Damn Traffic Cones...

[samwell]

Travelling down the M4 on the way home from work earlier I was behind a Skodia crapbox at 70mph minding my own business. I noticed out of the corner of my eye some debris on the road, as I noticed this I saw a very large piece of "rubber" heading towards my windscreen which the Skoda had obviously driven over and thrown into the air. After momentarily crapping myself it fortunately dropped before my windscreen...and bonnet! However my front bumper was not so lucky...

Big bang and nothing is on the road behind me I assume it has got stuck on my car somewhere. I'm straight onto the hard shoulder to inspect the damage. I find a nice large piece of traffic cone base wedged in the black plastic honeycomb in the front bumper It has taken a chunk of the black plastic honeycomb and split it all across the front. Also a nice dent in the lower part of the bumper with a couple of scuffs.

Soooo angry that some idiot could not see this piece of traffic cone in the road and drive over it! Even angrier that I am now going to lose 3 years no claim bonus as it must go through insurance (company car) unless I pay for it myself, so does anyone have any idea (I do really mean a rough ballpark) as to the cost of a new front bumper and black plastic honeycomb bit? I'm expecting the worst so pretty sure I'm going to get the insurers to pay out!!

I will get pics up tomorrow when it's a bit lighter.

Rant over, thanks for reading

[RW1]

Sorry to hear the misfortune. Seems to be too much debris around at the moment. (And pot holes!)

Price up the repair with your dealer and then make a decision whether it's worth claiming and paying the increase in premiums over the coming years or just paying for it yourself.

C

[samwell]

Sorry to hear the misfortune. Seems to be too much debris around at the moment. (And pot holes!)

Price up the repair with your dealer and then make a decision whether it's worth claiming and paying the increase in premiums over the coming years or just paying for it yourself.

C

Thanks for the reply RW1, fortunately it is a company car so the increase in insurance wouldn't affect me. But as things are at the moment in my industry I'm not 100% sure I'm going to have my job in 12 months... so may have to insure my own car.

[Scirocco Bhoy]

I think you're being harsh on the Skoda driver.

Obviously you're pissed off with him driving over a lump of plastic and kicking it into the air but to be honest at 70mph it's not that easy to slow down to avoid something that is relatively small. A much larger object is easier to avoid at that speed as it's more noticeable from a distance. I presume the rubber was black so it probably blended in with the tarmac.

if anything you may have been driving too close to the Skoda. If you'd put more distance between you and his car then the thing would have bounced out the way and you could have avoided it.

[samwell]

I think you're being harsh on the Skoda driver.

Obviously you're pissed off with him driving over a lump of plastic and kicking it into the air but to be honest at 70mph it's not that easy to slow down to avoid something that is relatively small. A much larger object is easier to avoid at that speed as it's more noticeable from a distance. I presume the rubber was black so it probably blended in with the tarmac.

if anything you may have been driving too close to the Skoda. If you'd put more distance between you and his car then the thing would have bounced out the way and you could have avoided it.

Was waiting for the condescending answer along those lines...thanks for the help!

[stevieboy]

Skoda driver drove over the cone
Scirocco owner drove into the cone

Sorry but no difference in my book!

These things happen unfortunately, you just have to live with it, that's what your insurance is for!

[samwell]

I wasn't looking for a lesson in motorway driving thanks people, just how much it may cost for the repairs. Thanks for the useful replies. As you can imagine I was pretty pissed off at the time and wanted to vent some anger.

But this is an internet forum so of course you all know what happened far better than I do and can teach me the error of my ways.

[ashley1407]

I'd try and get a quote from a dealer to repair the damage and then see if it's a price worth paying to save yourself money in the long run.

Your own circumstances will affect the insurance rise as well. If you are >25 then it would probably make next to no difference to the insurance price, however, if you're a young driver then it may have a significant impact on your premiums. Once you've got a dealer quote, it might be worth running your details through a comparison site for an idea of the wallet damage.

Hope your Roc gets better soon!

[trix]

as Ash says, get down to the dealer & price it up with them, they should be able to do it there & then for you.

I had to price up a new bumper for my last car (S reg peugeot 306) due to a pleb at work backing into it & putting a stonking hole in it, that was £510 & a new rear bumper for my dad's mondeo (no sensors) was circa £750 to give you a guide for comparison obviously the roc will most likely be abit more expensive but it gives you some figures to have in your head so you can decide on some limits of what you will pay out for & what you will go through the insurance for.

S

[maisbitt]

Cheapest way if possible would be to replace the honeycomb (i'd imagine this to be about £40 - 60) and see if the dent will push out (if the dent is shallow, without heavy creasing) and if the scuff will rub out with some polish (more likely on a metallic car if the scuff hasn't gone beyond the lacquer coat) - try someone like chips away or dent master.

If not, you'll be looking at somewhere in the region of £500 - 600 for a replacement bumper that is fully painted up.

