Repair Advice

MrVestek

Hi all.

I'd like some advice from the experts if that's ok.

My girlfriend was backing out of our shared driveway this morning and slightly dinged our neighbour's car. Now when I say slightly I mean it barely made a noise.

Apparently she knocked the indicator sidelight thing (I know nothing about cars) out of it's housing. It wasn't hanging out or anything like that but when he came down to inspect the 'damage' it said 'ohh... that looks a bit loose' tapped it a bit and it came out of it's housing.

He told my girlfriend that the catch that was holding it into place.

I had a look at the car myself earlier when I came home from work... I can see no damage whatsoever on my gf's car (not a scratch) where the other car would have supposedly hit hers.

There is also not a mark at all on the lense of the other guy's light... and apparently it didn't look loose at all.

I know I'm not being very clear here but I don't know anything about cars.

Now what I'd like to know is... could the light have been knocked out by a small tap from a car that was barely doing 1mph or do you reckon he's trying to pull a fast one?

Also how much do you reckon this would cost us to fix? We can't be bothered with the hassle of insurance so if need be we'll just pay for the repair ourselves even though we haven't really got the cash to do so.

The other bloke's car is a Volvo S40 exactly like the one below.



I have also circled the part of the light that i'm talking about (which is currently being held in with ducttape).

edit: https pic link replaced with http

Seth Brundle

If its currently being held in with ducktape then its unlikely that your neighbour was driving around with a light that was loose.

Also "barely doing 1mph"? Really? Anyhow, I'm sure damage could theoretically occur at this speed (if it bumped into your knee when moving slowly would it hurt?).

As for cost, Euro Car Parts is listing them for about GB£20+VAT - expect a dealer to be more.

analfabets

€29.50 + posting in micksgarage

MrVestek

It's not the lense that's coming out though it's the actual light itself according to my gf.
The side lamp I think it's called. Apparently according to her loose explanation the clip holding the headlamp in place has come loose so that the headlamp itself won't stay in place on the passenger's side.
How much would that cost?

Any guides out there as to how to install it?

Seth Brundle

Its the indicator and I looked it up on eurocarparts and analfabets looked it up on micksgarage.
More than likely the clips holding it in have cracked which means a new unit.

As for install, I'd put money on a youtube vid being out there!

MrVestek

Thanks guys.

I can't for the life of me find a guide for doing so. That is assuming of course that the guy will let me install it myself. He probably won't...

Ohhh well. How much would a mechanic usually charge for installation of something like that?

Seth Brundle

Google was working fine for me just now

Anyway, I saw this for example. To remove te light involves removal of one screw and then unclipping the indicator housing.
http://new.volvocars.com/ownersdocs/2004/2004_S40-V40/04sv40_06a.htm#pg91

MrVestek

Alright well I wasn't using the correct terms then obviously...

As I said I don't know anything about cars. Grand so... I'll see if he'll let me do it myself then.

Thanks for all your help guys!

coylemj

If he says it has to be done in a garage, challenge him to show you where it says that in the owner's manual, he does not have the right to have user-servicable work done in a garage just because he thinks someone else is going to pay for the labour.

If the manual shows you how to change the bulb and in the course of doing so describes how to take off and replace the lens cover then your man has no right to insist that a new cover be installed by a garage since by implication Volvo is saying that anyone can do it.

Achilles

Achilles wrote: »

Alright well I wasn't using the correct terms then obviously...

As I said I don't know anything about cars. Grand so... I'll see if he'll let me do it myself then.

Thanks for all your help guys!

Achilles wrote: »

Thanks guys.

I can't for the life of me find a guide for doing so. That is assuming of course that the guy will let me install it myself. He probably won't...

Ohhh well. How much would a mechanic usually charge for installation of something like that?

I wouldn't blame the chap for not letting you near it, not wanting to be a cnut but you seem not to have the faintest idea about the matter :pac:

bladespin

coylemj wrote: »

If he says it has to be done in a garage, challenge him to show you where it says that in the owner's manual, he does not have the right to have user-servicable work done in a garage just because he thinks someone else is going to pay for the labour.

If the manual shows you how to change the bulb and in the course of doing so describes how to take off and replace the lens cover then your man has no right to insist that a new cover be installed by a garage since by implication Volvo is saying that anyone can do it.

I'm pretty sure he does have the right to have a garage do the job, don't see why he would, but as the claimant here he would be justified in looking to have a professional do the work.

coylemj

He doesn't have an absolute right to nominate a professional to fix a job if the work can be done by an amateur, he doesn't have the right to impose an unreasonable financial burden on the person who did the damage. What he is entitled to is that the breakage be fixed and the car restored to it's previous condition, he does not have carte blanche to call in the professionals for something as simple as a lens cover though I agree that the OP isn't necessarily the person to do the fixing.

bladespin

coylemj wrote: »

He doesn't have an absolute right to nominate a professional to fix a job if the work can be done by an amateur, he doesn't have the right to impose an unreasonable financial burden on the person who did the damage. What he is entitled to is that the breakage be fixed and the car restored to it's previous condition, he does not have carte blanche to call in the professionals for something as simple as a lens cover though I agree that the OP isn't necessarily the person to do the fixing.

Pretty sure he does, it's up to the claimant to accept or refuse an offer of repair/replacement to his desired standard, if not then he can just calim for exactly that on the insurance, he'll get it too.

Anyway, how much would a Volvo garage charge for the work? €50 for 5 mins and the part maybe.

MrVestek

RoverJames wrote: »

I wouldn't blame the chap for not letting you near it, not wanting to be a cnut but you seem not to have the faintest idea about the matter :pac:

In fairness it's not that difficult to do once you know where to go to tell you how to do it.

I'm usually pretty good at fixing stuff if I have a guide for doing so.

In fairness to replace the entire unit it seems that you just untighten a screw... pull the housing forward and take the bulb out the replace the unit... put the bulb into the new unit... place it back into place and hook it into the chassis then tighten the screw again.

Doesn't seem like rocket science.

Achilles

Achilles wrote: »

In fairness it's not that difficult to do once you know where to go to tell you how to do it.

I'm usually pretty good at fixing stuff if I have a guide for doing so.

In fairness to replace the entire unit it seems that you just untighten a screw... pull the housing forward and take the bulb out the replace the unit... put the bulb into the new unit... place it back into place and hook it into the chassis then tighten the screw again.

Doesn't seem like rocket science.

No bother, I was only looking at it from his point of view, if it was my car I'd just expect you to get me a replacement part and I'd lash it in myself. Best of luck with it