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View Full Version : Oops! I wrote off my car!



travis1234
09-01-2008, 02:58 PM
Unfortunately I've just written off my car.

Its a Mk 5 1.4 S 5 dr. On an 05 plate in black.
What kind of payout should I expect as Ive got a few different book prices!

Im on the hunt for another golf so I need to find out how much I've got to play with.:(

Ben
09-01-2008, 06:43 PM
did you have it from new with gap insurance?

travis1234
09-01-2008, 08:39 PM
Ive only had it scince August!

RichieG
10-01-2008, 02:02 PM
did you have it from new with gap insurance?

Please don't tell me anyone actually buys these rip-off schemes? Your insurer has to give you the cost of a replacement of the same spec - sure you may have to argue and send them a load of clippings from Auto Trader but in the end they will give in.

The initial offer for my H reg 16V GTI when I wrote it off 10 years ago was £3900 - I eventually got £5600 out of them - they try it on, but as long as you know your rights they won't persist.

golf tdi 02
10-01-2008, 02:05 PM
so what happens when your finance is not cleared at the end then ????
gap is good it pays the difference between the finance and cost

RichieG
10-01-2008, 02:08 PM
The point is that it's over-priced. And if you write off your car, surely all you need is enough cash to buy the same spec car to replace it?

I've had alot to do with building and selling insurance schemes, and the profits made by the providers are obscene - i.e. your premiums are significantly higher than they should be given the actual level of risk.

richwig83
10-01-2008, 02:37 PM
Gap Insurance isnt a rip off scheme. My dad wrote off his a6 a few years ago, and ended up getting the full value of the original car back!!! If i ever bought a new VW/audi i wouldn't hesitate to get Gap Ins.

RichieG
10-01-2008, 02:41 PM
Yes, but the point is, your Dad would have got enough money to buy a replacement car anyway from his insurer. So he would not have been any worse off.

If you happen to write off your car, obviously you'd be glad of it, but the premium cost versus the likelihood that you'll do that just makes it a very uneconomic deal.

richwig83
10-01-2008, 02:46 PM
Not really! He was better off because instead of getting the 13000 that the car was worth at the time of the crash, he got nearly 24000 which was the price of the car when he 1st bought it! Thats the beauty of gap insurance!

So he ended up buying a brand new a6 s-line!

RichieG
10-01-2008, 02:50 PM
I agree that if you crash it's brilliant. My point is simply that bearing in mind that most of us won't write off our cars, it's not generally worth the investment.

Although based on your old man's experience, I'm thinking about how you could write off a car safely without any risk of injury :)

richwig83
10-01-2008, 02:53 PM
Well without going into too much detail. He was on the motorway going 80 with cruise control on an had a black out!!! Lucky to be alive!!!! Amazingly inside the cabin you couldn't tell it had been in an accident.

I wouldn't try that one if i were you!!!

Rich

golf tdi 02
10-01-2008, 03:10 PM
so what happens if your car is worth 6-7 k but your finance is over 9k repayable ???
this is where the gap comes in ???:confused::confused:

RichieG
10-01-2008, 03:59 PM
Yes, but it's still not worth the money.

In the example you quote, without GAP - you start the day with a car worth 7k and finance of 9k - then you write off your car that afternoon and the next month your your insurance co. gives you 7k - which you spend on a new car. You are then in the same position as you were before - you have a car worth 7k and finance of 9k - if that wasn't a problem before you wrote the car off, why is it afterwards?

We won't go into how you've managed to get such a crappy finance deal that you owe more than the car is worth!

Trikster
10-01-2008, 04:36 PM
Back to the original question... remember when 'negotiating' with the insurance cos, it replacement cost they cover, not the trade value, although that's normally what they'll offer you first.


Therefore ignore the book prices, get on the VW site and find out how much it would cost you to by a similar car, that's what you should be expecting - might take a bit of effort though, depending on your insurer.



BTW.. two types of GAP
- one to outstanding finance
- one to original invoice price

Whether you take it or not depends on presonal circumstances - but there are much better deals to be privately had than those VW offer, and also if your car was new when you bought it most insurers offer a new car in the first year anyway.