Let's see,

1) a year ago hail storm dented the car up - Fixed
2) Six months ago box fell of truck in front of me tore up front/rear bumpers, and lots of other bits - Fixed
3) A few weeks ago hit and run in parking lot (did catch the driver though) - Just fixed but haven't gone in for inspection yet (so no $$$ for me)

and that brings us to tonight and the next one:

4) Stopped behind a car that was turning, watched the truck behind me drive right into the rear end. Even had time to say to my wife 'Hang on, we're going to get hit'.

I think this car is officially cursed, and none of these have been my fault!

I don't know if this will be a write-off or not since the car is 11 years old and has 270,000 kms but you can judge by the pics. I know that these aluminum cars are expensive to repair (by means of official repair shops). I think if it is totaled I'll just buy it back and fix it since I could make some good money doing that (as you may or may not know I do all my own repairs from body to paint to turning wrenches). It did mash up the right rear quarter, but the air bags didn't go off and it still drives like nothing is wrong and no warning lights either (except for failed right rear indicator, I wonder why it failed?) so we'll see what my insurance says. I love the car but these things keep making me want to cry!




I have a few more pics but for some reason they won't upload so I'll add them when I sort that out.

Edit: I added some pics to an album in my profile here since photobucket is acting up! You can have a look there.

 

Hi WinterJag,

That really stinks. The one question that occurs to me is why should your insurance be involved? Shouldn't the truck owner's insurance pay for your repairs?

Please keep us informed.

Don

 

The way it works here is everyone has the same insurance company (there is only one for the entire province) and everyone's car gets fixed/totaled/whatever and insurance pays. They just decide who is at fault and then the at fault party has their license and insurance premiums increase. The more at fault accidents you have, the more it costs you. So the same people that determine how to fix my car will also do the same for his and pay for both, minus the deductible for the guilty party. The plus is you don't have to fight between insurance companies, and if you are not at fault, it's really easy, just go get you car fixed and if you are at fault, just go get you car fixed and pay your deductible, but you will have to pay more when you renew your license and car insurance.

Unfortunately, the guy that hit me didn't have his license on him, but it was a company truck, and I have the plate and registered owners info and the guy didn't really have that try to get away with it vibe, he had ID and I got his number so I'll get his info tomorrow. And if you smash up your bosses car, I think they will notice!

 

Un-farkin-believable...

 

I'm really sorry to read that, but...does anyone else think that the taillight looks kinda cool without the red lens?

 

XJ8JR - now that you mention it, that tail light does kinda look good like that. Maybe I'll have to leave it.

So I had my estimate today, and it's not a write-off. Apparently it's going to be about $7000-7500 to fix and they told me to total it would take about $12-13,000 (their book value for the car). So, it's still mine! I had a good look over it today and I am going to tackle this repair myself again (and hard to pass up a nice payday of a couple thousand). Most of it is easy stuff like new taillight, bumper and bracket, bumper wiring harness, and other little bits like that and a respray of the trunk, bumper, and infill panel. I can swap those things out in less than an hour or so since I have become so intimate with the way this car is put together due to the prior incidents. The harder part will be that rear quarter, but I'm always up for a challenge. I'm currently fixing a friends car that rusted out over the rear wheels so I have to wait on mine for a bit. I'll probably get started on this in a week or two so we'll see how it goes. After this I should have enough hours on this car be a licensed Jag repair man!

 

Here in Minnesota as well. They call it no fault. It's a terrific price fixing scheme brought to you by your friendly neighborhood Insurance lobby. Suppose to prevent lawsuits but really it just jacks your rates if you file a claim. File two and your gone.

 

Sean W - So you guys are the same as we are here then with insurance, isn't it great. Overall as long as your are a good driver and don't keep crashing, I don't mind it since my rates keep going down (clean driving record) and my cars keep getting fixed! Actually, a few years ago, MPI (Manitoba Public Insurance, the only game in town) got caught with WAY more money in the bank that they were supposed to have so guess what, after a review by the province, they were forced to refund everyone basically one entire years premium due to what was deemed 'overcharging'. Since then things have been not too bad. Guess once you get caught you're careful from then on.

 

Did you research the car's provenance and find out what kind of prior 'incidents' it was involved in? I would just write it off at this point.

