😠 SHIT❗
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
Crap. Not good at all mate. I'd be kicking up a stink with the insurance company. Especially since yours was so nice before and not just some "van" sorry to see mate.
It will all be OK in the end, if it's not OK it's not the end!
Bugger.
These parts in good condition shouldnt be hard to find. I got a set of band new indicators for my van for $35 delivered.
The interior mis alignment will be a problem.
Best of luck with it.
88 Caravelle Syncro Camper
89 Caravelle GL microbus - 5 speed
69 Microbus
05 Mk5 Golf 1.9 TDi DSG
I'm off to the shop again on Friday, armed with some blown up photos and an independent assessor. Thanks again to the insurance company for hooking this up and paying for the hire car to go down there.
Quit calling rust patina
Hey Nils, We sell new lower grilles for $63.00 - its not genuine i dont think but it looks 10000x better than that secondhand one. That just looks plain unacceptable.
I feel your pain though mate I had a wombat hit mine, and by wombat i mean...
^^^^ ouch!!
Futue te ipsum!!!
How does that even happen Kai? Is this a recent happening?
I've cruised just kampars a bit, bit have a line on some new old stock German grilles and indicators. Alot hinges on the assessor tomorrow, he gets to decide wether to pull the pin on this panel shop. The insurance company have offered to possibly deliver without parts like the grilles, then reimburse me for the cost of me ordering some.
Quit calling rust patina
3 days before valla nils
pics of the mountain bike?.
'59 or Kombi?....feeling confused
'59 bug
'68 bug
'82 import T3 BUS. aircooled
Ha ha, the bike actually looks to have come out unscathed. Just tore the roof rack clean off the roof.
The meeting with the assessor went.........something. My computer has pooed itself again and there is too much to write on a phone.
Quit calling rust patina
Nils, I would possibly be interested in a NOS upper grill as well if you end up going that way....... let me know if you end going that direction.
Calling all NSW Mid North Coast Veedubbers
Click Below
Hi Brendan, thanks for dropping those parts off for me.
The upper grill runs in about $500, let me know maybe we can save a few bucks shipping two?
Quit calling rust patina
As I posted earlier, I went and saw the van again with the assessor again last Friday. I am not sure how it went actually, the assessor does not specialise in classic cars, nor seemed to have any interest in cars generally. Which I thought was a little weird. He did give me the impression that he thought I was complaining about nothing and continued to mention that the parts were not available in good condition in Australia, of course to which I replied '' have you looked over the whole of Australia?'' and that the $650 I am asking for to import new grills was peanuts compared to what it might cost to source these parts locally. Particularly considering this repair is bound to have cost the insurance company upwards of $10K by now.
I pointed out a bunch more things they had missed in the repair, such as deciding the radiator air deflectors were not necessary and the fact they had torn the carpet because they neglected to move the seat forward when they disconnected the battery 😠
Once again, attention to detail is woeful. I also mentioned that I will be pulling the dash in the coming weeks and months to do the air-con and if they where missing anything we would be back to square one again.
It turns out the assessor talked to the panel shop (I get the impression they know each other? conflict of interest perhaps?) before he talked to the insurance company. As I got quite a phone call from the panel shop. He was most pissed about the car still being there ( imagine how I feel! its my daily damn it!)and although I won't go into the details, I told him that he is no longer dealing with me but with the insurance company and that I can't give him any details.
I emailed the insurance company outlining the exchange. Also calling them on Monday to see if anything had come of it yet, turns out the assessor had not yet submitted his report. So once again I am waiting.
Oh! and I found the donor for my front end
Quit calling rust patina
shit go mate, that is terrible for what should have been a relatively simple job.
If they were a serious repairer and they genuinely couldn't get the parts it is not hard to dress them up so that they look 100% better than that. That is rubbish. Sorry you have got to go through this. I feel your pain. When the female P plater ran in the rear of my baja her insurance didn't want anything to do with the car. If i had pushed the issue I think they would have written it off and i would have lost it. IN the end I told them to "f)&* off" and repaired it myself.
68 Baja - It's a growing pain!
58 Baja ute - and the pain spreads!
85 T3 Kombi - still growing
89 T3 Kombi - parts car
Very sorry to hear of your plight Nils but unfortunately quietly not surprised. Keep up your efforts to get what is expected of a "reasonable repair".
Matt
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
nils wrote:Oh! and I found the donor for my front end
What is the go with the donor dude? Are you doing more repairs?
It will all be OK in the end, if it's not OK it's not the end!
Hey guys, thanks for the pity party. This hasn't been an easy road, if I had to do it again I would use a local panel shop just so I can work with them face to face from start to finish instead of over the phone. My missus says i'm stressing because I don't have control, I argue its because it's near enough to impossible to find anyone who has pride in a job and I guess this is another example of why I might feel this way.
Matt is totally right, I'm not surprised either. The bad experiences out sourcing work to others out weighs the good 10 to 1. Unfortunately that is what we have to expect now (what a croc right?)
Baghall - you are totally right, and my point exactly. They haven't even tried to make it presentable, everything has been done to the bare minimum standard and this is my gripe exactly.
Nath - Slight misunderstanding there, the photo was taken in the lane near Vintage, I'm in the assumption that this was the donor to my repair. Just thought in was a interesting photo.
