Citroen XM Forum

Been involved in a little accident today. Still a bit shocked by it all.
Long story short I was driving along a fairly narrow road when a taxi pulls out from a side road, I slam on the brakes and try to avoid it but couldn't.
The result is my front corner is damaged as you can see in the photo below, Taxi has a big scrape on its front bumper. Luckily no one was hurt.
I have to wait for a phone call from the taxi company within the next few days and go from there.
I'm really hoping it won't end up being a write off as its a very nice rare car.
Shouldn't be too difficult to fix but sourcing replacement parts could be a bit tricky.
It will be needing a grille, bumper, front wing and an indicator lens.
Very irritating as since I bought it I have put a lot of effort into maintaining and improving this car, But thats life.
opinions please.

As a 3rd party you can insist on the car being repaired to as before condition.

Can I insist it gets repaired even if the value of the repair exceeds the value of the car?

Yes, if claiming off the other party's insurer, not if claiming off your own.

They might try to push you into a contract repair with guaranteed costs, if so get 2nd hand parts and have the labour and paint done to full standard.

The damage doesn't look too bad, but check the radiator plastic support is good as well as the obviously damaged parts.

I was very sorry to hear about your incident Richard that must have been extremely upsetting. As the other driver was at fault you would claim on their insurance and chances are the insurer would wish to write the car off, at least notionally that is. I would fight for the highest possible valuation and you should then receive a payment less the scrap value in effect. Someone else I know had a 2.5 damaged at the front in similar circumstances and got over £3,000 and they are now having the car repaired for considerably less. The chances are you will get an initial silly offer from the insurer based on the 'book' price, but I would then point out the 'modern classic' status and produce some comparison adverts with a dealer like WHM. All the best of luck and do let us know how you get on. Regards, Matthew T.

Very unfortunate indeed. But just follow up the good tips above and the car might even come out better than before: I agree the damage looks worse than it actually may be. Did you have a look under the bonnet? too bad the taxi isn't a bit more damaged

Thanks for the advice guys. The damage does look worse than it is, Nothing heavy just a light impact. I might try and push some of it back into shape tomorrow so I can carry on using it.
I will wait for a call from the taxi company because its their car and the driver was just renting it.
The taxi got off very lightly, just took the paint off the front bumper. That just needs a new number plate, a tin of dulux and it should be good to go.
I can already see this becoming a little project for me to do over christmas.
Will definitly keep you all updated.

you're all due an update.
The front end of the car is still in a sorry state but i'll hopefully get it sorted out this week.
Things have just kept getting worse for my cars this week. My charleston has been bit by a neighbour when parking her car, 2 damaged cars in 2 weeks what are the odds of that happening. And both on the same front left corner of the cars, My 2 rarest cars aswell. How messed up is that....
Anyway some of you may have noticed from another thread that my alternator also given up, So i ordered one from mister auto as I have been put off the ECP one.
It arrived this morning and looked a bit different to the one in the photo. the photo shown a valeo alternator so i thought it was just a recon unit.
As you can see from the photo this is what turned up. Its made by BOLK which is mister auto's own brand, A bit like asda smart price but for car parts.
The engine started (reluctantly) and I put the volt meter on it to see what it was charging.9v.
Driven it to a garage round the corner which was full of old vw campers and it it died when I parked it outside the door.
A few hours later I got a call saying it was ready to be collected. I was really happy to see the car again having been carless for nearly 5 days.
When starting the engine the starter motor turns the engine much faster than it used to and when he reconnected the battery that sorted out the abs light.
Things are getting better and soon the xm will be looking nice again.

Twice in 2 weeks, I hope the 2cv has survived as well. Any luck with the insurance of the taxi yet

Yes had some success with the taxi issue. I got a call from them and they told me to go to their garage any time this week to arrange getting it repaired.
After getting the alternator replaced I took the car to their garage to have the damage assessed and the asked me to get a few quotes and they'll pay out.
If they give me the cost of the repair i'll probably just replace the damaged parts myself and take it somewhere to get painted.
The charleston has survived, just bent the front left wing a little bit
On the upside things are getting better, the xm is running beautifully again and when I go home on the weekend i'll see how badly damaged the charleston is.