I recall a real case where a guy murdered his business partner, loaded the dismembered body into the trunk of his partner's car, dumped the body somewhere, and abandoned the car in the parking garage of the victim's condo. Then weird things started to happen.. at the exact same time each night (time of murder?), the car's horn started blaring and the trunk opening/shutting by itself (all caught on the garage's cctv).

A friend moved into a house where he noticed things mysteriously disappeared and then reappeared... (at a different location!) He later learned that the previous owner's wife had died in the downstairs bedroom a few years ago. Eventually he hired a Taoist priest to bless and 'cleanse' the house and things quieted down after that.

The world is a mysterious place..

Cheers,
Wolfy

 

A sad but all-too-common consequence of monopolistic or otherwise non-competitive systems.

 

Sad to see but nice to know that the Super V8 will live to see another day. Looks like the damage is not severe enough to affect anything more than appearance.

Curious how do you plan to repair the rear quarter panel?

RyeJag

 

That rear quarter will be a new adventure for me for sure. But, to fix it the plan is to get another rear quarter (can buy them from Jag) and cut of the damaged part on the car, cut the same piece from the new quarter and put it in! (simplified explanation to say the least) and since my adjuster said that is what he would do (former body guy) and he put a new quarter on the claim. My plan is to put a flange (or lip or whatever the correct name for it is) on the new piece, line it up and glue it in with the same kind of glue these cars were put together with. I have already talked to a few guys about this and the general consensus was glue it in. I can even see where the original panel was glued in since the impact popped it off the original glue points. Cutting into the car will be a kinda nerve racking ordeal but overall, it doesn't seem to hard or that it will take that long (but when do things ever go as planned!).

 

Awful luck, really sorry for you, especially after all your hard work.

This is the panel you need:


In adition to the aircraft grade adhesive, you will need to alloy weld the C pillar & grind smooth (this how it was done in the factory)

One for sale, UK though...
JAGUAR XJ XJ8 X350 X358 RH RIGHT HAND REAR WING QUARTER PANEL NEW C2C7467 | eBay

Best of luck.

 

alecescolme - Yep, that's the panel! I've already looked for one (and see that exact one you posted) so they aren't too hard to find. I will most likely just order one from Jag since I'm not paying!

I'm not sure if I'll replace the entire panel or just the end that's damaged (basically from the fuel filler door back). I've talked it over with a few people and get different responses, but they all have said (included my insurance adjuster) either way, it'll be fine. I'm not a welder so I would have to get that part done by someone else. I'm leaning towards just replacing the damaged part and I talked to another body guy about it for a while and he agreed with my approach and said no reason it shouldn't work and without welding too, so that's a plus. Still, I've got some time to figure it out. I've already got a new tail light, bumper harness, bumper and bits on order so I'll be able to repair everything (sans rear quarter) in a week or two since it all still fits and lines up fine. I also took a nice big mallet to the dent and was able to remove about 75% of it so at least it doesn't look as bad.

 

Sounds like a good reason to have two dash-cams; the second one (v.wide angle) in the rear window.

 

UPDATE:

So, I had some free time last week so I started the repairs. It's not done, but the new piece of quarter is in, primed and a shot some rattle can clear over it just so it doesn't stand out so much (I hate driving around in a car that's not 'all together'). I've still got to get rid of some wobbles and small imperfections due to adding a flange and possibly not getting everything perfectly lined up. However, while it doesn't meet with my approval yet, I've had people look at it and couldn't tell it was damaged (but most people can't tell if their bumpers are missing). Put a new tail light in too. Sill have to sort the rear bumper marker and harness, but overall, I'd say I'm pretty happy with it. You can judge for yourself.



I still think I need to 'massage' that indented body line to make it perfect, but, from more than about 5 feet or so, it looks perfect.

But, all doesn't always go well. Right after fixing this, driving home, a truck passed going the other way, and decided to shower me with stones. The result was a cracked windscreen and this:



Not the worst thing, and I am just about to order new LED fog lights, but still, kinda just makes me 'twitch' a little now!

 

Your repair looks great from 10,000 miles away. lol

Seriously can I ask you how much practice you have had with bodywork repairs?

We are told that Al repairs are "difficult" and for difficult read expensive.

Is there a danger of stretching the metal etc.

Do you need the right tools for this work?

Great job BTW.

