for MOT and Service tomorrow with my garage so fingers crossed it passes okay as I've just spend £400 on it today, gave it a treat and filled it up with Shell V-Power Unleaded, not sure if it makes much difference to be honest but I've never used the expensive stuff before, does it make the performance any better? The only downside was they didn't keep me as informed as I would like, felt at times like I was hassling them but as for worksmanship it's been spot on. Cannot fault them at all, paintwork is amazing. :)
 
Spikey said:
Update:

Hi guys, just another update to say I've just collected the car from Gateshead. They've done an amazing job, looks great and the tracking seems spot on. Got it booked it for MOT and Service tomorrow with my garage so fingers crossed it passes okay as I've just spend £400 on it today, gave it a treat and filled it up with Shell V-Power Unleaded, not sure if it makes much difference to be honest but I've never used the expensive stuff before, does it make the performance any better? The only downside was they didn't keep me as informed as I would like, felt at times like I was hassling them but as for worksmanship it's been spot on. Cannot fault them at all, paintwork is amazing. :)
Click to expand...

Might give it a bit of a clean out, only worth using high octane on turbos, or cars that have ecu maps that can specifically take advantage. Also if your Ecu is capable, it won't effect straight away, as it will need to adjust, unless you isolate the battery to reset it.

My v70 runs a bit smoother on high octane, but weather its worth the extra cost, we'll it isn't really, i get very slightly better mpg, and it seems a bit smoother. Not really worth the price difference. That said, I'm not 100% sure how well my ecu can cope with higher octane.
 
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