Had a smash with the citi. chasis related

[175SBU]

Car spares are under Automotive,
I bought these last week.




They are VW genuine parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rourke]

Yeah that one as a backyard repair. Eish. It will need to go on a chassis jig to ever be straight. R4k uhm no just paint will be more than that even if done half arsed.
Bonnet , fender , slamtray, leg, lights, bumper , door alone will probably run to over R10k.

Well panic that was just labour. including white paint and consumables.
All parts supplied by me , It was Bonet fender gradle lights grils and bumper grils this cost me like 2800 as i got it from a polo they were stripping oh and including aircon radiator and water radiator and fan. it was not so bad.

This guy works on all cars even audies golf gtis golf R's he has his own workshop and is qualified.

But doesnot always use the most lastest tech. I had the car 2 years and nothing wrong with the paint no bubling no flaking no fading watso ever. it was just the lines that i feel could have lined up abit beter.

Oh and in terms of safty that front portion of the chassis leg will not comprimise the safty of that golf at all as its before the shock tower and most of the suspension. Only the cradle and related items sit on that front pertion of the chassis leg.

Cheers

[Kyle]

Yeah that one as a backyard repair. Eish. It will need to go on a chassis jig to ever be straight. R4k uhm no just paint will be more than that even if done half arsed.
Bonnet , fender , slamtray, leg, lights, bumper , door alone will probably run to over R10k.

Well panic that was just labour. including white paint and consumables.
All parts supplied by me , It was Bonet fender gradle lights grils and bumper grils this cost me like 2800 as i got it from a polo they were stripping oh and including aircon radiator and water radiator and fan. it was not so bad.

This guy works on all cars even audies golf gtis golf R's he has his own workshop and is qualified.

But doesnot always use the most lastest tech. I had the car 2 years and nothing wrong with the paint no bubling no flaking no fading watso ever. it was just the lines that i feel could have lined up abit beter.

Oh and in terms of safty that front portion of the chassis leg will not comprimise the safty of that golf at all as its before the shock tower and most of the suspension. Only the cradle and related items sit on that front pertion of the chassis leg.

Cheers

[VAG Fan]

Oh and in terms of safty that front portion of the chassis leg will not comprimise the safty of that golf at all as its before the shock tower and most of the suspension. Only the cradle and related items sit on that front pertion of the chassis leg.

+1 and agreed with Kyle.

It's not about what "sits" on the chassis leg. It's about absorbing most of the initial impact before it hits the shock tower. If the chassis leg is straightened rather than replaced, the safety of this Golf (if one can call a Mk 1 "safe" to start with) is, IMHO, severely compromised.

[Edit: to be clear: for me, "safety" includes safety in a subsequent crash on the same part of the car.]

[Rourke]

Well guys its only my opinion

My step dad is a panel beater which he was working from home for 8 years and i hope i have little enough experiance from what iv seen him do.

But that little portion of the chassis leg (For Me has no real safety consequences) does not carry weight in my opinion so i dont think it to be a safey problem if they straighten it.

Let me remind you guys that cars are steel and steel can be bent welded shaped and many more things.

Plus Most Reputable Panel beaters are RMI and DEALER approved as well as has the backing of many big companies and tool manufacturers behind them.

SO what you guys are essentially saying is that all that is S**T and every car ever repaired when the chassis just bent out of shape is a safety hazid?

Well my opinion is you guys are wrong.

If you guys are talking about cut and joint half body cars on other half body cars , this i can say is a safety issue,but that front portion of a chassis leg is nothing in my opinion.


Well Hope this helps the guy of this post.

Cheers

[ICE King]

Its only cause the chassis leg was knocked from the side hence the kink, head on that leg would've been alright and would not been declared so called dangerous, that's cosmetic damage - talking from experience

Have non of you ever seen a Code 3 car prior to repair?

My buddy rolled his car while I was in it, ripped the roof and every single body part , car was written off , only to see it on Gumtree a week later listed as "immaculate" by a dealer. Took a drive since he still had the spare and low and behold we opened the car's door at the dealer.

Sadly someone will buy the car , now that I would consider dangerous and wrong!!

But please do not misguide OP as that car aside from the knock is still perfect and will be a lekka city run about , unfortunately repair will more than likely be +-70% of car value but same goes as some blokes put 40k engines in their 10k shells.

[Cass]

This weekend i will likely run around abit and get a couple guys opinions around me, and will post back here

[panic-mechanic]

I did not say it can't be repaired. I said it is not worth the money to repair it. To do it PROPERLY will require the leg to be replaced and possibly a pull on a chassis aligner. You won't spend just R4k on that repair anywhere unless yes you are family of a panelbeater and he does it for next to nothing as a favour. So once you have driven it around come back here with what quotes you got...

