Damn, damn and damn some more!!!

[Herbie]

Just pranged my pride and joy  😭

Now, I'm not making excuses here, I did it myself and I'll have to live with it but in the photo below I've arrowed the post that I hit. The ONE post, all on its own in the middle of nowhere, and not another one in the entire street! That picture must have been taken on a Sunday morning though because every parking space was occupied and it was chaos round there today.

I was picking my wife up from the hairdresser's and she said that she noticed that the post was already at about 45^o so someone else had previously clobbered it and the fact that it wasn't upright probably contributed to the parking sensors not picking it up and my not seeing it in the first place.

 

 

So, this is how my beautiful RX450h looks now:

 

 

I suppose it'll have to be an insurance job because I can't see that being only £200, which is what I think my excess is. Oh, and does anyone know what this is that's been exposed by the missing piece of trim?

 

[BachelorDays]

Can't say much more than there will be quite a few of your fellow club members here who know how you feel!

I'd get a quote before claiming on insurance.

[katabrontes]

Bear in mind the potential increase in premium next year if you claim.  There have been some horror stories of premiums increasing by more than 100% even in cases where there has been a " No fault" claim.

[rayaans]

Need a new lower trim and grill by looks of it, if not a new bumper. Don't know whether they come separately tbh but Id expect atleast £500 if not more

[JeffL]

Herbs, just posted on another thread re your wish for an 'RX Petrol Only' Look at this link for one for sale at Bolton no too far from you?

 

https://bolton.usedcars.lexus.co.uk/en/used-lexus/Lexus/RX-200t/20-Luxury-mqbwd9f

 

[Herbie]

Thanks Jeff, I saw it and replied on that thread mate  

[m4rkw]

We've all done it, this cost me £500 in August. Reversed into a post at a petrol station shortly after having a 12" subwoofer installed. Now I turn it down before reversing so I hear the sensors 🙂

 

[Herbie]

Ouch, nasty! Hope you were playing something quality that befits high volumes like LED Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, AC/DC et al? 😉

Ironically, if there had been a line of posts I would have seen them, but who the hell puts just one post in a random place?

Ah well, off to get a couple of quotes today.

[m4rkw]

None of the above

bassnectar.net 😄

[Herbie]

Oh dear - just went for a listen and.... oh dear  😲

No, only joking mate, each to their own and all that. It'd be a strange world if we were all the same  😊

There's one thing I can't get my head round though - when I go to a gig I get to see real musicians skilfully playing their instruments and you can see the music appear before your very eyes. For example, you can see that when the guitarist plucks a certain string you can hear a certain note and you can see and hear how it all flows together, the skill of each band member playing off each other.

We went to see Chantel McGregor last year and as the band came out on stage she announced that the usual bass player had been taken ill yesterday and this was the new guy's first gig with the band, but she said, "Don't worry, he'll soon pick it up."

His eyes never left her guitar; he picked up all the nuances from her lead and made a brilliant job of it. That was some skill to witness and the crowd loved it.

However, when you go to a gig for your sort of music, am I right in thinking that you just watch a guy playing his records? Just like I used to do as a teenager in my bedroom almost 50 years ago? How does that work?

Not having a pop Mark, just a generational thing I suppose. My mum and dad loved listening to Jim Reeves, Perry Como, James Last and suchlike, and my dad always used to be yelling upstairs, "Turn that infernal racket down will you, that's not music"  😁

[m4rkw]

No offence taken. You need a subwoofer to listen to Bassnectar or you're only getting about 30% of what they recorded in most cases =P

Sadly I've never been to a Bassnectar gig as they only play shows in the US, it's on my bucket list though. And they don't just play their records on stage, they mix them live in the same way they would in a recording studio when producing an album, so there's variation for the live event. Some electronic bands I'm sure do just play pre-recorded stuff on stage, but if the fans love it then that's all that really matters right?

[Herbie]

5 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

but if the fans love it then that's all that really matters right?

Absolutely!

[Hangie]

As for that "foam" from you video it does looks like energy absorber. It probably get loose as normally they are fixed. 

 

As for hitting those hidden object I've scratch a while ago my bumper by this crazy design outside rabbis bin:

 

 

They are quite common in Warsaw in Poland and very easy to miss when you are reversing. Yes they are made out of concrete!

 

Ha found it! It is still there: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.272305,20.9263271,3a,75y,340.98h,71.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s49tg4uWH6rNxXHwMhhOwCg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Then it was on the opposite side of the road sign and I hit it by reversing from that local road.

[Herbie]

Went to our newly-opened Lexus dealership this morning and it seems that the bumper can't be repaired so it needs replacing. Wouldn't you know it - it comes as one piece so quite expensive (surprise surprise) and the aircon condenser has also been affected.

Total including VAT is £1655.66 at the local Lexus-approved bodyshop. I'll get another quote to compare but the place they use is one that I would have gone to anyway, so I'm not sure it'll be much cheaper because it was their estimator who looked at the car at the dealership this morning.

 

[m4rkw]

Forgive me for sounding slightly cynical, but you might want to get a quote from somewhere that isn't a stealership.

