Little Bump in a GTR = £11,000

Beta Ray Bill

Have a read of this:

http://www.gtr.co.uk/forum/127250-accident-dont-do-what-i-did.html

Crazy!

unkel

The "Pedestrain Saftey system"? :eek:

GavRedKing

The guy who posted that on the forum seems to be getting a lot of heat for saying that the 11k bill for a bump is ok, as with eberything on the internet, a pinch of salt Id say, if it is true though :eek: holy jesus on a pog stick.

Victor_M

That's frightening, if it's true, the OP seems genuine enough. That is enough to decimate the second hand market for them alone, no one in their right mind would buy a car with those sort of costs, the guys that can afford them new are upset enough at the cost. So the second hand market simply wouldn't be able for a risk like that (£11,000stg for a very minor crack in the bumper which sets of a pedestrian safety system, for those of you that haven't read through the link).
That type is incident is the most common accident too, almost all of us will touch off the front or rear of another car at some point in our driving lives.

Wossack

:eek:

great news for the pedestrian saftey system when upon purchasing a GTR, I'd immediately go looking for a way to disable it...

stevenmu

Pedestrian Safety System: It costs so much to replace you won't dare hit anything.

JHMEG

Mechanisms like that are not uncommon.

I hate when people run straight to the main dealer instead of shopping around. A simple application of No More Nails would keep his bonnet down for a lot less than the quoted price.

stealthyspeeder

JHMEG wrote: »

Mechanisms like that are not uncommon.

I hate when people run straight to the main dealer instead of shopping around. A simple application of No More Nails would keep his bonnet down for a lot less than the quoted price.

If you were going to buy a second hand performance car and the guy said the advanced pedestrian safety system had activated and instead of sorting it out properly, he had used "no more nails", would you still consider buying it? (you would certainly be expecting a big whack of the selling price!). I certainly wouldnt buy it, if you have botched something like that up, a 2nd hand buyer has no way of knowing what else has been "D.I.Y.ed" on their potential purchase!

Having said that, 11g on top of the normal 1.5 grand servicing and tryre costs a year is waaay too steep!

Wossack

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

If you were going to buy a second hand performance car and the guy said the advanced pedestrian safety system had activated and instead of sorting it out properly, he had used "no more nails", would you still consider buying it? (you would certainly be expecting a big whack of the selling price!). I certainly wouldnt buy it, if you have botched something like that up, a 2nd hand buyer has no way of knowing what else has been "D.I.Y.ed" on their potential purchase!

Having said that, 11g on top of the normal 1.5 grand servicing and tryre costs a year is waaay too steep!

well, just facepalm for the first part, but I think the most worrying part of the 11k, is the car is only 55-60k in the first place. ~10mph shunt, just cracking the bumper costs ya 1/5th the value of the car to sort..?

Matt Simis

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

If you were going to buy a second hand performance car and the guy said the advanced pedestrian safety system had activated and instead of sorting it out properly, he had used "no more nails", would you still consider buying it?

No More Nails is a perfectly viable fix. Just use a hole saw to drill hole(s) where the oil and washer fluid go so you never need to pop the bonnet (not that you could any more). Maybe then use No More Gaps to smooth out the bodywork to bonnet gap, better aerodynamics and better performance for the car too.

seanie500

not one bit suprised.

sister tipped into an old jag a few years ago

thought the repairs were going to be in the hundreds (front headlight cracked and a tiny dint

ended up as 7K (car worth about 8K)

a total farce no wonder Insurance is a cod in this country with claims like that

even spoke to the assessor who acknowledged as much but didnt want to stir things up due to the " established relationship the repairing garage has with the Insurance company"

cowboys ted

stealthyspeeder

Matt Simis wrote: »

No More Nails is a perfectly viable fix. Just use a hole saw to drill hole(s) where the oil and washer fluid go so you never need to pop the bonnet (not that you could any more). Maybe then use No More Gaps to smooth out the bodywork to bonnet gap, better aerodynamics and better performance for the car too.

Perfectly viable indeed! :rolleyes:

You wouldnt want to change the oil and air filters, and if you had a car of that caliber, you wouldnt ever want to open up the engine bay and see the ugly engine sitting in there!

Dark-Mavis

Sure the tyres in those cars are filled with nitrogen instead of air.
Want new tyres.....only one centre in England that can fill them; for a hefty price too!

Like any high performance car running one is very expensive!

Dark-Mavis

There has to be an easy work around though just looking at the pic. If it were me I head to my uncles work shop and tell him to ditch the hinges and rams and replace them with a custom hinge that, I'm sure he could fabricate in no time, so that the bonnet sits in its correct position. I refuse to believe that ecu cannot be reset and the bumper would stay as its perfect imo.

Apart from sorting the ecu id say I could get that bonnet sitting perfect for the cost of owing my uncle a favour.

Dark-Mavis wrote: »

Sure the tyres in those cars are filled with nitrogen instead of air.
Want new tyres.....only one centre in England that can fill them; for a hefty price too!

Like any high performance car running one is very expensive!

Plenty of places in Ireland are advertising filling tyres with nitrogen

stealthyspeeder

Dark-Mavis wrote: »

Sure the tyres in those cars are filled with nitrogen instead of air.
Want new tyres.....only one centre in England that can fill them; for a hefty price too!

Not true, I know for a fact that Nissan on the Boucher road have a GTR service centre and can not only put the nitrogen in GTR tyres but any other car tyres as well, I assume all GTR dealers would have a GTR service department with all the correct tools.

