Accident In Rental Car

[oldford]

Working for the rental company one hectic Saturday in 1995 I was the front seat passenger in a 7 week old Punto that got hit up the rear by an Astra van and pushed through a small wall.

 

The wall (we went through it on the corner part to the right of the road name sign)

 

 

The Fiat

 

 

I wasn't too happy as one of my colleagues sitting behind me didn't have his seatbelt on. After checking that my two work colleagues weren't badly hurt I leg it down to the garage 100 yards away to collect the car that we were after (Ambulance had been called) and return to the scene to see them getting carted off to hospital. So back to base to inform the relatives and business as usual with a stiff neck and two people short.

 

Nice to see that it survived until quite recently, it was sent away for repair and returned back to us all nicely fixed.

 

The enquiry is complete

The vehicle details for N558 NAD are:

 

Date of Liability 01 10 2010

Date of First Registration 24 08 1995

Year of Manufacture 1995

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1108CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour BLACK

Vehicle Type Approval

Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle

6 Months Rate £68.75

12 Months Rate £125.00

 

To make matters worse It was my turn on callout (contract for the AA) for the weekend. After I had been at home for a couple of hours I get called out, so I rent out a 4 month old Peugeot 306 to the customer. Within 24 hours I have to rent him out another car as apparently the Peugeot had a manufacturing fault resulting in it getting slightly damaged.

 

The Peugeot

 

 

From what I remember the customer had a lot of valuable magazines in the boot which got water damaged and he was going to claim the cost from the hire company. The hire company claimed the cost of the car from Peugeot as the wiring loom got chafed during assembly where it passed through the bulk head.

 

This car didn't get repaired:

 

The enquiry is complete

The vehicle details for M573 PRW are:

 

Date of Liability 01 05 1996

Date of First Registration 21 06 1995

Year of Manufacture 1995

Cylinder Capacity (cc) 1360CC

CO2 Emissions Not Available

Fuel Type Petrol

Export Marker Not Applicable

Vehicle Status Unlicensed

Vehicle Colour WHITE

Vehicle Type Approval

Vehicle Excise Duty Rate for vehicle

6 Months Rate £68.75

12 Months Rate £125.00

[ashmicro]

An interesting couple of days, O.F.!

 

Those little Puntos seem to be tough. In 2000 we got whacked up the arrse hard by a 406 estate, hard enough to write off the Punto, but we werent hurt at all.

[trigger]

Was that you flash me the other day whilst i was in the Kadett John?, Driving what i think was a little Skoda on trade plates along Nacton Road?.

[kevin 900]

Whoa, that cream Skoda Estelle... (side on to the fence in the 1st pic of the 306) Surely it's not the same one that Ivan & Brian still had sitting there 10 years later???

Hello Johnny btw!

[oldford]

Yes it was and I waved as well. Not a Skoda, it was what I consider to be future shite - a Proton Savvy. Nice to see the Opel out and about.

[trigger]

I did see you wave and i guessed it most have been you but i wasn't 100% sure, It was the first time I've driven it for a coupe of weeks, I had a ebay delivery to drop off down Wherstead road.

 

What are the Savvys like?, They seem quite cheap for what they are.

[oldford]

Whoa, that cream Skoda Estelle... (side on to the fence in the 1st pic of the 306) Surely it's not the same one that Ivan & Brian still had sitting there 10 years later???

Hello Johnny btw!

 

Kevin?, with a Saab?, do you still work in insurance?, the Co op wasn't it?

 

Those photos were taken in 1995, I know that there was an Estelle getting broken for parts there in 2000, so it's probable that it was still there 5 years later.

 

The Savvy seemed fine, I was told to drive it to Felixstowe and back, a bit of engine noise at 80ish, the steering felt a little wooly, but perfectly fine for a town runabout.

[kevin 900]

Kevin?, with a Saab?, do you still work in insurance?, the Co op wasn't it?

 

Aye, yes, that's me... CIS are long gone from Ipswich, now work for LV= in Crown House...

 

so it's probable that it was still there 5 years later

 

Surprised it's not still there! Christ I remember the rubbish that used to collect up there... Haven't you got a '97 Escort at something like £1299 in the corner now?

[trigger]

Aye, yes, that's me... CIS are long gone from Ipswich, now work for LV= in Crown House...

 

My wife used to work for CIS in Colchester as admin for a long while, she's now at Willis.

[kevin 900]

My wife used to work for CIS in Colchester as admin for a long while, she's now at Willis.

 

Probably did the same job as me then!

It involved;

a) Dealing with scum at the public counter

Handwriting out reams of sodding cover notes

 

Happy days...

[chaseracer]

Those little Puntos seem to be tough...

Indeed. As these chaps having a little fun at Roosecote Raceway in Cumbria will attest, especially around the 0:38 point...

 

[trigger]

Yep, exactly same job then Kev

 

Oh, and those Puntos might seem tough, but their not that tough when it comes down to fire (at 4.00am in the morning outside your house )

 

My neighbours old Fiat Punto. by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

 

My neighbours old Fiat Punto. by Trigger's Retro Road Tests!, on Flickr

[kevin 900]

This one wasn't so tough... Looks painful.

http://www.copart.co.uk/c2/homeSearch.h ... CH_RESULTS

[boobydoo]

Funnily enough, we were talking about accidents in rental cars at work today....or rather fake accidents. Basically, people who hire a cheap rental for a day and 'accidentally' rear-end their mates car that actually had previous bodywork damage anyway...BINGO! paid for under the rental company insurance.

[eddyramrod]

Dealing with scum at the public counter

 

...And this is from someone in the insurance business???? I do know how the public can be, but really, look out kettle, you're getting name-called again...