The Insurers won't repair cars now because the cost of parts & sourcing them from the EU suppliers is getting to be astronomically long waiting times with bulk crated supplies awaiting shipments & at dealers for what were standard issue from UK held stock parts is now bordering on a silly joke I know a woman has been told it will take over a month if lucky for her parts to arrive for her 3 yrs old Renault !
No joke for the owner i'd assume... to hear about a three-year-old Renault being off the road — potentially waiting a month or more for a part. Situations like that naturally make you wonder whether insurers, supply chains, and even manufacturer sales, design, and engineering teams are fully aligned with customers’ or environmental long-term interests. It also raises a wider question about how many vehicles are being unnecessarily written off, or caught up in lengthy and expensive repair processes — and how that ultimately feeds into everyone’s premiums. Perversely It probably helps manufacturers to shift new cars
This side of the insurance and repair world doesn’t often get much attention. In showrooms, brochures, and online marketing, the emphasis is understandably on features, performance, and technology. But there’s far less discussion around repairability, parts availability, and the practical realities of keeping a car on the road over time.
My own confidence in the “new or nearly new car” process was shaken a few years ago when my Honda Civic was involved in an accident (not my fault). I chose the manufacturer-approved bodyshop through my local Honda dealer, assuming that would ensure expertise and genuine parts. It should have been a straightforward repair. In practice, the approved bodyshop turned out to be a local operation used by the dealer, with added markup and no clear manufacturer affiliation. The repair wasn’t completed correctly the first time, there were delays sourcing parts, and communication was poor. I also discovered — via my car’s tracker — that the vehicle had been moved to the local bodyshop without that being made clear to me and the whole process was completed as if my car was in the Honda dealers care throughout. It was a disappointing experience, and not one I’d want to repeat.
The motoring press understandably focuses on environment, economy, handling, performance, and features / gimmicks... can you put a banana in the glovebox! — but those aspects matter much less if a vehicle is off the road for weeks waiting for parts. That disruption affects work, school runs, and daily life — and from an environmental perspective, writing off repairable cars because of parts or cost issues feels counterproductive.
It would be encouraging to see more attention from the media and regulators on areas such as parts availability, shrinking dealer networks, and situations where customers have limited sourcing options for certain components.
I’m now going to be buying another RCZ as a donor car, simply to secure hard-to-source parts and keep mine running. I probably went into RCZ ownership blind, not realising the cost of items like DRLs, window regulators, door mirrors.
Overall, it feels like an area that deserves more open discussion. Keeping cars repairable and on the road should be part of the broader conversation about sustainability, affordability, and consumer fairness.
costs are just mounting.... Cannot seem to locate a replacement DRL or headlight lens... Are any DRLs fitted to any other PSA models suitable alternatives or know of a solution ? 
