just been written off

[pugnut]

http://s1239.photobucket.com/albums/ff5 ... 011304.jpg

My cherished 406 has fallen foul of a young driver turning right into my path as I slowed for a speed hump (he thought I was slowing to let him turn despite no signalling or gestures from me. Impact speed was 5-10 mph. (air bags did not deploy)

Its a 53 plate exec 110 hdi - they have valued it at £2500 and given me a buy back value of £375 which I have accepted.

Car is driveable, no leaks, cooling system intact but might need a new intercooler

My question is: Anyone know (or know of who would be able to tell me) what is the likelihood of damage to the engine bay and front bulkhead? Used panels appear to be plentiful and cheap as chips but I wouldn't want to put it back on the road if it is now a death trap. Insurance co has advised against putting it back on the road but for £375 its worth a punt trying to second guess them I feel.

Secondly (if it seems the chassis integrity is intact) any idea as to how much a paint job will cost - I doubt I will get hold of colour matched panels!

All advice comments gratefully received

cheers all

Rob

[plod]

It's impossible to ascertain the full extent of the damage from the picture

Best thing is to remove the front bumper and then inspect for possible damage

However at that kind of speed, you may be very lucky and get away with bolt on stuff

As for paint, I know my mate charges £100 a panel, so bonnet wing and bumper would indicate a price of £300, although maybe going for the entire front end wouldn't be a bad idea

[steve_earwig]

I can't tell much either - can we get a side-on shot? Possibly the panel behind the headlight will need thumping into line but I don't think (not being able to see the side) the damage is as bad as it could have been. Is the wing squashed along its length at all? Is the line between the wing and the door changed?

[Welly]

Oo-er looks a bit tasty that I'd be surprised if that were just some bolt-ons. You be well to check the near side shut-lines to the doors etc. and check the roof for small creases? that's been hit on quite a strong bit and it's surprising what damage can be transferred through the structure. I'm hoping I'm over acting here.

[pugnut]

Thanks for your replies so far, the car is still at the insurers approved repairer, when its released I'll post a side on pic.

[pugnut]

More gory horror folks:










No obvious distortion further up the chassis. Drove it home from the body shop and apart from the odd scrape from the hangong front bumper it seems to drive ok as far as I can tell. n/s wing actually looks repairable but for the cost of a new primed panel seems hardly worth the bother. Intercooler has sustained some damage but does not appear to be leaking.

[plod]

I'll give you £500 for it

[highlander]

That'll buff out

[steve_earwig]

I think you need to strip the corner out & have a look. Looking at the pics the only thing I can see that'll be a problem is that headlight surround - Service Box calls it a half frame and wants about 80 quid for one and I can't see you cutting one off intact in the breaker's (stranger things have happened...) There's always the chance it can be straightened though.

[waue1978]

That there is a prime example of what I said in the insurance post about 406s being written off after relatively light smashes. As stated, the car drives fine & there probably isn't any chassis rejigging needed, but the number of parts needing replacement & the cost of panels from Peugeot makes it uneconomically viable for an insurer to pay for repair.

On the plus side though, Pugnut is now £2000 up with a car that he may be able to fix relatively cheaply using used parts - especially in the colour it is. Samaarkan blue is the colour my first T plate GLX was & it used to annoy the sh*t out of me how common a colour it was.

[gumby6371]

got to be worth a punt, even if you find something nasty lurking beneath you'll make more money stripping the good bits and weighing in the rest!!!

[mjb]

Bit of duct tape will sort that out, what you whinging about?

Looks like a perfect easy fixer-upper - if it were on ebay for 500 quid and I had the sort of spare time I used to have, I'd jump at it

[stealthe]

My 52 plate exec was written off with far less damage than that, just the lights, grill above the bumper, rad/intercooler mounts and the airbox.

Mine was the same colour as yours, parts for sale here!
I have most of the bits you'll want.

stealthe

[mjb]

I'm almost certain my Nurburgring crash would have caused my car to be written off if I'd told the insurers... Sod that. Duct tape for the smashed bumper to get it through its MOT, £15 for a new light cluster, and I'll just have to live with the dent in the rear quarter...

[pugnut]

Dear all
Been meaning to give an update on how things turned out with the resurrection of my 406 ... and here it is ... fifteen months late (never been punctual in my life me heh heh !)

Here are the parts and costs (inc VAT/Shipping)

Bonnet from Montys Salvage Penarth £72
Half frame and cap Genuine Peugeot parts £98.30
Bumper beam Ebay £30
n/s headlight cluster Ebay £27.94
Fr bumper complete Ebay £55
Hire of mig welder/angle grinder/labour (Thanks Tel!) £168.42
Front end respray Simtek Swindon £300
TOTAL £751.66

Insurance Co. Paid out £2300 after deducting £100 for the scrap value of the car. You might think I was quids in but it failed the MOT catastrophically – new exhaust/tyres all shot and to cap it all I had to buy a new starter motor so that little lot wiped out my “profit”. Easy come easy go..

Anyhoo – here are some pics of the restoration:


One wrecked headlight half frame


Terry Carter - lifelong friend, life saver and sh*t getter outer-er par excallence - he can Mig Weld - I cant.


we had to obtain an angle grinder - Dremel's just aint up to the job!!!


spot the difference


New parts welded and primed - will it all fit.....?


Judge for yourself!