Technical Damage to sill, is it bad?

[Tessia]

I was pulling out of a car park and hit the metal barrier around the trolley bay. Sill is dented and door is a bit hard to open / close but works OK.

My dad has told me that if it's a structural sill it could be an MOT failure but if it's cosmetic it's ok. However this is from his experience with rallying some 30/40 years ago.

So two questions, is this still the case? If so, is this a structural or cosmetic sill?

Car is a 2008 1.2 sport.

 

[steveras57]

Hi not completely sure on the current regulations on this! but as its only dented and compressed rather that punctured and/or holed /corroded I would hope it was ok!.
If you look online you can view the M.O.T test criteria, and the only thing IMO that it might fall foul off is - Damage within 30cm of a "structural mounting!" IE- such as a seatbelt mount etc!
It might be worth showing it to the garage that normally does your mot,s i am sure they would give you a honest opinion and some reassurance ! good luck with it!.

 

[Tessia]

Hi not completely sure on the current regulations on this! but as its only dented and compressed rather that punctured and/or holed /corroded I would hope it was ok!.
If you look online you can view the M.O.T test criteria, and the only thing IMO that it might fall foul off is - Damage within 30cm of a "structural mounting!" IE- such as a seatbelt mount etc!
It might be worth showing it to the garage that normally does your mot,s i am sure they would give you a honest opinion and some reassurance ! good luck with it!.

You are right, going to a garage is going to be the best way to get a definitive answer. Thank you!

 

[varesecrazy]

Making the door stiff means Something has moved

Is the door scraped at all?

 

[steveras57]

Making the door stiff means Something has moved

Is the door scraped at all?

good point be worth getting the door checked as well!

 

[Twotone2]

I did the exact same in my van years ago, damage is still there and it passes it's MOT every year.

 

[steveras57]

top part of the damaged sill area might need flattening back down a little if the bottom edge of the door is catching it! then i guess it depends if you want to go to the trouble of having it repaired properly! (depends on how much you can stand looking at the ding vs the cost of doing it i guess!)
PS- congratulations on buying the best colour!

 

[There all puntos]

Only a failure if the dent moves or the sill has separated from the floor. Sills often have little holes in them to attach trim pieces and to let moisture out.


So no fail. In order to repair the sill, the repair'ee may drill some holes in the dent to pull it out though.

 

[Tessia]

Making the door stiff means Something has moved

Is the door scraped at all?

The door is scratched but barely a dent in it. I did here it "pop" back out when I reversed back off the barrier, so it had pushed in.

 

[Tessia]

top part of the damaged sill area might need flattening back down a little if the bottom edge of the door is catching it! then i guess it depends if you want to go to the trouble of having it repaired properly! (depends on how much you can stand looking at the ding vs the cost of doing it i guess!)
PS- congratulations on buying the best colour!

I was going to grab a hammer and give it a few love taps to flatten it back out.
If it's just cosmetic I don't mind having a go at repairing it myself.
Yeah I do love the colour! I've seen some yellowish looking ones but they are a bit orange-y. This YELLOW one seems a bit rarer.

 

[steveras57]

If your gonna tap it! use a flat piece of wood to get it as flat as you can and avoid as much paint damage as you can!
mines yellow (canary/ custard/ bumblebee! and cause its my taste ive fitted a red leather interior (yea i know) works for me!

 

[Tessia]

If your gonna tap it! use a flat piece of wood to get it as flat as you can and avoid as much paint damage as you can!
mines yellow (canary/ custard/ bumblebee! and cause its my taste ive fitted a red leather interior (yea i know) works for me!

Good idea with the wood, thank you!!

I once had red and yellow (not blonde, but bright yellow) hair, so I'm not one to judge! I'd love to see some pictures of that, I think I'd actually quite like it.

I was thinking of getting some yellow faux leather and going over some of the black plastic inside with it. Also planned on redoing the roof liner because it's stained from previous owners and I'm thinking of doing it black, along with the pillars.

 

[varesecrazy]

I don't think you will get access to tap it back out...

My question with the awkward door mean.. Have the door mounts twisted..

It may be it's relationship between hinges and latch have shifted

I recall Jacking a car,
tried to open door to release handbrake,

door wouldn't open, chassis twist..

Figure out what has changed..
The door.. Or the hole it fits in.

 

[steveras57]

I don't think you will get access to tap it back out...

My question with the awkward door mean.. Have the door mounts twisted..

It may be it's relationship between hinges and latch have shifted

I recall Jacking a car,
tried to open door to release handbrake,

door wouldn't open, chassis twist..

Figure out what has changed..
The door.. Or the hole it fits in.

almost certainly the hole!

 

[porta]

You are right, going to a garage is going to be the best way to get a definitive answer. Thank you!

I was driving my 169 panda around for two years before I got the sill done properly, part panel welded in and a spray job and you really wouldn’t have known

 

[Tessia]

I don't think you will get access to tap it back out...

My question with the awkward door mean.. Have the door mounts twisted..

It may be it's relationship between hinges and latch have shifted

I recall Jacking a car,
tried to open door to release handbrake,

door wouldn't open, chassis twist..

Figure out what has changed..
The door.. Or the hole it fits in.

No I don't think I can tap it out, I just need to tap the top flat because I think that's why the door is a bit hard to open. It doesn't feel like the latch is not catching right, but I could be wrong. I'll tap that flat and see if it solves the issue or not.

 

[John202020]

Not an issue, I'll take a pic of ours tomorrow where some numpty jacked the car on the sill before we got it, it's an advisory but not an issue.

 

[Tessia]

Not an issue, I'll take a pic of ours tomorrow where some numpty jacked the car on the sill before we got it, it's an advisory but not an issue.

That's good to know, thank you. So knock it flat, slap some filler on it, spray and all good!!