Has anyone had their Evoque written off?

If the car was really doing 40-50 mph, I'm surprised the occupants survived and your family are very lucky. I would have thought the Evoque was a certain write-off. Since the is so new, might be worth starting from a new bodyshell but a lot of work.

IIRC, If the repair cost will be more than 65% of the cost of replacement, it will generally be written off.

I had a 3 month-old Freelander 2 that got submerged in floods. At first the insurers were trying to fix it (including a new engine), but once I spoke to the assessor and he understood the full nature of the incident and how I wasn't going to be happy with a 'fixed' car, he agreed that there was enough damage to justify writing the car off.

The insurers agreed and were set to provide me with a new vehicle of the same spec through their brokers (i.e. not direct from LR). However, I wanted another one in the same colour that was no longer available, though my dealer could get one for me from dealer stock. My insurers agreed I could have money instead, but it would only be what they would have paid their brokers, i.e. several thousand less than the retail price. However, my dealer was very sympathetic and took the view that they had already had their profit out of me on the original purchase and more or less let me buy the replacement at trade price. It all took a while to sort out and I was on to the insurers nearly every day as my policy didn't include a courtesy car so we were down to one car in the household, but everything was resolved to my satisfaction in the end.

My advice would be strike up a good relationship with the assessor (they often don't work for just one insurer, they're contracted to lots) and make sure he knows what has happened. My assessor was told by the LR garage where my car had been taken that it had just been 'splashed' by a big flood wave that had got into the engine through the air inlets, whereas it had actually sat for about 40mins in over a meter of water. Also let him know what you want (e.g. a repair or replacement) as he may have some flexibility if it's borderline.

Finally, if your car is repairable, I found that it isn't always that simple to get it repaired. My local LR dealer didn't have the equipment for an engine change, so originally they were going to get the local Volvo dealer to do it on their behalf. Then my LR dealer decided it didn't want to do it at all because apparently the dealer has a 50% financial liability on warranty repairs, so had there been any issues with the new engine within the remainder of the car's 3 year warranty, the dealer would have had to meet half the cost and I just don't think they were confident in doing the engine and electronic change on a model that no-one had much experience with at the time.

Sorry it's a long post, but I hope some of my experience might help you get back on the road with the least disruption.

I note what you say Nightfox, however in the very early days of RRSport one of the members was waiting to join a main road in his 2 days old RRS when a driver in a Mini drove off the road and straight over his bonnet destroying the entire front end. This was within a month of the RRS being launched. The RRS owner thought he was going to get a new car but the insurance said NO, there was too long a waiting list for a new car (then 9 months) and they were not going to write the car off - they sent it back to the factory to be completely rebuilt and he got it back about 6 weeks later. About a year into ownership he again had a misfortune........... the car was completely submerged when a flash rain storm flooded the underground car park at Waterloo Station, he thought now he would get a new car, but again the wait was too long - the car was not written off but taken to a specialist approved by LR, was stripped out all new electrics fitted and the car put back together. It ran perfectly until 2009 when at 5 years old and much offroad use he brought a new car - another RRS but a TDv8 instead.

(17-09-2012 10:33am)XFullFatTim Wrote:  I note what you say Nightfox, however in the very early days of RRSport one of the members was waiting to join a main road in his 2 days old RRS when a driver in a Mini drove off the road and straight over his bonnet destroying the entire front end. This was within a month of the RRS being launched. The RRS owner thought he was going to get a new car but the insurance said NO, there was too long a waiting list for a new car (then 9 months) and they were not going to write the car off - they sent it back to the factory to be completely rebuilt and he got it back about 6 weeks later. About a year into ownership he again had a misfortune........... the car was completely submerged when a flash rain storm flooded the underground car park at Waterloo Station, he thought now he would get a new car, but again the wait was too long - the car was not written off but taken to a specialist approved by LR, was stripped out all new electrics fitted and the car put back together. It ran perfectly until 2009 when at 5 years old and much offroad use he brought a new car - another RRS but a TDv8 instead.

Wow, quite a different experience. I'm guessing that the RRS's insurance policy perhaps included a loan car, hence why the time factor seemed to be a big issue as it would have been costing the underwriters money every day. My policy didn't include a loan car, so in effect it didn't matter to the insurers how long they dragged their heels for, as there was no ongoing cost to them. At the end of the day I suppose the underwriters are just going to force you down the route that costs them the least money once the claim is fully settled.