Drummerboy08

I'd say possibly the worst thing about crashing a GTR isnt the cost, but the amount of people who will drive by and shout "haha, wnaker" from their Ford Mondeo's.

Sounds like a completely mental repair bill though

biko

That's one crazy bill for bumping into a van. When I parked at Omniplex once the front "hooked" onto a kerb that was sticking up, when reversing the entire front came off.
Stuck it in the back seat and went to a garage that bolted it back on again, 50 euro. Bangers ftw!

Biro

Use No More Nails to stick a few pedestrians to the front of it. The sight of them alone should scare most other pedestrians from walking out in front of you, and if that doesn't work, they'll cushion the blow from hitting new ones!
Yer man should just fix his bonnet with a tap of a sledge on each corner of the bonnet nearest the windscreen. The sledge is a great tool for gently coaxing something that's out of place back into place!

JHMEG

Re the nitrogen, I think even the likes of Tesco filling stations in the UK are now offering this. Nitrogen is nothing special, it's just air without the oxygen.

The bonnet safety mechanisms are ballistic, as explained in one of the posts. It's like an airbag. After firing it's No More Nails and a few shots with the staple gun, or get a new one at the main dealer.

Beta Ray Bill

Taken from the Thread

OK first post on here, having been given the link from a Subaru forum - sorry guys!

I work in the automotive industry (including at Jaguar when the latest XK was launched) and there has been some rubbish spouted in this thread about the pedestrian safety aspects and requirements.

All cars sold in Europe have to pass the same pedestrian safety requirements to be approved under "European Whole Vehicle Type Approval" (known as EWVTA), part of this (relevant to the pyrotechnic bonnets) relates to peak deccelerations of a human head 'fired' onto various parts of the bonnet and other front end structure parts.

To pass this test you need space under the bonnet within which to absorb the impact slowly enough to keep peak G levels down, hit the top of the engine or a suspension hard point for example and the car will fail.

Some cars have adopted Pyrotechnic bonnet lifts in order to allow a low (visually pleasing) bonnet line while still (by the time the head hits it) having enough absorbtion space.

So having the pyro' bonnet doesn't make the GTR (or any other similarily equipped car) safer than the non pyro' cars, only as safe, disabling the system will make it less safe. The same regulations are not in force in the US, so like the Jag XK the R35 doesn't get the pyro bonnet 'over there'.

Legally there is nothing to stop you disabling the system once the car is registered (many cars have switches or keys to allow passenger airbags to be disabled) but you would have to tell your insurer (its a modifiaction that could affect the size of any claim - failure to not tell them could have immense consequences should they decide you're uninsured and have a protential multi million claim from someone with serious brain uinjuries) and even then you may have increased consequences should an accident injure a pedestrian as any civil claim would take account of the fact you had chosen to make the car less safe than the norm, although its very unlikley that this (directly at least) would end in any criminal prosecution.

bladebrew

what
does the bonnet jump up like that so the pedestrian dosent bang there head on it?

im confused, its only up out of position by and inch or two i dont see how that could help

Wossack

bladebrew wrote: »

what
does the bonnet jump up like that so the pedestrian dosent bang there head on it?

im confused, its only up out of position by and inch or two i dont see how that could help

so the ped doesnt bang their head off the top of the engine block, or suspension struts

also helps deflect pedestrians up and over the windscreen somewhat

Wossack

Wossack wrote: »

so the ped doesnt bang their head off the top of the engine block, or suspension struts

also helps deflect pedestrians up and over the windscreen somewhat

Pedestrians shouldn't be on the road getting hit in the first place then these ridiculous regulations wouldn't be needed. Fair play to the yanks for not having these regulations.

Id turn the damn thing off anyway and sure if you had an insurance company inspecting the car after a claim turn it on and give the front of the car a tip with the sledge to set it off.(Any excuse to mention a sledge hammer again).

JHMEG

Matt Simis wrote: »

Maybe then use No More Gaps to smooth out the bodywork to bonnet gap, better aerodynamics and better performance for the car too.

I'll have to correct you there. It's No More Big Gaps, so your idea may not work.

Expanding Gap Filler works in every scenario, and even works as an adhesive and could be used in place of No More Nails, reducing the number of products required. It may be necessary to leave concrete blocks on the bonnet overnight as the product sets as it can cause movement.

Also, by applying Expanding Gap Filler around headlight assemblies immediately after an alignment job, failed NCTs can become a thing of the past.

Barr

Wow never seen anything like that , just an example of a repairer milking the job when an insurance company is involved .

slimjimmc

Sincere Dirty Cobra wrote: »

Pedestrians shouldn't be on the road getting hit in the first place then these ridiculous regulations wouldn't be needed. Fair play to the yanks for not having these regulations.

Id turn the damn thing off anyway and sure if you had an insurance company inspecting the car after a claim turn it on and give the front of the car a tip with the sledge to set it off.(Any excuse to mention a sledge hammer again).

Cars shouldn't be able go faster than 20pkh, cars shouldn't cross into the path of other cars, drivers shouldn't ignore driving laws and common sense, drivers shouldn't give anything less than total concentration on driving in the first place then the other 'ridiculous' safety regulations wouldn't be needed. Without them we can get rid of airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, laminated windscreens :rolleyes:.

They're all there to reduce injury or death when the proverbial hits the fan.