[Herbie]

26 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

Forgive me for sounding slightly cynical, but you might want to get a quote from somewhere that isn't a stealership.

Haha, I fully intend to Mark  😁

HB Panelcraft are a local company that have a good reputation and I had intended to get them to quote as well, but what I didn't know until this morning when I went to the dealers, is that they send all body work out to be done by HB Panelcraft anyway because they don't have an in-house bodyshop.

There's another couple of places I can get quotes from too, so it'll be interesting to see.

[Hangie]

That is what I would expect from dealership. If you want to use insurance and risk big premium next time go for it.

If you want to repair by fracture of that price:

- first check the condenser. Is it just bended slightly or is it leaking ? If you still got air con after those few days it probably cosmetic and doesn't really need to be replaced. If it is leaking buy replacement part as it is just radiator - no magic there.  Here you got an example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fits-Lexus-RX-RX450h-AWD-Genuine-Nissens-A-C-Air-Con-Condenser/292288237094?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus&hash=item440dbc8e26:g:oSQAAOSw3GtZ3NVi

- With the bumper I'm not an RX expert but it looks like someone might be even less knowledgeable or try to rip you/insurance off.  You got F-sport model right ? In F-Sport it looks like lower trim that you have damaged is a separate part and can be replaced. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Lexus-RX-2012-to-15-Grey-Front-Bumper-Lower-Spoiler-5241148010/619785582 or https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Lexus-RX-F-Sport-2012-15-Front-Bumper-Genuine-P-n-5241148010-Ref-27fb01/14011657891. Of course mesh and covers/trims are also separate parts as per quotation. Of course there is a chance that some bottom trim fitting points were damaged but those should be reparable.

In short £1600 is crazy price for insurance. You should be able to fix it for couple of hundreds on your driveway (if condenser and fitting points are good). Please notice that this bottom trim is not in the car colour so no need to respray anything.

[olliesgrandad]

1 hour ago, Hangie said:

That is what I would expect from dealership. If you want to use insurance and risk big premium next time go for it.

If you want to repair by fracture of that price:

- first check the condenser. Is it just bended slightly or is it leaking ? If you still got air con after those few days it probably cosmetic and doesn't really need to be replaced. If it is leaking buy replacement part as it is just radiator - no magic there.  Here you got an example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fits-Lexus-RX-RX450h-AWD-Genuine-Nissens-A-C-Air-Con-Condenser/292288237094?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus&hash=item440dbc8e26:g:oSQAAOSw3GtZ3NVi

- With the bumper I'm not an RX expert but it looks like someone might be even less knowledgeable or try to rip you/insurance off.  You got F-sport model right ? In F-Sport it looks like lower trim that you have damaged is a separate part and can be replaced. https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Lexus-RX-2012-to-15-Grey-Front-Bumper-Lower-Spoiler-5241148010/619785582 or https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Lexus-RX-F-Sport-2012-15-Front-Bumper-Genuine-P-n-5241148010-Ref-27fb01/14011657891. Of course mesh and covers/trims are also separate parts as per quotation. Of course there is a chance that some bottom trim fitting points were damaged but those should be reparable.

In short £1600 is crazy price for insurance. You should be able to fix it for couple of hundreds on your driveway (if condenser and fitting points are good). Please notice that this bottom trim is not in the car colour so no need to respray anything.

The 2nd eBay f Sport lower bumper has damage!  so no advantage there. I thought the quote was pretty reasonable all things considered.  A front bumper on a Fiat 500 in pearlescent paint was £1900 18 months ago (The paint cost an unbelievable £900).

[wharfhouse]

Ask for a quote that is for private payment and not for insurance purposes too - when I had some repairs done (to my daughter's car) the price a bodyshop will charge to an insurance company is at least 50% more (maybe nearer double) than to a private person paying them directly...! They say that it's to do with the constraints insurers put on them but I think we know better...! If you are at all serious about paying privately make sure you are very specific with the bodyshop and they should give you a quote for paying privately but will make it very clear that quote can't be used if you then decide to go through insurance.

[m4rkw]

An even better approach is to offer them cash, but only do this if you trust their work.

[Hangie]

21 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

The 2nd Ebay f Sport lower bumper has damage!  so no advantage there. I thought the quote was pretty reasonable all things considered.  A front bumper on a Fiat 500 in pearlescent paint was £1900 18 months ago (The paint cost an unbelievable £900).

Yes I know it got a damage but I post it here as picture was better 🙂 1st link is like £20 or so more for a brand new part. Still point is it is a separate part you can replace without touching rest of the bumper. 

[Herbie]

59 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

the price a bodyshop will charge to an insurance company is at least 50% more (maybe nearer double) than to a private person paying them directly [...]  If you are at all serious about paying privately make sure you are very specific with the bodyshop and they should give you a quote for paying privately but will make it very clear that quote can't be used if you then decide to go through insurance.

The estimator did specifically ask me whether it would be an insurance job or if I'd be paying privately and I said that it entirely depended on how much it would cost - if I could afford to pay privately I would, but if it was too much then it would have to go through insurance.

He also said that that would also be the price to me if I went directly to them (which, as I said earlier, I was going to do anyway) rather than going through Lexus.