Could have been worse ...I guess :(

[Mighty306]

Had fun & games on Tuesday when a lorry decided to cross 2 lanes on a roundabout and take out the front of the car.  He damaged the nearside wing, pretty much took the front bumper off (it was only hanging on my a thread on the drivers side), damaged the wheel arch liner and the nearside fog lamp.

The idiot said it was my fault because he'd indicated (which he did at the last minute, when he was already alongside me ).  Luckily I have dashcam footage which clearly shows him forcing his way in to my lane.  If I'd been on a motorcycle I wouldn't be writing about my poor damaged 306 ….I might not be writing at all.

I'm hoping to sort it out privately with the well known transport company involved but they said they'd get back to me and haven't.  If I go through the insurance I'm almost certain they'll write off the car.

Here are some pics.  I now have a 'frankenstein' look to the front bumper as it & the wheel arch liner are all stitched back together with cable ties for now.  Luckily it happened only 200 yards from the girlfriends house & I was able to nurse the car back where I could make temporary repairs to drive it.

   

   

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...oh and the hockey stick is 'missing in action'.  Watching the dashcam footage I saw it ping off in to a neighbouring lane but didn't realise at the time.  At least is now matches the other side which broke off last year!

[Eeyore]

not ideal but not too difficult to fix! Think youve got off lightly with that although I feel a phase 2 blaze bumper isnt going to be the easiest to find!

[Toms306]

I wonder how much insurance would pay out for a 306 these days? Presumably they're worth about £50 as trade value for anything other than a GTi6/Rallye/S16... That's easily a Cat N write off if it does go through insurance, but as you're not at fault you can have it repaired if you want. Having a claim on your record, even non-fault, does increase the premium though so better to chase the other party and get the cash instead. At least you've got the reg and dashcam footage so they shouldn't really be able to argue it. It's not the first time I've heard of lorry drivers believing the indicator gives them right of way rather than just signalling their intentions though...

It looks like a fairly small bump but have you checked the NS inner wing to make sure that's not bent at all? Finding a decent used 306 bumper was hard enough 10 years ago, I reckon it'll be impossible nowadays, especially in Blaze. So you've got the option of buying a cheap but slightly battered bumper & wing, or paying more for perfect brand new ones and having them sprayed...I doubt you'd get change from £500 for the second option though, and it's not really worth it imo...I'd ask for the £500 cash and use that to buy something else personally.

If you do go down the used parts route, GTI6Parts on ebay had a Blaze GTi6 in, no idea if they've still got it but could be worth an ask. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PEUGEOT-306-P...SwuYVWnqVg

[Mighty306]

Cheers Tom.  I'm still hoping to sort it out privately with the transport company involved.  Have finally managed to speak to them & they have said they have suspended the driver pending investigation as he didn't follow company procedure following an accident!  I have to admit I hadn't planned to keep this car as it's always been a bit shabby on the outside.  Among other things the roof or windscreen at the top leak.  (Have sealed aerial & checked the sunroof drains but water still comes in).  It's never run quite right either & haven't managed to get to the bottom of it.

I only really bought this one as a stopgap n planned on keeping a few parts off it before sending it on its way.  It came with pristine GTi-6 alcantara leather seats n a few other bits worth keeping.  Thing is I've been too busy to sort either of the other cars out but.  Will have to crack on now but even then, with other things it'll be months before I get one of them back on the road.  If I can find a decent 2nd hand bumper without too much hassle I'll probably bung that on & be done with it.  Repairing the damage to the wing just isn't worthwhile.  Have spoken to the insurers & notified them of the incident but not yet made an official claim. They confirmed they would almost certainly write the car off.  I guess if you've done a lot of work to restore a 306 the thing to do is to try to agree a higher valuation with the insurer to try to save it being written off for relatively minor damage.

The MoT is due in about 2 weeks so might just bung it though as it is, although I'll need to find a way to fix the o/s fog lamp back in place. The inner steering rods, TRE's & wishbones / bushes have literally just been replaced in preparation!

[Toms306]

The MoT is due in about 2 weeks so might just bung it though as it is, although I'll need to find a way to fix the o/s fog lamp back in place. The inner steering rods, TRE's & wishbones / bushes have literally just been replaced in preparation!

Front fogs aren't part of MOT for older cars (they will be for 2018 onwards models). A missing front fog shouldn't be any more than an advisory, but a 'loose' fog that's likely to become detached is a major fail so I'd just leave it off unless you can refit it as securely as standard.

[Mighty306]

Thanks Tom. Useful to know for the future. I glued the broken piece back on the fog light n fixed the mounting point on the bumper. It's all working n totally secure now. MoT on Monday ....if anything it'll fail on emissions. It's always been close to the limit on this car!

[Toms306]

Good luck then, let us know how it goes!

[Mighty306]

It passed with one minor advisory on a split CV boot, which I knew about anyway.  Phew, the car gets to live for another year & I get a bit more breathing space to sort the other 306's out. Really didn't want the hassle of having to find a replacement daily.

As for the bumper, Carl got back to me to say he has some, incl a brand new one.  Will probably get one off him when he's back from holiday.

Cheers again for various suggestions.

[Eeyore]

yay. It will look good once more! Carl says he is on holiday but im fairly sure he is racing his 208 somewhere in europe

[Mighty306]

I'm fairly sure it's a bot that revived this thread. It gives me an opportunity to update on it though. Firstly, the cable ties are still holding everything together. Secondly, the transport company settled privately. Their intermediary valued the car at £1000, deducted £200 for its estimated scrap value & sent me a cheque for £800. I never got the car repaired beyond what I did to get it through the MoT.  It's rotting to pieces now anyway .