First car, first week, first scrape :(

[BishiBoshi]

Finally got around to passing my driving test now I've hit my forties and so of course my treat to myself is a Grey MG4 Trophy.
First week in and I was pulling in tight to the hedge to let another car pass on a country lane, unfortunately someone had thrown a severed tree limb into the hedge and it was sticking out slightly and caught my front left wheel arch. It looks to have popped out one of the studs and bent the front panel slightly as well as removed a little paint.

Help! What's my best course of action now?

 

[johnb80]

Take it to a body shop and get a quote.

 

[DBedford]

There is always insurance!

 

[dsimpkins]

There is always insurance!

Yes, but as they've only just passed their driving test, a claim in the first year would push their premium up considerably next year. Plus they may have a sizable excess.

I would agree with @johnb80 and go to a friendly body shop, or a paintless dent removal company.

 

[BishiBoshi]

Yes, but as they've only just passed their driving test, a claim in the first year would push their premium up considerably next year. Plus they may have a sizable excess.

I would agree with @johnb80 and go to a friendly body shop, or a paintless dent removal company.

Insurance was sub £1k but only just, thankfully managed to use a quote from before I passed my test compulsory excess £0, optional £200

Thanks guys, I'll try a local body shop. Pretty pissed off with myself!

 

[Diggsy]

Paintless dent removal won’t be able to sort that - it needs painted…

As above, find a decent body shop and get a quote from them.

 

[Lovemyev]

That is bad luck alright !.
Looking a bit like "Hand In Pocket"time my friend, if you want to avoid going through the insurance.
No other parties involved, so you are not compelled to notified them.
It's hard to tell from the photo's, but is the front edge of the door affected in anyway ?.
If so, its looking like a bodyshop job sorry.

 

[BishiBoshi]

That is bad luck alright !.
Looking a bit like "Hand In Pocket"time my friend, if you want to avoid going through the insurance.
No other parties involved, so you are not compelled to notified them.
It's hard to tell from the photo's, but is the front edge of the door affected in anyway ?.
If so, its looking like a bodyshop job sorry.

Yeah its not affecting the door at all its mostly a visual thing and I guess rust might be a problem if i don't sort it soon. I'm guessing for something relatively small like this going through insurance is probably just not worth it for me in the long run

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks guys, I'll try a local body shop. Pretty pissed off with myself!

Don't beat yourself up. It happens to all of us, pretty much. If you've only just passed your test it's more likely to happen to you because you haven't built up a bank of experience about what not to do in slightly tight situations. It's not that bad, it could have been a lot worse.

Look at me. I was so inexperienced at driving in snow (the first bad winter after I passed my test) that I skidded off a snow-covered road in my dad's car, landed in the ditch, and had to beg a farmer friend nearby to drag me out with a tractor. Then when I got home and inspected the damage it transpired that the radiator was leaking. The thing is, I was only about 20, I was insured to drive my dad's car, and parental indulgence took care of it. Also, car repairs were a lot less expensive in the 1970s.

You're getting your experience now, and stuff happens.

Don't beat yourself up.

 

[BishiBoshi]

Don't beat yourself up. It happens to all of us, pretty much. If you've only just passed your test it's more likely to happen to you because you haven't built up a bank of experience about what not to do in slightly tight situations. It's not that ba, it could have been a lot worse.

Look at me. I was so inexperienced at driving in snow (the first bad winter after I passed my test) that I skidded off a snow-covered road in my dad's car, landed in the ditch, and had to beg a farmer friend nearby to drag me out with a tractor. Then when I got home and inspected the damage it transpired that the radiator was leaking. The thing is, I was only about 20, I was insured to drive my dad's car, and parental indulgence took care of it. Also, car repairs were a lot less expensive in the 1970s.

You're getting your experience now, and stuff happens.

Don't beat yourself up.

Thanks for the kind words. It actually means a lot.

 

[Gilbotron]

Could be worse, an Evoque in the side does this. As everyone said before, it’s only a lump of metal (some of it very rare), don’t sweat it

 

[BishiBoshi]

Could be worse, an Evoque in the side does thisView attachment 18587

Oof. Is that fixable or new door time? At least we chose grey, I heard the paint was easier to get

 

[Gilbotron]

Oof. Is that fixable or new door time? At least we chose grey, I heard the paint was easier to get

Still waiting on their insurance to get in touch, but my guess is new door as the whole thing is bent now. Looks like main sill is ok apart from a scrape, but who knows

 

[Rolfe]

Thanks for the kind words. It actually means a lot.

The upside is, the experience of that skid on the snow-packed road never left me. I have never driven too fast on snow again. Nobody is a perfect driver in the first weeks or indeed months after passing their test. But if that relatively minor bit of damage, the sort of thing you'll probably be able to pay for yourself without damaging your insurance status, gives you that extra bit of wariness, it might actually be cheap at the price.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

When I was 18 my first car Morris Marina, what is it with Morrises. First week did something similar, car was drivable so cleaned it up , bit of paint and left it, no insurance involvement.
You could spend money getting it fixed and two weeks later could happen again, especially if you use country lanes a lot. Get it sorted if and when you wish to sell . Having said that , every time I looked at the damage I was cheesed off , thats moderated language. Many sympathies but as others have said its only a bit of metal.

 

[BishiBoshi]

What a nice bunch.

 

[Ian Key]

That's just a scrape. Two weeks after passing my test I rolled my car going downhill, took the bend too fast and ended up laying on the roof inside the car. I crawled out and the car behind gave me a lift home. The car was written off and ended up at the local college training the apprentice mechanics.

 

[Rolfe]

That's just a scrape. Two weeks after passing my test I rolled my car going downhill, took the bend too fast and ended up laying on the roof inside the car. I crawled out and the car behind gave me a lift home. The car was written off and ended up at the local college training the apprentice mechanics.

Wins thread.

 

[Macadoodle]

A decent body guy will straighten that wing, they're paper thin. I managed to put a shallow dent in mine and literally pushed it back out with my fingers Can't see any evidence of it now.
The paint has reached its elastic limit on your one though, crack spreading from the main impact point.
A good colour match should allow a localised blow in, fading out towards the rear of the wing without having to paint the door.

Bloody annoying though, been there a few times.

 

[GlasWolf]

Look at me. I was so inexperienced at driving in snow (the first bad winter after I passed my test) that I skidded off a snow-covered road in my dad's car, landed in the ditch, and had to beg a farmer friend nearby to drag me out with a tractor.

One winter evening many years back, a couple of my mates came to my front door. One had passed his driving test that day so they were going out for a drive in his dad's car - did I want to come? I vividly remember looking at the snow, falling with increasing intensity, against the neon orange streetlamp at the top of the garden, and deciding to give it a miss. Of course next day at school he tells me he slid the car into a ditch and had to be pulled out by a passing Land Rover.

Rite of passage, it seems.