I Finally did it! RCZ!

[frankvdb]

It looks like the damage is only cosmetic, i.e. replacing front spoiler and side sill.
Does the board computer give any error messages?
Some years back I hit a light post with my front which looked minor from the outside but actually it tore the electric wires that are strapped along the actual iron bumper behind the black facade throwing several error messages about front parking sensors etc.
Also, the housing of one headlights was broken so the complete unit was replaced.
I had it repaired under insurance so I wasn't too concerned about the cost.

I would also recommend having your wheel tracking and underside of the car and exhaust pipes checked.

 

[Tomas_90]

Didn't notice any electrical problems other than Parking sensors faulty error message on the dash. I haven't actually driven the car since this yet but i'm gonna look over it tonight.

The mechanical stuff was completely free from the ground while in the ditch, i.e. the only thing that touched the ground was the front bumper and side sill. And as i said it tore off the plastic cover under the engine when we pulled the car out of the ditch but i think that's only what it did. Didn't see any other damage as far as i can tell.

 

[Tomas_90]

Had the car in for inspection at the shop today so they could see what needed replacing. So that's all sorted now and they were gonna call me later when they have all parts so i can bring the car back to them to install the parts.

He said i was probably gonna have to leave the car there when they do the painting tho to make sure they get the right shade of white (to make it match the rest of the car).

 

[renegade79]

Always an anxious wait for a dealer to ring you with a price for repairs!! In this case it might be as bad as it first looked

 

[Tomas_90]

I don't have to pay for any of it so even if the replace the entire front half of the car it wouldn't bother me

Insurance pays for any damage and labor and i just have to pay 200 € as a "self risk" thing, i don't know what it's called in english. A standard amount of money for the insurance company in any event of accident or otherwise.

When inspecting it today it also looked like the intercooler had taken a slight hit too in the lower corner so i think they're gonna replace that too, along with a whole lof of plastic bits here and there. One of those front bumpers can't be cheap tho! Will be interesting to see what the total amount is later

 

[NATSPLATNAT]

"Excess" - you pay the first pre-set amount, the insurance covers the rest!

 

[DKZ5745]

Yeah, Excess, always been impressed with that concept. Pay the insurance company hundreds, then have a bit of a shunt, and pay the insurance company hundreds again.
:thumbdown:

 

[Tomas_90]

Yeah, Excess, always been impressed with that concept. Pay the insurance company hundreds, then have a bit of a shunt, and pay the insurance company hundreds again.
:thumbdown:

It's a weird system yes, but if i get away with paying 200 € exess instead of 2000 € for the repair i'm all for it.

 

[Tomas_90]

I heard from the service center this past wednesday telling me they now have all parts in stock so i'm all set to bring the car in for them to start replacing. I'll bring it there on 1st December and it should take about 4 days if there were no bigger issues he said.

So it took a while but it's getting there finally!

 

[DKZ5745]

Back just in time for Christmas then, what a nice present. Although it might be an idea not to try to get it under the tree this time :lol:

 

[Tomas_90]

I'll probably hit a deer or something on the way home from the shop....

 

[Tomas_90]

Got the car home today all fixed!

The paintjob is fairly decent but i think you can spot a really small difference if you look closesly. But the car is wet now so its hard to see. They had it out at the workshop when it was dry and sunny and they said it looked better then. And it'll probably get worn in in time and hopefully not noticeable at all. If i had any major complaints about it i was to contact them again to maybe redo it.

Anyway as the insurance paid the bill and i only had to pay the exess i was really lucky to get away with a small bill The whole work totaled at 5,548 €! Yikes!

I'll list some parts for fun just in case you're wondering what they cost. Everything was original parts ordered from france they said:

Front bumper: 770 €
Grille: 210 e
Side skirts: 278 € / piece (replaced both)
"Face crossmember", im assuming the black bit going over the grille(?): 114 €
Parking sensor: 157 € (for one)
Fog light: 93 €
Intercooler: 440 € (They changed the whole thing)
"Air controller", something to do with the IC i assume: 133 €

 

[renegade79]

yikes!!! some bill.

delighted to hear you're back on the road though and the Z lives another day :dance:

 

[Tomas_90]

It's that cold period of the year again....
The Z isn't particularly fond of the cold since it'll only get to about 72ºC on the temp gauge while driving at these temeratures. But it's enough to keep the cab warm so i can't ask for more

 

[DKZ5745]

WTF! why do you park in a drive in freezer :eusa-think:

 

[Tomas_90]

It's not even that cold now anyway. When it gets to around -25ºC or more you don't really want to even touch the poor car.

Coldest i've driven my Z in was around -18 or -19 last year.

Obviously i've got an electric block heater on the engine that warms the block/oil sump up which is great. Only used when i'm starting from home or occasionally from work tho, but what can you do.

Try to keep the car idling a minute or so and going through the gearbox a few times before leaving and once on the move i never go over 2500 RPM, generally try to stay around 2000 RPM all the time while it's still cold.

Works fine tho. It's a great winter car this aswell!

 

[Tomas_90]

Yesterday a friend of mine and me were going to buy him a new car, so we set off in my Z to go get the new car, a Vauxall Astra Sports Tourer Wagon.

Since it was pretty bad weather with snowing and lorries in the way and general winter weather so we weren't moving along that quickly so it was most interesting to see the fuel economy do it's thing It's fun to save gas on a long trip since you can't really do anything about it either :lol:

Here's the end result of the entire trip. 686 km driven.



And a bonus pic i had to take! Have you ever seen the mileage until empty go over 1000?! I never have before. It usually stays around 880 or so with a full tank. But since we we're getting such high MPG's it kept climbing! It was fun to see

 

[Abzynthe]

Ive seen my miles till empty go up to 615 miles. So would be over 1000km. Thats with a full tank and on a motorway though.

 

[pete.garratt]

I've had similar things, both on my old GR200 and my current R.

However, that all depended on being able to cruise at a not too high constant speed without too much traffic and gradient over a longs-ish distance.

 

[Tomas_90]

Yeah, after the first 200 km i actually had it down to 5.5L/100km but that was on slower roads. After that we hit the motorway and picked up some speed for around 150 km so the mileage went down a little. Still a great result tho.

I really love that about this car. It's got decent power when you need it and it can damn near outperform a Prius in fuel economy if you want to. It's the best of both worlds. Of course with the R it would be even better....

Also on the trip being nearly 0 degrees outside it meant a lot of salty roads so naturally the car picked up that nice shade of "Winter White" paint pretty quickly and it looks absolutely hideous today I'll see about washing later tonight.