On another note, I came to a agreement with the insurance company on how to proceed from here. So I organized a truck to pick up the van and deliver it to my home and will source the rest myself and bill them, I hope not to find any more surprises 😀
Quit calling rust patina
Quote of the week
"Do I wish to send them to you again, nope, no interest can't be bothered really, to much hassle for little or no return."
[IMG]https://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate2-18600.png[/IMG]Brent - No problem man, I originally bought some newer Passat ones, The part number was the same but for the prefix. Guess what nowhere close, and them just stumbled on those lying around.
I talked to the insurance company again on Wednesday and it was decided to bring the van home and get the rest of the parts myself. On Thursday the van was home, thanks to General trades and towing in Newcastle for organizing that quickly and for a great price, with great service. I didn't get a chance to really have a look till today unfortunately, I knew from the get go I would have to tear the whole thing apart and paint and rustproof a lot of raw metal. On the face of it the repair looks quite good, and the colour match is spot on. Unfortunately once you look behind the panels it gets a little sad.
Looking though the passenger side indicator, where the lower center panel meets the deformation panel, must not have a welder on hand, turns out SIKA is the new weld. Found about 8 welds across the whole front.
Looking though the driver side indicator, It seems that maybe there should be more than 2 little spot welds holding the lower center panel to the corner panel.
Should this be straight?
Quit calling rust patina
Crap that work is terrible. Sad that you have had to do this but good you have been able to check it all and get it done properly with the insurance companies support.
68 Baja - It's a growing pain!
58 Baja ute - and the pain spreads!
85 T3 Kombi - still growing
89 T3 Kombi - parts car
Moving on from metal work to basic do and do not do's ( should have put this in the ''what not to do to your Volkswagen'' thread)
Looks like someone had a few troubles getting the radiator in.
Here is one of my pet peevs with this repair, remember that new sound proofing I put in? I This has been pulled out and put back in twice now (because of complaints about the carpet no longer fitting) You would have thought the time involved, the $50 of new material would have been cheaper, guess i'm not a professional. After pulling it out and throwing it in the bin I found a whole lot of water underneath, glade the front would have rusted away before the floor. Turns out the water was coming from the drain tube from the ventilation airbox, because somebody seems to have hit it with a Stanley knife while cutting out the sound deadening.
Quit calling rust patina
Moving on because my photobucket is playing silly buggers. Details, details, details.
This is what happens when you don't know how the window winders come off.
The door handle had 4 screws, guess two will do.
The driver side actuator didn't work, here's the culprit. The 2 zip ties used to make sure this didn't happen must have been no longer avalible parts.
Just like head light adjusters.
I also complained about the air deflector on the passenger side missing, the left is my original one. Not in great condition but all that black paint and pop rivets makes it look a million dollars 🤪
After pulling the heater duct in the center, turns out it's easier to drill new holes than find the original one. Another place for water to come in, Super! and one of the missing door screws, hooray!
Seems this should have water in it.
Quit calling rust patina
Lastly, can anybody get me a picture of this area in there van for me? seems like I have an extra bump that is not helping with my carpet fitting.
Quit calling rust patina
Shit dude really sorry to see that mate, hope you get it sorted to your standard or at least gets done by someone that gives half a shit about workmanship. Good luck with it all, is it at least straight now?
It will all be OK in the end, if it's not OK it's not the end!
So dissapointing. Crap workmanship is so prevelant in this country, it makes me sad I see it so often. One of the issues is the insurance companies drive down the price that they are willing to pay, this is both as an hourly rate and how long to do each individual job. I am by no means condoning the work done, but we were seeing the writing on the wall way back in the ninties at Volksrestore. The insurance companies just don't pay, the hourly rate offered doesn't even cover what the employees get!!!
I hope you can get most of this crappy work sorted mate. Usual rule, if you want to do it well, you may just have to do it yourself.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
I got some work quoted from a panel beater in Sydney the other day and I was quoted $35/hr.
No way I can employ a sheet metal worker for those rates. Has to be an uneducated labourer.
Still. You see big public companies offering cut price insurance premiums, there is only one way you can get cheap premiums and a return on share prices - cheaper outlays.
Futue te ipsum!!!
I completely agree with you there Matt, if this repair was a $ 3000-4000 job in with parts included.
But the parts list from what I can tell is - radiator, 2 indicators, left hand headlight bucket and the front cut pictured earlier. Plus paint bog and SIKA. What do you think $1000 in parts if paying top dollar (and he didn't) mind you NO postage cost where incured.
. That leaves $6500 for labour and workshop fees, way too much for a rubbish job.
Nath - you are right it is straight now and if I didn't look behind and wasn't concerned about it rusting away in the next few years I would be happy with the outward appearance.
Baghall - The insurance company has agreed with me so far, but I do wonder how far I can push this issue And unfortunately from here on out I need to front up the cash for repairs and parts and have them reimburse me. Which is going to take a toll on my cash flow. I will call them again today and see whether they want me to live with it till problems arise (lifetime warranty on repairs) or if I take it to the next panel shop and have it rerepair.
Quit calling rust patina
I would try and take it to the next panel shop mate or fix it yourself, I wouldn't be waiting for a problem to arise like rust later on, It could get to the stage they they just write it off later and you'll be out of a bus again.. Or they just palm it off later as not their problem..
It will all be OK in the end, if it's not OK it's not the end!