 

Thanks meirion1! I appreciate the compliment. When I get right down close to it and look down the body lines I still see a slight wobble, barely noticeable, but I can see it! So, I'll get out my top coat filler and smooth it out to get it just right.

As to my training to do this, I have a total of zero official training, completely self taught. Actually, my profession is Microbiology (just submitting my PhD thesis in 3 weeks or so). After much money spent at some of the 'best' shops around, and having to go back every time due to poor work, then being basically told 'too bad', I decided to do this stuff myself. Hey, I can do a bad paint/repair job and it won't cost me anything! Overall, I would say I've done body work on about three cars, not counting this one, but none to this extent. I've fixed cracked bumpers, hail damage, dents and the like. My biggest work was rebuilding rusted out rear wheel arches on two cars (one I just did a few weeks ago). I tend to use glues since I can't weld (or haven't tried yet) and nowadays, these glues are just as good or better than welds and much easier to work with. Since wheel arches involve curved body lines, I have been somewhat prepared for the curves of a Jag.

Now, working with Al, it was pretty easy actually. As to stretching it, that you can do if you aren't careful. I noticed with the bashed in part that it couldn't really by bent back into shape (decided to try just for the heck of it, can't damage it more!). I could get it back to roughly the same shape, but I could tell it was stretched. For the new piece, I tried to save as much of the original panel as possible to keep the lines as good as I could. It was easy to cut and pry off (just used a chisel, hammer, and small cutting wheel), then cut the new piece out and used a hand flange tool to add a lip to the new piece, got the right glue (3M makes a few good ones), put the glue on, fit the piece, lined it up, clamped it in place and let it sit overnight. I was very careful not to over work (ie. stretch) the Al, and to clean up all bare spots to get ride of any contamination from my steel tools (not supposed to mix Al and steel if I remember correctly). I don't want to say it was easy, but if you are careful and take your time, it's completely doable. Like I said, there is a wobble I can see, but that can be fixed. You still have to use filler at the seem to smooth it out, and I think that I was slightly off on my lining up of the new/old piece since I can see a dip/wobble, but a little filler can fix that. I blame Jag using such non-linear and curvy body lines (but that's why I love them) making it hard to line things up. I figure another few hours of sanding/filling/smoothing will get it perfect!

I don't get the difficult that keeps getting attached to Al work. It's not difficult as long as you're careful and pay attention to what your doing, and follow the instructions with the glues/rivets whatever that are specific to this work. I mean, if I had needed to, I could get the right rivets, frame rails, panels, glues, etc. to basically rebuild the car, and I'm not an "officially certified" Al repair shop. I think it's mainly a way to charge even more for repairs!

Now, my disclaimer, this is just the way that I'm doing it. I am probably not doing everything the right way. Maybe I'm supposed to be in a clean room, with special tools and equipment, and I shouldn't have just mixed the glue by hand and spread it on and so forth. But I'm also not supposed to paint a car in a spare unfinished garage without filtered air coming in and shouldn't be mixing my paints with a screwdriver because I can't find my stirring stick! Also, we are supposed to be using water based paints now, and the associated tens of thousands of dollars in equipment needed. I use the old stuff (since we can still get them here) and $50 guns I got on sale. In the end, my paint/body work has outlasted the cars in some cases and is holding up just fine on the rest, so, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I'll just keep doing things the way I do until I have to change. And with this car, I have a feeling as soon as this is fixed, another crash will come along to help expand my skills once again.

 

UPDATE: Alright everyone, it's all done! Finished the painting this weekend and all that is left is to cut and polish it to get ride of some orange peel and dust nibs. I still have to put in the side reflector on the right, but that is nothing, just didn't have it with me so I'll pop it in later. So, from time of claim to fixed, 1 month. Find me a shop that can do that on a car like this, and do it right, and I'll give you a free respray! So, here are the pics, what do you all think?





And now all back together with the resprayed boot lid, infill panel, and bumper.



Below is where I put my masking line. I tried to use the curve in the body to hide it. I think I managed to hide it pretty good!



And just trying to show that amazing red that comes out in the sun.



Now, I will do the final cut and polish this week and go in for my re-inspection, then get a nice fat check from my insurance!

Next up is doing another claim on a friends Mazda 5, then the big one, respraying my wife's STR from quartz to Emerald Fire Metallic (love that color), but that will be another thread in the S-type forum when the time comes.

 

Great job