andy kellett Posted January 7, 2008 Report Posted January 7, 2008 I have followed trailsl about the well documented problems with aux heaters (glow plug issues etc), however i need help with an unhelpful insurance company! I was stationary and hit by a black cab in the rear (replacement rear bumper required), the following morning I started my 52 plate 1.9 tdi to clouds of white smoke from what i now know to be the aux heater. The insurance company are refusing to pay for repair because the say 'that damage can not be done by the impact'. All I know is that it worked perfectly before and you could barely see car for smoke after! Something that has electrical connections and is mounted on the chassis surely could possibly be damaged by the impact or am i to believ by shear coincidence the rear shunt and my aux heater problrm are not connected? Quote
mumof4 Posted January 7, 2008 Report Posted January 7, 2008 when you say the following morning, is this after the impact, or after the new bemper fitted?? how bad was the shunt??as the aux heater is halfway up the car underneath, and to be honest i cant see how it could be damaged in a rear shunt that only results in a bumper being replaced? only my opinion and im no mechanical genius. Quote
gregers Posted January 7, 2008 Report Posted January 7, 2008 also if its only the glow plug?they would probably bill you for the repairs anyway as they would class it as a wear and tear item?. Quote
big_kev Posted January 7, 2008 Report Posted January 7, 2008 It seems very unlikely that a minor bumper collision would have had any affect on the booster heater it is much more likely to be coincidental with a sudden drop in temperature. Quote
stevie m Posted January 7, 2008 Report Posted January 7, 2008 Maybe this is coincidental. I cannot see how a rear shut would affect the aux heater. It's too far up the car. It would have to be one hell of a shunt. An aux heater will go when you least expect it. To fix it will cost an hour of your time and about Quote
Saif Rehman Posted January 8, 2008 Report Posted January 8, 2008 Sorry but i beg to differ. It may be possible depending on numerous scenerio's. One of them being is the speed of the cab when the OP was hit - now i am going back a few years when i was a Paramedic and in one particular incident i was called to where a a young lad had jumped off a wall (about 10 feet) There were no visible injuries and neither was he complaining of any pains bar a bruise to his left ankle. After strapping him up, delivered to the local A&E, we later discovered that the young lad a fracture to his left hip caused by the force of impact travelling up his leg! He ended up being in a total lower half plaster cast! So my point being is that no matter how hard you hit something the force has to go some place, hence why cars nowadays have crumple zones. So i would hazard a guess that something could have been dislodged (wiring connection, glow-plug) causing the heater to stop working after the bump. No doubt it will be hell of a case to try to prove otherwise to your insurance company. Quote
mumof4 Posted January 8, 2008 Report Posted January 8, 2008 is why i asked how bad was the shunt, when he was hit, how far was he shoved? that can give some indication as to how fast the cab was going when he hit him. But if it was fast enough to affect the aux, then surely it would affect something else apart from the bumper? Quote
stevie m Posted January 8, 2008 Report Posted January 8, 2008 I agree :lol: . My aux heater went on me sitting in traffic to plooms of white smoke. I can't for one minute think it will be possible to get it off the insurance. Having said that it's worth trying. I hope you get a successful result. Quote
adrianf. Posted January 8, 2008 Report Posted January 8, 2008 Whether the impact caused it or not the one thing we all seem to agree on is the insurance company aint gonna pay for it. Quote
andy kellett Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Posted January 10, 2008 Dear All, just to finish off the story I have got my Galaxy back, auxilary heater glow plug changed paid for by the Insurance company!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My line with the insurance engineer was that although proof either way was impossible, it was possible that 'shock' could have caused electrical or mechanical defects (for which I have considerable experience in after 25 years as a marine engineer in the Royal Navy) and although the glow plug may have the odds of failing at anytime of 1/1000, the odds that it happens as a taxi hits me is probably in the magnitude of 1/1, 000, 000). He agrred to have it inpsected by the local Ford dealer and befoe I new it I had a call that all repairs, including the glow plug, were complete and the car was ready for collection - at no cost!) - RESULT I also think that in the big scheme of things he may have thought to get a combative customer off his hands the Quote
gregers Posted January 10, 2008 Report Posted January 10, 2008 bloody hell andy that was a result,i take my hat off to you for your perseverance over it,i honestly wouldnt of thought the insurance company wouldve done it. Quote
Saif Rehman Posted January 10, 2008 Report Posted January 10, 2008 Good for you Andy! :lol: If that had happened to me, i too, would have used that line (just like my previous post) Quote
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