General confessions from a crud weekend

[Tony M]

ok forst off i binned the panda... after the obligatory works team building day out paintballing during which strained my back... got in the car at the toip of a gravel laned sloping drive way and accelerated... turns out they are rubbish rally cars.

so after it snaked a couple of times it decided i was going to have no control at all and headed for the nearest fence.

So result of saturday can't stand up and have got no pretty car... I have the car but it needs a few bits to be road legal.

windscreen
offside headlight
rear window (offside)
aerial
nearside front indicator lens

I had asked the local scrap guy to move it to his yard to get it out of the way (i left it in situ for 2 days) and they helpfully used a strap through the doors to pick it up... and crushed the edges of the roof... nice job fella. so the body is pretty shagged. I will try to bend it roughly straight and put the legal bits on... and then paint in with hammerite and use it til the tax runs out or I find a donor shell.

I attach pics for ... the morbidly curious, and assesment

 

[Hellcat]

Bad luck fella.

Least he used straps... ones around here use chains which pretty much shags everything.

 

[Bougainvillea Rosso]

Sh*t! Sorry to hear that Tony. At least you got out of it alive! That's one less top condition Panda on the road Let's hope you can get it sorted. IS the damage mainly 'cosmetic', if you pardon the expression?

 

[JimMagill]

OH my god!

How are you doing now?

Jim

 

[Tony M]

IS the damage mainly 'cosmetic', if you pardon the expression?

If you mean apart from the obvious crease along the side of the car and the boroken glass is it drivable...? then yes. but i doubt i can truely justify straightening it out... I'll put the easy bits right and see if i can get a door. but i think the worst damage was done when they picked it up... they've pushed the edges of the roof inwards which to me look pretty impossible to pull out again. still i will see what the body shop says, if he want's more than £100 just to straighten it... I can drive it as is.

 

[Steven]

Bloody hell Tony! That's a proper mess...

More importantly, how are you? No lasting damage?

 

[FuzzyPanda]

That sucks big time, but if selling the wheels will make you feel better give me a shout.

 

[Tony M]

Bloody hell Tony! That's a proper mess...

More importantly, how are you? No lasting damage?

Well i'm lucky that my back was shagged before i got in the car... I was hugely frustrated as i had just paid £35 for an absolutely ****e day in which i strained my back

to vent my spleen i set off with gusto and slide gracefully through their fence... you know how easy these cars bend so from that image you can see the impact was pretty weak. The only reason i didn't drive it home on the day was that the tyre was knocked from the wheel and all the air fell out as it went over the grass verge.

All in all, it was my fault... and as far as accidents go it was pretty harmless. 1 car 1 fence 1 person... 1 bill for fixing said fence (bit's of it were 40ft into the field).

I am unhurt but no wiser

**edit** i do remember one thing... hitting the fence did probably stop it rolling. as i was drifting sideways downhill. no problem on loose chippings... but the transition to grass was very nervous.

 

[Steven]

That sucks big time, but if selling the wheels will make you feel better give me a shout.

 

[dave]

if you want a car moved with out damage you should ask a recovery company not a scrappy.

 

[Hellcat]

Didn't take long did it..

Can we keep a copy of that pic backstage?

 

[Nuova500]

to be fair, its not worth doing anything with seeing as the sill is that bent, hows the floorpan?

 

[Panda Van]

Poor you n' poor panda, no one likes to see chumfed panda's. Im sure A hot water bottle and a few parcetamol will help the car no end (maybe a plaster too)

 

[panda-sport]

Tony, I'm sorry to say but I think that your Panda is unsafe to drive on the road. That sill and side damage will have major structual implications, I'd guess the scappy thinks so too, thats why they were heavy handed recovering it Chances are it will need a reshell (def more than £100 of damage). Glad your ok cheers Damon

 

[Tony M]

Tony, I'm sorry to say but I think that your Panda is unsafe to drive on the road. That sill and side damage will have major structual implications, I'd guess the scappy thinks so too, thats why they were heavy handed recovering it Chances are it will need a reshell (def more than £100 of damage). Glad your ok cheers Damon

well, thanks for the heads up.

I would love to reshell it but you know how it is... normally the shell is the bit that means the car is still road worthy. So the ones that appear in the scrap yards are the ones that need welding... and by the time you find them they normally have a car or two on top of them.

basically i need the auto bit... so i will be on the look out for a donor body.

I only got it back for the motor (excellent 1.1L) and the auto box (excellent also) the wheels are a plus. the tyres cost £130 3 weeks ago so they're keepers.

all in all... bits are good... the body is not.

 

[Plug]

Hmm that looks properly bent Tony, I don't think it'll be coming back from that one. But if you're alright, then the car doesn't matter. Cars are just goods, you can always buy another.

Cheers,

Plug

 

[Alan.D]

Tony I really feel for you mate, but have to echo what's been said the centre piller is also bent so if in another accident you would probably need to worry about more than your back. I hope you recover quickly.

However now the BMW is back on the road if you want to borrow the selecta then no problem, I'll need it for a couple of press do's but that's not for a while yet, by next week i'll probably be able to drive manual in anycase.

Best wishes and keep your head up, these things do happen.

 

[Chas Uno]

Really sad news, and bad luck Tony

Probably your best bet is to have a body shop assess the damage and decide from there. Any car can be rescued, it just depends on how much you can afford...

The roof, 'A' post, sill and rear quarter panel can all be replaced, maybe with items cut out from a scrap Panda. Basically if the rest of the shell is mint/ straight it might be worth doing, though you'll still have to fork out for paintwork on top of it all. But to be honest the likely bill from a professional place to do all the work will easily get you another mint Panda with plenty of change to spare.

Shame that the scrappy removed it by it's roof and not by the tow hook, it might be a lot easier to repair otherwise.

Hope your back gets better too. Both you and your Panda are in pain

All the best,

Chas

 

[Tony M]

Tony I really feel for you mate, but have to echo what's been said the centre piller is also bent so if in another accident you would probably need to worry about more than your back. I hope you recover quickly.

However now the BMW is back on the road if you want to borrow the selecta then no problem, I'll need it for a couple of press do's but that's not for a while yet, by next week i'll probably be able to drive manual in anycase.

Best wishes and keep your head up, these things do happen.

Yeah i can understand that the major structural elements have been battered... I also know that to repair it would cost a lot more than the car could ever be worth.

Alan, good to hear you're on the mind yourself... I should be back to normal in about a week or so at the current rate. I couldn't borrow a car that is a prize in a charity raffle with my track record... the reprocusions could be awfully guilt laden. I'll swap you

 

[Alan.D]

I got a few cars lying about Tony

or

or


So if you need to borrow one then your welcome to, all bar the italia are MOT'd n taxed, The Selecta still has some minor damage points to repair plus I would think your rallying days in a selecta are probably now over for a while so it would be in safe hands but no swaps.