General > General Technical Chat
The Glorious Return of a Humble Car Feature
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Halcyon:

--- Quote from: wilfred on April 28, 2023, 01:57:26 pm ---I particularly don't like headlights that cost a thousand dollars to repair/replace when I can just buy a bulb for  $50. It makes insurance premiums that much higher too when even a minor accident can irreparably damage one.

--- End quote ---

As someone who was "recently" involved in a crash in a European car (someone hit me up the rear at 40-50 km/hr), I can attest to the pain of trying to get parts from overseas.

The insurer (in their wisdom) decided to repair, instead of replace. The vehicle was insured for an agreed value of $63k and was less than 12 months old at the time of the crash, which meant it would have been covered under the insurers "new for old replacement" clause. Except that they didn't deem the vehicle as a total write-off (which they probably should have).

The repairs (parts + labour) came in at roughly about $40,000 whilst the entire time I didn't have my car, the insurer was paying for a hire car through Hertz. Let's be really conservative and assume the insurer has an agreement with the hire car company and they get a heavily discounted rate of $50/day. We're talking $19,000+ just to keep me on the road while they repaired my vehicle. Not to mention the $3000 they paid out to me as compensation because I lodged a complaint, not only for the time it took, but all the lost time I wasted chasing them for updates, arranging extensions on the hire car etc... The insurer really dropped the ball on this one and communication was appalling.

It took over 12 months to get my car back.

Fast forward a few months to now, and my car is back getting repaired. Turns out the wiring harness in the rear of the car was faulty, so the rear and cross traffic alert sensors stopped working. I'm sitting here now, 4 weeks later (with another hire car), waiting for more parts and for the problem to get resolved. Under my policy (which is fairly common here), all repairs are guaranteed for life (even if I sell the car). If anything that was repaired goes wrong or fails (through no fault of mine), it's covered for free, even if I (or the owner of the vehicle) doesn't have an active policy with that company.

The only saving grace in this story that the amount of repair work required meant that I basically got a brand new car back, and on visual inspection, the work looks great. Even the dealer admitted that had they not known the vehicle's history, they wouldn't have been able to tell that it was ever crashed (short of pulling data from the management system). Not a single panel is out of alignment and the paint matches perfectly (the benefit of having a white car). Secondly, as the crash wasn't my fault, I haven't had to pay a single cent out of my pocket.

In relation to my premium, my last renewal (even after the crash) was about $780 for the year. It's cheap as I elect to pay the maximum excess in the event of an at-fault crash. The poor bastard who hit me is up for $2700 in excess, plus whatever repair costs the insurer is pursuing him for. It's an expensive lesson to learn and why you should always keep your eyes on the road, and not your mobile phone. (Also the silly bugger had no insurance himself, so he is directly liable for costs of not only my claim, but repairing/replacing his own vehicle.)
Ed.Kloonk:

--- Quote from: Halcyon on April 29, 2023, 04:10:35 am ---
--- Quote from: wilfred on April 28, 2023, 01:57:26 pm ---I particularly don't like headlights that cost a thousand dollars to repair/replace when I can just buy a bulb for  $50. It makes insurance premiums that much higher too when even a minor accident can irreparably damage one.

--- End quote ---

As someone who was "recently" involved in a crash in a European car (someone hit me up the rear at 40-50 km/hr), I can attest to the pain of trying to get parts from overseas.

--- End quote ---

No excuse not to have at least 3rd party insurance in this day and age.
Ed.Kloonk:

--- Quote from: wilfred on April 28, 2023, 01:57:26 pm ---I drive older cars and I hate to think what will happen to a car if you break the screen or the electronics fail after spare parts are no longer readily available. You can't rely on the used one being any better and they'll be expensive. So many cars will have another expensive repair that relegates them to the scrap.

I particularly don't like headlights that cost a thousand dollars to repair/replace when I can just buy a bulb for  $50. It makes insurance premiums that much higher too when even a minor accident can irreparably damage one.

--- End quote ---

I could be wrong but as the world changes and does what I suspect it might do, these older car parts may invoke a local industry committed to supplying replacement parts with the garbage 'gutted-out'.

Watch as the car makers scream bloody blue murder at the law makers.
 :popcorn:
Psi:
A touchscreen is nice for some car things, but yeah, buttons for all core functionality.
There is something magical about a car with switches and buttons everywhere that all illuminate at night, like the cockpit of an airplane.
Halcyon:

--- Quote from: Psi on April 29, 2023, 05:07:25 am ---A touchscreen is nice for some car things, but yeah, buttons for all core functionality.
There is something magical about a car with switches and buttons everywhere that all illuminate at night, like the cockpit of an airplane.

--- End quote ---

Perhaps it's just where I live, but I find most car dashboards/lights are waaaaay too bright. I usually turn them right down to minimum.
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