[VAG Fan]

I also didn't try to mislead anyone. I don't visit forums with that purpose. To the contrary. I just tried to point out that if this bent chassis leg is straightened and re-used, it will not be able to absorb the energy of another crash at full strength. Sure, the Golf may be perfectly driveable, but the weakness in the chassis leg would compromise the future crash safety of that Golf. More of the crash energy would be transferred to the passenger compartment.

This is my opinion, but I'll gladly stand corrected if someone can demonstrate that the damaged chassis leg can be restored to original crash absorption strength.

[panic-mechanic]

Can't be and won't if you pull that straight. Any metal even though you can straighten and weld and whatever like mr rourke says fatigues whenever you bent and straighten it.
So if you pull that leg , if ever it is in another accident will simply fold in the same place and do none of the work it was designed to ie. Absorb the impact force instead of transferring it to the occupant. So say whatever you want that is a safety critical part in a frontal collision and if you don't replace it will compromise accident safety, sure it does not carry weight yes but it is called a crumple zone.
Anyway OP make your own choices backyard it or whatever, my feeling is that you are going to be throwing money at something that is not worth doing.

[Rourke]

I also didn't try to mislead anyone. I don't visit forums with that purpose. To the contrary. I just tried to point out that if this bent chassis leg is straightened and re-used, it will not be able to absorb the energy of another crash at full strength. Sure, the Golf may be perfectly driveable, but the weakness in the chassis leg would compromise the future crash safety of that Golf. More of the crash energy would be transferred to the passenger compartment.

This is my opinion, but I'll gladly stand corrected if someone can demonstrate that the damaged chassis leg can be restored to original crash absorption strength.

Yeah I Too Am not here to mislead.

I feel that a friendly difference of ideas is where 1 learns a lot.

I do get that maybe full strength will not be the end result if pulling that chassis leg straight, but why are there machines to pull a chassis straight? even trucks get pulled straight from time to time trailers (Load Bearing trailers on those interlinks) get pulled straight and i dont see them having problems.

I feel that even if you guys say cut it off and put a new 1 on this will not be best. That mono-cog shell was formed as 1 piece in a factory , im not so shure if welding in a private setting will be as strong as original welds and forms. Alot of guys say that when u cut and join and the car is in an accident at that spot this is where that part will tear away from the body.

So id rather pull that straight having the rest of the chassis leg intact , even if it will have a accident again in that spot. I think it will be stronger than a welded in chassis leg.

I get that if its beyound repair cut and join but if it structural the original is best repaired if not to far gone.

Hows about professional panelbeaters get in on this discusssion

[Neuk]

The only time I would consider fixing that is if it were a rare Mk1 like a GT or GTi as all sense goes out the window. For a run of the mill, CitiGolf, have insurance write it off and walk away...

[panic-mechanic]

That very leg on a golf 1 / citi that we a talking about is not a part of the monqoque of the cabin. It is spot welded to that and is actually very easy to remove and spot weld back on which is a very different opertion than pulling part of the monqoque. It is actually a sacrificial structure designed to be replaced rather than repaired. So the correct way would be to undrill the spot welds, pull it of, reweld. That way the repair has the same structural strength as when the car came from the factory. There are times where a gentle pull is all that is needed but once it has actually folded on one of those concertina sections as it was designed to do you replace it, not fix it. That Is why they are supplied and basically made replaceable. You don't need a professional panel beater to tell you that, it is common sense (which I keep saying is not as common as one would think these days)

[ICE King]

Agreed that once pulled the kink will always be a weak spot, And panic is spot on with regards to the correct procedure of replacing the leg but unfortunately that will add quite a bit to the cost, Hence why they have the option of straightening , makes it affordable and feasible.

Majority of insurance write off's is repaired and sold without updating the Enatis system.
Sadly this is a living for people in that industry.

Appreciate that we can have this debate knowing our opinions is based on our own personal experiences and history. I for one am totally against tow truck companies, Panel beaters and insurance companies. They will lie to you knowing they will gain from

I'm hoping that OP will not be a victim of one of those cases but it his decision at the end of the day.

Keen to see what feedback the OP will receive from the repairers.

[Rourke]

LOL

I See the light , And if thats the case then you are 100% correct.

Replace it then.

But as u say i guess in sa we are not so in the know or we just take our own decetions as what will work best .

This is also part of the reason why i want to learn everything i can. you pay people to do incorrect jobs in alot of cases. just to find out later they were wrong or didnt know and just took a guess.


cool hope he finds good quotes from good guys.

[Rourke]

Majority of insurance write off's is repaired and sold without updating the Enatis system.

When you say updating the enatis system ? what do you mean.

[ICE King]

Majority of insurance write off's is repaired and sold without updating the Enatis system.

When you say updating the enatis system ? what do you mean.

electronic national administration traffic information system (Enatis) - System with data of every single car that's on our roads(suppose to be)

A car with severe damage will be repaired on the side yet should have been coded on the enatis system, so car ends up sold with no trace of the repair.