The one good thing is the feeling that I've actually had more out of the car insurance industry than they'll probably ever have out of me.

Hello folks

So I am in a bit of a situation. The car is in my opinion a write off - the whole bodyshell and chassis is twisted - the doors overlap on the passenger's side and have a big gap on the driver's side. The driver's seat is pressed right against the centre console while there is a significant gap on the passenger's seat. Problem is that the assessor who looked at it is an idiot. He estimates 7k max of damage. And that includes putting it on a jig and pulling it back into shape. There is no part of me that wants this.

I am having it sent to the authorised LR garage on Monday which is beside the dealer where I bought the car. The LR dealer is brilliant - and have been very helpful already. They have already said that I describe a whole bodyshell replacement - but the damage needs to total 25k to replace the car. Anyone know if a bodyshell replacement is even do-able?

This jerk of an assessor told my solicitor this morning that he thinks that a bodyshell is not possible because they dont make Evoques any more.

Aarrggghhh

Colin

(21-09-2012 05:00pm)colski Wrote:  Hello folks

So I am in a bit of a situation. The car is in my opinion a write off - the whole bodyshell and chassis is twisted - the doors overlap on the passenger's side and have a big gap on the driver's side. The driver's seat is pressed right against the centre console while there is a significant gap on the passenger's seat. Problem is that the assessor who looked at it is an idiot. He estimates 7k max of damage. And that includes putting it on a jig and pulling it back into shape. There is no part of me that wants this.

I am having it sent to the authorised LR garage on Monday which is beside the dealer where I bought the car. The LR dealer is brilliant - and have been very helpful already. They have already said that I describe a whole bodyshell replacement - but the damage needs to total 25k to replace the car. Anyone know if a bodyshell replacement is even do-able?

This jerk of an assessor told my solicitor this morning that he thinks that a bodyshell is not possible because they dont make Evoques any more.

Aarrggghhh

Colin

The assessor is just the starting point for your insurance company, if he says 7.5k, the insurers will still have to find a garage who are willing to do the repair for that amount, I think that is the point when you will start to get your own way hopefully

No no no no, you do not want a car that has to be put on a jig and pulled into shape. My beloved 3 series from a few years back was hit on the rear passenger side and it bent the rear left of the car completely out of shape. Insurer at the time was DirecLine and their engineer estimated 5500 to fix on a 22K car and they said yes. The could only find one repairer in the are to touch it and 7 weeks later the car came back. After repeated complaints that the car didnt feel right, uneven tyre wear on the back and very skitty handling, the BMW main dealer said that the chassis components were never designed to be ever pulled into shape and had BMW been consulted, they would have pointed out that the components were not repairable then the car would have been written off.

I had to pay a considerable amount of money to have the car shipped 300 miles to a BMW approved assessor to have a full written report compiled on the car and 18 months later DirectLine conceded and declared the car a write-off and repaid my fees and gave me a decent amount back.

Its sad to say that they will probably find someone that will repair it because in the current climate , a 7.5K repair bill is decent revenue for a body shop , just make sure its a good one even if you have to travel with the car.

Could I suggest that you ask for a second opinion AND an engineer from Land Rover to look at the car, it might even be worth your own expenses ( claimed against the other party eventually as you must also claim all your phone calls, letters emails etc) to employ a Land Rover expert through your dealership - LR has such people who are specialist vehicle engineers and accident investigators who also deal with major warranty claims. Always worth a try and could end up with an expert opinion that is enough to sway the insurers, they will also see that you mean to fight for a replacement car.

Hi again guys.

I've attached a pic to show clearly the twisting in the bodywork. You can see more than a 1" gap round the top of the door (the door is not damaged) and both doors on this side overlapping.

http://s14.postimage.org/s0xbkm5v5/rre.jpg

The car is being sent to the official LR garage on Monday and it is my choice where to have it repaired.
I insist in this particular garage (it is one of only two LR garages in Northern Ireland) and they have already said that if the chassis and frame are damaged, they will have to replace the shell.

So will wait and see. I just want it returned back to how it was - not more not less.

C

there seems to be a frame damage on your car based on the picture of the rear hatch and lower bumper area. the quarterpanel is also bent downward. to fix that, they will have to cut and replace your quarterpanel, and that involves straightening the frame to weld the new quarterpanel. looks like a big job and worth replacing your car if your insurance agrees.