Don't forget that a lot of the price hike following an insurance incident is down to circumstance as well as losing no claims ( I know it's not strictly relevant, as you're a company car driver) - someone who has protected no claims would still see their "normal" premium go up if they hit someone, as they're a bigger risk driver even if their no claims was unaffected because of the protection. Someone hit by debris, hit and run or victim of vandalism is more likely to be treated better by the insurance company (unless you're with Elephant/Admiral - 45% increase in [premium for a non fault incident fully paid up by the other party - nice!)

[samwell]

Thanks for the replies guys, to be fair £500-£600 is less than expected for a new front bumper! Trix, £750 for a Pugeout bumper - ouch! I can imagine the Roc being a lot dearer than that

I am planning on buying a new honeycomb grill (as has been said £40-£60 seems the going rate) and am going to see a bodyshop later about the dent. On closer inspection in the daylight it's amazing that the paint around the dent actually is fine (except for a small scuff underneath).

It also seemed to dent part of my intercooler, one of the rectangular boxes on it (sorry for the poor description) has been mashed, so the metal has kind of flaked off. I'm hoping it's nothing major as the damage is small but I guess it could have pushed the intercooler back a bit and caused some damage elsewhere.

Ah the joys of insurance eh!? Cheers for your input ashley, trix and maisbitt

[trix]

£750 was for a mondeo rear bumper it was £510 for the pug front bumper which was enough (hence the guy went through insurance in the end)

if you can pop some pics up to help (its abit hard to visualise), if the bumper isn't actually affected you may just get away with getting a new honeycomb

S

[maisbitt]

I've always found replacement parts prices a bit hit and miss between the marques. French cars, although relatively cheap to buy, have extortionate spare parts prices. I used to think Ford were cheap for parts until my mate had to buy a new turbo for his 04 reg 2.0 TDCI Mondeo - £2200!

When my 57 reg Golf GT Sport got hit by a bus, the insurance quote had the front bumper and associated grilles replaced for £362, and the painting of it was about £120 (all prices before VAT). In recent years, VAG parts have come down a lot in price.

They should be able to get a minor dent out of a bumper if it hasn't cracked, even if a little heat is needed to soften it when reshaping.

It also seemed to dent part of my intercooler, one of the rectangular boxes on it (sorry for the poor description) has been mashed, so the metal has kind of flaked off. I'm hoping it's nothing major as the damage is small but I guess it could have pushed the intercooler back a bit and caused some damage elsewhere.

It seems like you've dented some vanes on the mini-radiator/heat exchanger that serves the intercooler, should be ok if it isn't holed.

[samwell]

£750 was for a mondeo rear bumper it was £510 for the pug front bumper which was enough (hence the guy went through insurance in the end)

if you can pop some pics up to help (its abit hard to visualise), if the bumper isn't actually affected you may just get away with getting a new honeycomb

S

Ah my bad, still is A LOT for a bumper!

I have taken some pics but they're quite useless, the dent doesn't show on them at all.

I've always found replacement parts prices a bit hit and miss between the marques. French cars, although relatively cheap to buy, have extortionate spare parts prices. I used to think Ford were cheap for parts until my mate had to buy a new turbo for his 04 reg 2.0 TDCI Mondeo - £2200!

When my 57 reg Golf GT Sport got hit by a bus, the insurance quote had the front bumper and associated grilles replaced for £362, and the painting of it was about £120 (all prices before VAT). In recent years, VAG parts have come down a lot in price.

They should be able to get a minor dent out of a bumper if it hasn't cracked, even if a little heat is needed to soften it when reshaping.

It also seemed to dent part of my intercooler, one of the rectangular boxes on it (sorry for the poor description) has been mashed, so the metal has kind of flaked off. I'm hoping it's nothing major as the damage is small but I guess it could have pushed the intercooler back a bit and caused some damage elsewhere.

It seems like you've dented some vanes on the mini-radiator/heat exchanger that serves the intercooler, should be ok if it isn't holed.

Thanks for that maisbitt, the damage doesn't look bad on the mini-radiator so I think that'll be OK.

I've had a quote to fix the bumper, £150 for its removal, stripping, filling and spraying which I'm very happy with! That plus the honeycomb grille and it'll be sorted, no claims bonus still intact.

Thanks for the input guys, it's much appreciated!

[stevieboy]

But this is an internet forum so of course you all know what happened far better than I do and can teach me the error of my ways.

No problem, it's all part of the service!

[ZephyR]

If you getting quotes make sure you tell them that you will be paying yourself. The figures are often higher when the garage thinks its going thru an insurance company.

[samwell]

If you getting quotes make sure you tell them that you will be paying yourself. The figures are often higher when the garage thinks its going thru an insurance company.

Fortunately it's through a friend of my brother's who specialises in VW's, he knows it's not an insurance job. Thanks for the tip though ZephyR