The Insurance will right off for financial reasons (note these are people that know nothing about cars, based on the exploited figures they receive ,will either deem it feasible or not) - Note this includes exorbitant towing cost, yard storage cost , crazy admin fees

[panic-mechanic]

OP said the car is not insured (3rd party only) so he has no choice to either repair at his cost or scrap it. No Insurance involvement.
Enatis has a code formthenstaus of the car.1) new registration 2) used 3) stolen/ recovered or written off/ scrapped previously

[Rourke]

Majority of insurance write off's is repaired and sold without updating the Enatis system.

When you say updating the enatis system ? what do you mean.

electronic national administration traffic information system (Enatis) - System with data of every single car that's on our roads(suppose to be)

A car with severe damage will be repaired on the side yet should have been coded on the enatis system, so car ends up sold with no trace of the repair.

The Insurance will right off for financial reasons (note these are people that know nothing about cars, based on the exploited figures they receive ,will either deem it feasible or not) - Note this includes exorbitant towing cost, yard storage cost , crazy admin fees

Yes panic is right there is only code 1 2 and 3 and if it was a insurance auto that has been written off enatis is now notified.

So if the insurance writes the car off as a code 2 then on enatis it stays a code 2

If it was written off as code 3 then enatis its a code 3 and 4 is a code 4 and u cant register the car on the road again.

So i still dont know why you saying enatis is not notified cos it is.

also just a side note insurers sometimes dont know what code they giving. I saw cars with a light headlight bash as a code 3 from insurers and a full on rolling of a car as a code 2 . even stolen recovered were nothing was done yet ( No AAPV Numbers and nothing was stolen from the car or stripped) gets a code 3 which makes no sence . as you can litterely go by the car and drive it off with no repairs none .

so yeah

[ICE King]

Majority of insurance write off's is repaired and sold without updating the Enatis system.

When you say updating the enatis system ? what do you mean.

electronic national administration traffic information system (Enatis) - System with data of every single car that's on our roads(suppose to be)

A car with severe damage will be repaired on the side yet should have been coded on the enatis system, so car ends up sold with no trace of the repair.

The Insurance will right off for financial reasons (note these are people that know nothing about cars, based on the exploited figures they receive ,will either deem it feasible or not) - Note this includes exorbitant towing cost, yard storage cost , crazy admin fees

Yes panic is right there is only code 1 2 and 3 and if it was a insurance auto that has been written off enatis is now notified.

So if the insurance writes the car off as a code 2 then on enatis it stays a code 2

If it was written off as code 3 then enatis its a code 3 and 4 is a code 4 and u cant register the car on the road again.

So i still dont know why you saying enatis is not notified cos it is.

also just a side note insurers sometimes dont know what code they giving. I saw cars with a light headlight bash as a code 3 from insurers and a full on rolling of a car as a code 2 . even stolen recovered were nothing was done yet ( No AAPV Numbers and nothing was stolen from the car or stripped) gets a code 3 which makes no sence . as you can litterely go by the car and drive it off with no repairs none .

so yeah

Apologies , should have been more clear. There are alot of selective cases where the insurance writes off a car and car remains Code 2.

Just creating awareness of the corruption in that industry as I've experienced it first hand. anyway insurance things aside

[panic-mechanic]

It's not corruption, it is business. They / us / whomever calls a car written off when the insurance pays you out for the vehicle and it becomes their property. That does not mean it cannot be repaired , it means it was not feasable for them to repair it. They can then sell this vehicle to somebody else and recover some of the cost. That person can fix it and put it back on the road. At no point there did it mean that it needed to be deregistered at natis which would trigger the code 3. There is nothing unethical or incorrect or corrupt about any of that. It does not by default mean that a accident damaged vehicle that was repaired and sold needs to carry a code 3 flag. HOW by whom and how well it gets repaired - now that is another story altogether and that is where the issue comes in, not the fact that it was sold by the insurance and remained code 2.
Report d stolen and recovered by th police will ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS carry code 3 as that flags all kinds of stuff on natis and the stolen vehicle database. Hence the reason they get stamped by new numbers. If it was allowed to cary on or flags removed it means there was another loophole that could have been taken by thieves if the option existed to put it back.

[Kyle]

Let's make it simpler, spend 15k to fix it and sell it for 20k, or sell as is for 5k... choice is yours.

[panic-mechanic]

Or spend 15k and keep driving it forever. He can do whatever he wants it just makes no sense to spend r30k if he can buy anohter one in good nick for the same money. That is what reasoning is behind what I am saying. If there is a similar unrepaired car out there for what you are going to spend fixing it, rather buy that and sell this one as spares and at least make something back.

[ICE King]

Agree with Kyle & Panic

[Kyle]

Or spend 15k and keep driving it forever. He can do whatever he wants it just makes no sense to spend r30k if he can buy anohter one in good nick for the same money. That is what reasoning is behind what I am saying. If there is a similar unrepaired car out there for what you are going to spend fixing it, rather buy that and sell this one as spares and at least make something back.