What would Motors do about a trolley ding?

Soldato
Joined
28 Sep 2008
Posts
14,123
Location
Britain
Eldest son went to put an empty trolley back for me at our local supermarket. In doing so, he knocked into the drivers door (edge) of a MY15 VW Beetle. The owner was in the car at the time.

Apologetic about the incident, myself and said son apologised and offered to put right any damage. We exchange mobile numbers and off we went.

A call came in a few days ago to advise that she had taken the car to a VW approved repair centre and would be forwarding on their quote for repair. I gave her my email address so that she could pass on the info.

£1500. Made up mainly of labour and parts which can't be reused (window trim, bonding agents, glass bonding, matching front wing, rear wing, removing handles, etc, etc. Oh, and they've thrown in a £75 diagnostic fee...

As this isn't an insurance job, and I have indeed offered to pay out of moral obligation, what actual options do I have here?

I have to ask would I have done the same if the situation was reversed?

If its not an insurance repair (although the garage is an insurance approved VW repair centre), what would happen if in 3-5 years the repair went bad, flaky paint, etc, who is liable then?
Why should I pay for a diagnostic check as part of this issue?

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about all of this now. It's angered me slightly, as I could have said sorry and just walked off.

Thoughts?
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2003
Posts
5,521
Location
Bedfordshire
Diagnostic fee for a dent? If she insists on going to a garage that's going to rip her off she can pay for it herself. I'd be expecting a chipsaway quote, not someone who wants to strip the whole car down. Cost about that to replace a complete door and pull/fill the sill then blend paint across 3 panels on a similar hatchback after it hit a bollard, a trolley dent should be a driveway job.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
Posts
10,582
Location
Kent
Diagnostic fee for a dent? If she insists on going to a garage that's going to rip her off she can pay for it herself. I'd be expecting a chipsaway quote, not someone who wants to strip the whole car down. Cost about that to replace a complete door and pull/fill the sill then blend paint across 3 panels on a similar hatchback after it hit a bollard, a trolley dent should be a driveway job.

He did say it was the edge of the door, so I'm guessing that it's bent, but even so, unless the eldest son is Bruce Banner, I'm wondering how so much damage has been caused to warrant that sort of repair.

Did you take any pics of the damage?
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
15,177
Location
The land of milk & beans
Repairing front *and* rear wings is a bit odd. Sounds like the kid really did a number on it. Do you have pics of the damage?

Diagnostic fee for a dent? If she insists on going to a garage that's going to rip her off she can pay for it herself. I'd be expecting a chipsaway quote, not someone who wants to strip the whole car down. Cost about that to replace a complete door and pull/fill the sill then blend paint across 3 panels on a similar hatchback after it hit a bollard, a trolley dent should be a driveway job.
I'm sure you wouldn't have the same attitude if it was your car. 'I want my car fixed as cheaply as possible, after all the damage wasn't my fault and I DGAF about the quality of repair'.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2004
Posts
10,582
Location
Kent
Repairing front *and* rear wings is a bit odd. Sounds like the kid really did a number on it. Do you have pics of the damage?

I'm guessing that they are going to respray the whole door, which means blending across the front and rear wings too. Thinking about it, it might be plausible - I know from bitter experience that the paint on my car cant easily be repaired over a small area. When I had some damage on the rear wing fixed last year, pretty much the whole side of the car had to be done to blend it properly.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
28 Sep 2008
Posts
14,123
Location
Britain
Yes, it's the paint which needs to blend door repair with front wing and rear wing (3 door car). The dent was nothing more than a typical trolley ding. There is no bent metal, just the little knuckle dent you would expect to see.
 
Soldato
Joined
10 Oct 2006
Posts
3,563
If it’s a normal trolley ding I would offer to send round a paintless dent removal company to have a look. It could be the location of the dent if it’s near the very edge of the door it might not be possible to get a tool behind it.

If a bodyshop ends up the only option I would pay up, I always work on the principle if roles were reversed I would want my car repaired at a bodyshop of my choice.

The diagnostic fee is common at approved body shops probably just gets a quick scan to make sure no errors after having the door apart/taken off
 
Man of Honour
Joined
30 Oct 2003
Posts
13,229
Location
Essex
A place of reference... Was it as bad as this?



Which to put right cost < £500. If the answer was it's a little ding and not a scrape down the entire car which pushed the rear wing in by a few inches then you know that cost is laughable.

I was in a similar situation to you when I hit an audi A8 up the rear end lightly at a crossing about 8 years back. For a tiny scratch audi quoted about 3k with all new mounting stuff for the rear bumper etc. To the gents credit on the phone he said it seemed silly and I ended up giving him about 1k for his mate to put it right which was still a lot for a small scratch but you live and you learn.
 
Last edited:
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
90,819
From a quick google if you have home insurance with personal liability cover you can probably stick it on that.

Unfortunately so often in these cases people take the mick and use it as an excuse to rectify everything they can, etc. though in this case sounds like for paint matching, etc. not going to be cheap anyhow.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Mar 2010
Posts
12,305
Sounds like a dent devil or chips away sort of thing to me. I mean, is it scratched right down to the metal?

Thing is, if it was your almost new car, you'd of course be insisting that it gets repaired at the best place possible.

It's a tough one really. I think all you can do is say that's very steep, can they get a second quote from another approved bodyshop. But i'd be bracing yourself for a similar quote.
 
Soldato
OP
Joined
28 Sep 2008
Posts
14,123
Location
Britain
Lol, no, not as bad as that pic! Just your usual dent with perhaps a drag scuff.

I completely disagree with the diagnostic cost. If they've lit a module after their repair, that's for them to rectify. It's hardly like the trolley pinged an airbag. Guess this will be a suck it up lesson and hope karma comes knocking on my door.

I'm going to pay the garage directly to avoid her having £1500 and not getting anything done at all.
 
Soldato
Joined
8 Nov 2003
Posts
5,521
Location
Bedfordshire
I'm sure you wouldn't have the same attitude if it was your car. 'I want my car fixed as cheaply as possible, after all the damage wasn't my fault and I DGAF about the quality of repair'.

Actually my attitude was much better than that, someone went in to the back of my car at a junction, luckily they clipped the corner but it still dented and left a lovely rash down to the plastic. We stopped and exchanged details, photos, and wanted a price outside of insurance. I sent a text a few hours later so she had it in writing that I had a quote for repairs but I would settle it myself and had no intention of using insurance, letting her off the hook. I hadn't had a quote but I didn't want her worrying about getting a stupidly large quote like the OP got and her refusing to pay it, then having to go down insurance, I will settle it myself as it's easier and I can decide what standard of work I want (like not paying £75 for a diagnostic). I could have easily said it's a new bumper and respray at about £900 but I'd rather not screw someone else over like that for a car repair.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Jul 2011
Posts
698
Location
South Wales
Absolutely scandalous. Someone did a number on my car last Christmas, while I was inside the supermarket and drove off.
Cost me £200 at a well reviewed indy repair place.

For a trolley ding... I'd be fuming with £1500 to pay.
 
Back
Top Bottom