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Insomnia

Insomnia

'09 Bravo T-Jet 150 Sport
Parked in the garage
Joined
Jan 10, 2006
Messages
210
Points
63
Location
SE Kent
Well I'm not having a good week so far. Last night a lorry rear ended me on my approach to Dover docks. He wasn't paying attention and ended up using me as a brake :(

I'll get pics online soon.

Suzi was hit dead centre on the rear crumpling the boot and denting the bumper. As far as I can tell the rear quarter panels and spare wheel floor plan are straight.

Both myself and my passenger ended up in hospital. I have whiplash, passenger has a number of issues main one being a fractured bone in arm. Both essentially ok but unpleasant experience.

The driver of the lorry was Romanian who barely spoke English. The police failed to attend and apologised an hour after the event - which is really frustrating as I needed their help to communicate with the driver (I didn't know what was right or wrong from a paperwork point of view or what I needed from him). So I feel really let down. By all accounts I got sufficient information and the insurer is confident of claiming all costs back.

I have been warned it will be months to sort and ultimately I will be out of pocket. Although I'm completely not at fault (and have video evidence backing my story) you just know I'll get stung at renewal time. Insurance company has seen the video with a shed load of pictures and believes its a clear cut none fault on my part - 100% lorry drivers fault. Still, that don't help me at the moment whilst I wait to hear whether my bravo can be fixed.

For now I have a courtesy car which is a beaten up Clio. Makes my Bravo look like a Bentley.

Keep your fingers crossed for good news!!! :(
 
lyubohar said:
Yeah, but once you are sure that you are fine, next thing you start to worry is the car, isn't that natural? :)
Click to expand...

Exactly that :) That was the point of my original post. I know we are ok so that's kind of dealt with, its all about sorting the necessary paperwork, phonecalls, grief etc that then follow on.

Both myself and the passenger are recovering fine. Good news today was that Suzi is to be repaired. Structurally (chassis wise, etc) its not been touched and its the bumper and boot that need replacing.

Silver lining to the cloud (as it were) is that I did have 2 niggly issues with the Bravo. 1. the rear bumper was a shade fractionally different in colour to the rest of the car but you had to seriously look hard to notice (but being a perfectionist I did notice), and 2. I had a minor rattle in the bootlid somewhere that I couldn't isolate. So as it happens, I won't have either issue when I get the car back lol :D
 
Insomnia said:
Exactly that :) That was the point of my original post. I know we are ok so that's kind of dealt with, its all about sorting the necessary paperwork, phonecalls, grief etc that then follow on.

Both myself and the passenger are recovering fine. Good news today was that Suzi is to be repaired. Structurally (chassis wise, etc) its not been touched and its the bumper and boot that need replacing.

Silver lining to the cloud (as it were) is that I did have 2 niggly issues with the Bravo. 1. the rear bumper was a shade fractionally different in colour to the rest of the car but you had to seriously look hard to notice (but being a perfectionist I did notice), and 2. I had a minor rattle in the bootlid somewhere that I couldn't isolate. So as it happens, I won't have either issue when I get the car back lol :D
Click to expand...
And if you still do when you get it back. Blame it on the crash and get it fixed ?
 
Attached are some pictures.

Interesting to see how well the boot took the crunch. The bumper itself although bent slightly actually is ok compared to the boot.

The smack was dead straight on as is evident from the sort of nearly symmetrical impact on the boot!

Looking at it, the rear end of the Bravo is good for impact protection - quite a lot of space and easy crumple parts. Kind of gives me peace of mind in an odd way (considering my is currently dented!!)

The garage have reported about 10 days for repair so should get her back week beginning 13th. I will be the nightmare customer from hell - it has to be utterly perfect and as it was otherwise I will be sending it back. I'm hoping they don't refit the Bravo badge as I'd rather do that myself - I really can't see them getting it in the perfectly positioned place as it was before... oh we shall see :)

Oh and check out those lovely flip-flops. Sturdy footwear for driving a lorry! :bang:
 

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Insomnia said:
Attached are some pictures.

Interesting to see how well the boot took the crunch. The bumper itself although bent slightly actually is ok compared to the boot.

The smack was dead straight on as is evident from the sort of nearly symmetrical impact on the boot!

Looking at it, the rear end of the Bravo is good for impact protection - quite a lot of space and easy crumple parts. Kind of gives me peace of mind in an odd way (considering my is currently dented!!)

