Accident: Don't do what I did....

[Crispy Rice]

I consider myself a fairly competent driver, I can drive reasonably quickly on a circuit, and read the road ahead enough to make good progress on the public highway. But I had an accident, and it was all my own doing.

I had a low speed crash into the back of a white van, it was a badly surfaced road, we were stopped, pulled away.... and the person infront of the van stopped for no reason, causing the van to tap the tow bar of the car infront and me in sympathy to do the same to the van.

Ok enough of the excuses, I am posting here to make sure noone makes the same mistake I did. I thought long and hard about posting this, but i think it is important that other GTR owners see this so they aren't stung by a careless accident and the GTR Tax!

I bumped into tho the white vans tow bar causing this small crack in my bumper...


Unfortunately it also set off the Pedestrain Saftey system, where the bonnet pops up....


Which is a one use system....


You need to replace the bumper, rams, bonnet hinges....


and of course the ECU

When the accident happened i called my dealer and asked them to collect the car and told them i would just pay for it without putting it through my insurance.

Then i found out the total cost of the repairs.


Eleven Thousand Pounds.


I'm pleased to report the car has been repaired perfectly, even if it took 5 weeks!

But I fear GTR insurance won't be so cheap next year for any of us. Sorry about that! But don't do what I did. And if you hit a pedestrain, make sure you are reveresing


Updated for new readers - 24th November 2009



This issue has been raised with Nissan UK and following their investigations they have asked me to post the following statement:


Issue of a high repair bill for a low speed front impact on a GT-R

"As a company we cannot comment in any detail on an individual customer case. This is a private matter and we are currently in contact with the customer, his insurance company and the dealer to help resolve this particular situation.

What we can confirm is that Nissan has a policy of continuous improvement, and as such is constantly reviewing parts prices, suppliers, and customers’ feedback. In this instance, thanks to the comments received, we have discovered a computing error regarding the price of the actuators and this has now been rectified.

Nissan apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused and if there should be any customers who have purchased such components at the incorrect price they will be fully reimbursed with the difference. However, based on the level of product demand we believe this was the first time such an instance has occurred.

The GT-R has been designed to meet the latest legal and safety standards for all new cars. This innovative pop up bonnet system is required as there is insufficient clearance between the bonnet and the top of the engine to comply with the European directive 70/156/ EEC as amended by 2003/ 102/ EC for pedestrian safety.

For your information the bonnet system only operates if the bumper is hit in a certain way and under a series of strict parameters. Not every time you bump the bumper, or if the vehicle is stationary."


This information will also be posted into the first post of this thread, so anyone reading it will see it.

I think we should recognise and appreciate how Nissan have fully investigated this now, stated the position and reasons for both errors in pricing and also the existence for these pieces.

They have also (as has been posted by the owner), spoken to the owner personally about this and provided a nice gesture in the form of a jacket. As far as Nissan and I are concerned this is the end of the issue.

Guy

[srandall]

Who carried out the repair, and where did they get off charging £11,000?

I assume you were joking about the ECU, as I cannot possibly think why it would need replacing. The paint isn't the difficult to repair ultimate silver. A new painted front bumper, rams and hinges isn't £11,000 even with the GTR tax!

If garages are allowed to get away with charging these ridiculous amounts for minor repairs, we really will not be able to insure these cars for much longer. Owners need to start challenging these silly repair bills. I really would be interested in knowing the break down of the final bill.

[Crispy Rice]

I am not joking about the ECU... apparently the there is a specific ECU that controls the pedestrain saftey system which needed replaced. The rams for the bonnet alone were £3k. There was a one inch square piece of polysterene that was £140!

The paint is DMG btw, and the the match is perfect... mind you you would expect so for 11k!

[jbloke72]

This is seriously, and utterly beyond belief.
Kudos for posting etc.

[srandall]

I am still stressing over this. I took delivery of my new car last Friday, and this posting makes me wonder if I have made a major mistake.

I just checked the Courtesy Nissan website, and they are charging $49.95 for a hood hinge. I could not find the ram prices, but based on the hinge price, I think £140 for a one inch square of polystyrene is a serious rip off.

If Nissan UK are reading this, they need to sort this situation out now!

[NickM]

Did that price include a reach around too

[P3RV3RT]

How can it be possible!

So at what price will the insurance write a GTR off?

Anythink like a small bump slightly more worse than yours would make the airbags go off, so how many of them are there and how much are you looking at for eack one?

It looks like it could cost close to £25000 for the average front end shunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everytime I come on here and look in the R35 section I get put off buying one more and more!

Baz

[Madden]

Disgusting prices mate. Gutted fo you. There must be a way of disabling that sytem as the damage was nothing really.

Does it bend the bonnet hinges when is goes off?

Get rid of the rams I would say

[Jm-Imports]

dear me i have around 20-30 35gtr front bumpers here and possibly in your colour

[Lindsay Mac]

This car can eat Porsche's for breakfast when discussing performance, outside this criteria it struggles.

This is an important post Crispy Rice!

We need answers from Mr Nissan.

Could this be a new optimisation request, please disarm the bonnet rams!

Questions I want to know could these rams activate if you clip a curb with the splitter, if the vehicle is stationary and was bumped by another during say a parking manoeuvre?

Can you imagine the new "sport" if the Neds find out you can pop a bonnet if you karate kick the front of a R35!

Electronic Wizards on the forum we need your help to disconnect these rams.....

[stealth]

Thats a joke ,disconnect the ram system is one thing and just say the standard ecu was buggerd,surley a cobb access port if one was fitted could just be reset ,apart from performance that is one of the benifits of the Cobb.

[Lindsay Mac]

Hey I'll buy a cobb even if I don't need the extra performance...........LOL. Probably could not keep my hands of a stage 1 or 2.

[waltong]

Crispy.

I underwrite motor insurance for a living and I'd love to see the bill. You can PM me if you dont want to put it on the forum. I wont call or make contact with anyone youve been in contact with but I will talk to Nissan and the ABI because this is madness!

G

[alloy]

Wow, this is something else!

[misters3]

One for Guy?