T Break thread 2023

[Mike Harte]

As you say, official parts can cost an absolute fortune because the manufacturers know only too well that the insurers are paying. It can be the same with medical insurance; the private hospitals and doctors ramp up the price because the insurers are covering the cost, and that is especially true in the States.

As to car premiums, when my insurance came up for renewal a couple of months ago, I went on all the comparison sites and found an insurer that quoted about 40% less than the renewal. Phoned up the company , told them what I had been quoted, and within 10 minutes they reduced the premium to about 20% less than I had been paying already.

As for parts, I needed to replace the heated windscreen washer jets on my Beemer, and they were a horrendous price from BMW, more than £100 each, from memory. Went on Ebay, and found a pair of guaranteed used ones from a reputable supplier which cost about £30 for the pair, delivered.

[Paul D]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

I read on twitter that a Renault Captur was flooded whilst parked in the Sheffield Mercure car park. Apparently the insurance company immediately wrote it off. The car was leas than 10 years old. Complete madness.

A Renault which has been in a flood? Come on... they'd probably write that off even if it was less than 10 minutes old!

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Paul D

A Renault which has been in a flood? Come on... they'd probably write that off even if it was less than 10 minutes old!

Ain't you aware that the automatic flooding system comes with each "product" of this brand? Sometimes it's called leaks…

[GORDON STREETER]

Unfortunately modern cars are so expensive to repair that there isn't any option than for the insurance company but to write them off. I saw a 2 year old Range Rover that had been involved in an accident that in past years would have been repaired with no problem, however all of the airbags had been activated that caused so much internal damage that it was sent to the scrap yard. It still drove OK and was bought complete for a fraction of it's value and used for off road use.
In the great floods of 1968 that happened in our area we towed several cars to our workshop that had been submerged for a week and got them all up and running after a complete dry out/oil changes etc. Of course with all the sophisticated electrics and computer controlled vehicles now it is different to something like an Austin A40 that was simple (incidentally capable of 50mpg) and easy to work on

[Lancsbreaker]

When I had my scrapyard in the 90s/early 00s I often bought flood-damaged cars that were then classified as Category B - break-only. Often they had only had flood water less than a couple of inches deep inside them, and after a good clean of the carpets would have been fine....but we had to break them. Always thought it was crazy.......

[Mike Harte]

It's amazing how something fairly minor that you might think not to be too significant then turns out to be rather major.

In 1982, on my way home I went to fill up the tank for my last Toyota Crown, that I only had for a couple of months, at the local garage to my factory where we had an account for my car and our trucks. Half way home, the car conked out, and the AA or RAC couldn't get it going, so it was taken on a low loader to the dealer to sort out.

The next day, I got a call from the dealer who told me that somehow my petrol tank also had water in it, and that had confused, if that's the right word, the onboard fuel management system. It meant that they needed to purge the tank and work on the computer to get it right.

However, that meant removing all the rear passenger area plus all the rear air-conditioner to get to the tank which they need to take out to clean it thoroughly. They also had to remove dashboard, etc. to get to the computer which was hidden behind the glove compartment. In the end, they found that the water/petrol mix had so confounded the system that they had to replace it.

All this was going to cost a lot of money and as I wasn't getting much sense from the petrol garage, I spoke to their fuel supplier. They the went to the garage, and tested their fuel tanks which they found almost empty of petrol but plenty of water. It came as no surprise that the garage was going bust, and in the end the fuel supplier actually paid the dealer for the work which came to about a quarter of the price I paid for the car in the first place.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

They the went to the garage, and tested their fuel tanks which they found almost empty of petrol but plenty of water.

We had that once after a fuel delivery, fortunately it was before cars started to get in todays world. As luck would have it the first person to be filled up broke down just up the road and being a village garage we didn't sell much petrol at that time of day that it happened. I had already towed the first car back when we got a phone call (pre mobile) with another car broken down.
We had only served half a dozen cars and I had already found a carb full of water in the first one so we shut the pumps up.
Esso came and emptied the underground tanks and talking to the guys who were doing it said that it happens quite often !!!
I have no idea how it could happen although they probably told us at the time.

[Mike Harte]

In my case, Gordon, the fuel supplier found that the garages tank/s were allowing rain water ingress. The only reason they, I believe, that they agreed to cover the costs incurred by me was because I suggested that it might be a good idea to let the media know about what had happened, even though they were not directly to blame. I might have let slip that a good friend of mine was the director of some current affairs programmes on Thames TV/London Weekend/ITV.

And considering the profits those companies make, this was peanuts.

[grantp]

Part of the problem insurers face today is that parts may not be available for older vehicles. Even for relatively new vehicles there may be a lengthy delay before they are available.

If they commit to a repair and the owner of the vehicle has courtesy vehicle cover included "while the car is being repaired" the car rental may end up being far more than the repair cost.

If they write the car off there is no repair, so no hire car. The insured is left to their own devices.

THat happened to by daughter with her leased Volvo XC90. No courtesy car for about 6 weeks while they decided whether or not to repair it and the person who caused the accident decided to claim for possible injury, so delaying the process.