The garage have reported about 10 days for repair so should get her back week beginning 13th. I will be the nightmare customer from hell - it has to be utterly perfect and as it was otherwise I will be sending it back. I'm hoping they don't refit the Bravo badge as I'd rather do that myself - I really can't see them getting it in the perfectly positioned place as it was before... oh we shall see :)

Oh and check out those lovely flip-flops. Sturdy footwear for driving a lorry! :bang:
Click to expand...
No damage to the rear window at all? I'm thoroughly impressed. The Bravo held up very well!

Not that we should be able to know this, but if ever there was a silver lining.
 
Insomnia said:
Attached are some pictures.

Interesting to see how well the boot took the crunch. The bumper itself although bent slightly actually is ok compared to the boot.

The smack was dead straight on as is evident from the sort of nearly symmetrical impact on the boot!

Looking at it, the rear end of the Bravo is good for impact protection - quite a lot of space and easy crumple parts. Kind of gives me peace of mind in an odd way (considering my is currently dented!!)

The garage have reported about 10 days for repair so should get her back week beginning 13th. I will be the nightmare customer from hell - it has to be utterly perfect and as it was otherwise I will be sending it back. I'm hoping they don't refit the Bravo badge as I'd rather do that myself - I really can't see them getting it in the perfectly positioned place as it was before... oh we shall see :)

Oh and check out those lovely flip-flops. Sturdy footwear for driving a lorry! :bang:
Click to expand...

Ouch dude!
Not as bad as I expected from reading through the thread! Like Matt said, surprised the rear window is ok! And good you're alright ofcourse lol
 
With a 5 NCap Rating Im not at all Surprised :D

However loving the guys FLIP FLOPS Loool :slayer:
 
Repaired :)

Hurrah. Suzi came home today. New bumper and boot. Interestingly they've used the same glass as before.

New Fiat button/badge (although its slightly wonky so I'll sort that), new Bravo badge and new interior trim.

Colour wise looks good to me and the finish is spot on. It's a tricky one as the angle of the bumper is different to the adjoining rear quarter panel so the colour does naturally change as its reflecting from a different angle but when you cross reference at other points like the roof and upper rear quarters, the colour is spot on. Either way, its blue, it matches and I'm happy :)

Compared the to the Clio courtesy car, it felt like a F1 car going home and was insanely comfortable :D

£160 excess paid, but I'll be claiming that back off the foreign driver's insurance.

In the end of the day, I've got my car back and I'm happy :)
 

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Re: Repaired :)

Insomnia said:
Hurrah. Suzi came home today. New bumper and boot. Interestingly they've used the same glass as before.

New Fiat button/badge (although its slightly wonky so I'll sort that), new Bravo badge and new interior trim.

Colour wise looks good to me and the finish is spot on. It's a tricky one as the angle of the bumper is different to the adjoining rear quarter panel so the colour does naturally change as its reflecting from a different angle but when you cross reference at other points like the roof and upper rear quarters, the colour is spot on. Either way, its blue, it matches and I'm happy :)

Compared the to the Clio courtesy car, it felt like a F1 car going home and was insanely comfortable :D

£160 excess paid, but I'll be claiming that back off the foreign driver's insurance.

In the end of the day, I've got my car back and I'm happy :)
Click to expand...

Looking good again :slayer: :D
 
Oh something I forgot to mention. Apparently the boot alone cost £550. Makes you think given some values of older and lower spec 07 plate Bravos, it won't be too long until a rear end will equate to a write off by an insurer.
 
Insomnia said:
Oh something I forgot to mention. Apparently the boot alone cost £550. Makes you think given some values of older and lower spec 07 plate Bravos, it won't be too long until a rear end will equate to a write off by an insurer.
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I know for a fact if mine had been hit like yours it would probably be a right off. New bumper. New boot, respray. Mines probably only worth £1,500 to insurers

Oh and that looks like a fantastic job! Colour match looks perfect. The boot panel lines look perfectly parallel across the width. Top job. What company did that?
 
Last edited:
Insomnia said:
Oh something I forgot to mention. Apparently the boot alone cost £550. Makes you think given some values of older and lower spec 07 plate Bravos, it won't be too long until a rear end will equate to a write off by an insurer.
Click to expand...

TBH they're already being written off left right and center (n)

You were lucky in that it was a lorry which hit you high up and only took out the tailgate, if it'd been a car that'd hit you I suspect you'd have been looking at a lot more damage.

Glad the repair is of a good quality also :)
 
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