General OH oh Bambis poorly! :'(

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General OH oh Bambis poorly! :'(

Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
129
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Location
Leicester
Im not a happy bunny! I went to visit my uncle today and as he lives on a slight hill, left the handbrake very tightly on Bambi. I was there for half hour, walked out the door to find her next door. Not where i left her! She had rolled down the hill backwards straight into what i thought was an Ivy bush! hahahaha i wish! It was hiding a bloody concrete wall! :(:bang:

So, when checking behind her, i burst into tears! Her tailgate was dented in quite bad and also the bumper! Further discovery shows that the boot was open, unable to shut and lock!!!!! This happens to mean that the panel is bent aswell! :cry:

So, i go Fiat, they quote me near £600 just for labour, £200 paint and unkknown price for parts! Get in touch with insurance! £800 excess to pay! S, what do i do?

can i just buy new rear tailgates n bumper off ebay cheap or do i have to go ahead with the claim?:confused:

Totally devestated!!!! :cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry::cry:
 
Shame, but you should always leave a car in gear as well as with the Handbrake on, especially on an incline...
 
Heartbreaking. These things happen though, and nobody is hurt; imagine how much worse it might have been. Sorry for the cliches, but it's all true.

Find out exactly how much they want to charge you - total. You might prefer to pay the lot :eek: and keep saving for your no claims. Get quotes.

And now the killer, and it isn't meant as a reprimand: please always leave your car in gear when you park it, with the handbrake on as well. This sort of thing can happen very easily and leaving a car in gear is the only secure precaution.

It will be fixed have no fear ;)
 
Oh poor you, I can imagine how upset you must be as I would be same. I only had my car a couple of weeks and left her on a pavement outside a friend's house whilst I dashed in (in rain) to drop something off. I must have left handbrake off and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Fi-Fi starting to roll forward. I had to run after her and try to get in the door (not locked fortunately) and jump in and put brake on. All was well fortunately but very scary.

In fact I have noticed that the handbrake is OK on the flat (when I remember to put in on;)) but definitely not reliable on a hill so leave it in gear as precaution.

I do hope it gets sorted quickly and although it is hassle she will be good as new I'm sure.
 
Our front wall with a Megane parked in it after someone thought they'd trust the handbrake.....
DSC_5107.jpg


Consider yourself lucky, a car can be repaired or replaced, your car could have seriously injured or killed someone.... and that's meant as a reprimand. What if my wife or I were getting into our cars with our back to the car rolling down the hill? The result doesn't bear thinking about.....
 
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Before I got my lovely new 500 I drove around a 4th hand ever so slightly battered Fiat cinquecento (my first ever car and my pride and joy). When I'd only had the car a few months I parked it outside my boyfriends parents house on a steep hill. Without the handbreak on.

I popped inside their house for a cup of tea and half an hour later when I came out what did I see but the car on its way down the hill, slowly but rapidly gaining pace! Luckily it must've only just started to move, and also luckily it was as light as a feather so I got behind it and stopped it but I always wondered just how bad the damage would have been if I'd come out of the house a few second later than I did.

There were several cars it could (and would) have smashed into depending on exactly which direction it had gone, not to mention pedestrians who could have been squished. I considered it a very lucky escape and learned my lesson to always put the handbreak on, even on a very slight incline. As well as stopping potential accidents like these it seems to have the additional benefit of keeping your handbreak strong and effective. If you use handbreak without also putting the car in gear after a while it seems to stretch the cable and make it less effective.

So you were unfortunate but it could have been alot worse. Best of luck with the repairs.
 
yeah, i am lucky that no one was walking around or driving around or had there cars parked up. its a good job its a quiet street that no one walks down or drives down often. and if i did see the car rolling down the street, i wouldnt be able to stop it! can barely walk, let alone run! lol!!

insurance are charging £800 for the claim and fiat are £500+. but im lookin at parts to do myself and there less than £100. so ill just be doing that! im starting to put the car in gear now but really wish i had an old car! wouldnt be so angry at myself!

sorry to have caused any problems but wanted to add this just to show that handbrakes are c**p and to put your car in gear.
 
I'd claim that to be modern art and get £2 million grant from arts council/national lottery!
I would have just settled for not having to chase the insurance company for 3 months and threaten them with having to take it up with the insurance ombudsman just to get a cheque out of them.....
 
I have a steep drive and always leave the car ( 100HP ) in gear. However, I have tried releasing the handbrake and the car still had no problem turning the engine in first gear and rolling down the drive, but I suppose every little bit helps. Often a good idea to re-apply the handbrake when the discs have cooled. I'm paranoid if I go on holiday and check it a million times.
 
If it's facing uphill leave it in third then.
If it's a really steep hill and the surface is friable it's a good idea to put blocks iunder the tyres too.

Just use nous.
 
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I sympathise with the OP. My 500 did this a month before my first years no claims bonus was about appear. As this was my first ever car in this country I was quite annoyed. Amazingly, Fiat didn't seem to care that the handbrake was rubbish. Bye bye no claims bonus. Boo. I always leave it in gear now. Expensive lesson.
 
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