Daughter kicked up a fuss so a shopping trolley loan car was provided. 2 weeks or so later insurance decided to scrap the car and paid off the lease company. The rental car was not recalled for another 2 weeks but by then the insurance company was no longer interested in helping their client and the lease company was equally uninterested as they had nothing at all to offer to replace the deal she had.

The days of building any sort of "relationship" with Insurance companies, etc., and expecting that to count for something as the years pass, seem to be long gone.

The same can be said for banks. Indeed almost anything one can think of.

One might blame the internet and shopping comparison sites for being part of a process inducing a change in the way "society" works. But in reality, it's probably more of a social attitude thing where the way people thing about things around them and what those things offer them, has changed significantly in the past 20 or 30 years.

The decline of Pubs as the basis of much local social interaction would be another example of significant social change.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

Part of the problem insurers face today is that parts may not be available for older vehicles. Even for relatively new vehicles there may be a lengthy delay before they are available.

I was at a body shop a couple of months ago and there was a two year old Skoda that that had been written off because it wanted a front bumper and front panel as the parts were unavailable. The car was made (or assembled) in the Ukraine

[Peter Mallett]

This is somewhat interesting. Way back in time, I had a girlfriend who's architect father owne a Citroen SM. I was reminded by this post: https://tentenths.com/forum/showpost...1&postcount=20 so I thought I'd see if it still exists.

However, although the DVLA correctly lists SHY 4M as a Citroen SM it says the vehicle has not had its first MOT! What am I missing?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

This is somewhat interesting. Way back in time, I had a girlfriend who's architect father owne a Citroen SM. I was reminded by this post: https://tentenths.com/forum/showpost...1&postcount=20 so I thought I'd see if it still exists.

However, although the DVLA correctly lists SHY 4M as a Citroen SM it says the vehicle has not had its first MOT! What am I missing?

As it wasn't taxed after the first year, it could be that the car was written off or possibly re-registered; initial guesses.

[Peter Mallett]

It was I knew her in 1975. If it was written off the DVLA wouldn't recognise the number.

[Mike Harte]

Peter, you are assuming that the DVLA actually knows what is going on; I've scrapped at least two cars that are still on their books, both showing untaxed and no MOTs.

[Peter Mallett]

Fair enough although I've also scrapped a couple of cars and they don't show up anymore.

[Gerard C]

T'will be easy to bring back her in her former glory. The car.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Fair enough although I've also scrapped a couple of cars and they don't show up anymore.

When I ran the scrapyard we sent a monthly return (using the proper forms) to DVLA advising all the cars we'd broken up. I came across the old copies recently and for some reason checked a few. Loads of the cars were still shown as existing on the DVLA database.......


These days when a Certificate of Destruction has to be issued it probably isn't as much of an issue.....but historically?

[Peter Mallett]

The thing is this particular car is showing up as never having its first MOT. I get it if it is written off but still showing up. In which case its MOT record would also show up.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

However, although the DVLA correctly lists SHY 4M as a Citroen SM it says the vehicle has not had its first MOT! What am I missing?

Is it possible that the car has not had an MOT since the records were recorded digitally?

Looking back at a few vehicles, the oldest MOT I can find dates from 2005.


Edit - from the DVLA site:

'If you got your test in England, Scotland or Wales
You’ll also be able to see:

where each test was done - you’ll need the 11-digit number from the vehicle’s log book (V5C)
what parts failed at each test, and if any parts had minor problems
For cars, motorcycles and vans you can only get results for tests done since 2005.

For HGVs, trailers, buses and coaches you can only get results for tests done since 2018.

If you got your test in Northern Ireland
You can only get results for tests done since 2017.'

[Gerard C]

SM UK club: https://citroen-sm.uk/ (180 cars on the road ATM). https://citroen-sm.uk/links/

[Paul D]

crmalcolm is correct Peter: only MOT records since the MOT system went computerised are available from the online checker (which was around 2005).

So if you check a vehicle that's never been tested since 2005, it will appear in the results as if it's never been tested.

[Peter Mallett]

Yes I know. Its just strange that it shows up. Perhaps it's on SORN. It will be MOT exempt now.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Yes I know. Its just strange that it shows up. Perhaps it's on SORN. It will be MOT exempt now.

Why is it strange that it shows up in the database?

The DVLA return shows plenty of information that gives a good indication of some of the history of the car.

Registered May 1974.
Last change of registered keeper 3 December 1981.
Last taxed up to 24 December 1985.

Online MOT records only began in 2005.
SORN regulations came into effect 31 Jan 1998.

So a car that was off the road and untaxed prior to 31 Jan 1998 does not require a SORN declaration and will not have a MOT record visible online.

[GORDON STREETER]

Well we are down in Spain for a while and back to using my Kodak Instamatic to film the entertainment down on the playa. I have known all these guys for a few years that pop up in different groups from time to time The two lead guitarists are Spanish the others are from Blighty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5k8j6CbfbI

[Malcolm Smith]

This year is the sixtieth anniversary of Hillman Imp production commencing. Whilst I appreciate the road going models, I was even more impressed with this fabulous Davrian version at the Doune Hill Climb last weekend, one of sixteen built: