I'm an idiot- damaged car - worth claiming?

[stillherenow]

I'm a total idiot and have damaged my car door, it has a big dent but most importantly the mechanism is damaged and it won't stay open and has to be slammed hard to shut.

Been quoted £1500 to fix - door needs replacing. Car is worth £4k now. I have £250 excess but am thinking about going through insurance - will I regret it when my premiums shoot up- they're pretty low now?

I can prop the door open with a garden chair at home - the dog likes to take his sweet time jumping out and this is his preferred door ! But it's a bit annoying . Not sure if it's £100s of pounds annoying , maybe it is .

Am I mad to claim ?

Surely you'd be better off looking at breakers for a door ?
Cheaper that way and only the labour costs to fit.

Agree with previous poster. I would have thought looking out for a door at a breaker or on ebay would be best.

Need to pre empt it as they often strip out the window switches etc, easiest would be to replace the entire door, but you could get the door frame and panel and switch the glass and mechanicals from the old one.

Yeah I started googling for a door but I'm not sure where to look- and it's not just the door but all the hinges and the attachments as that's what's bust. There is a cheap guy near me I tried first but he charged £20 just to hammer it about a bit - said he could fit a new door but it was all a bit like pulling teeth - guess there will be other places too. The £1500 quote was from quite a high end bodyshop (I realised as I was standing there surrounded by range rovers !)
Maybe I need to call around a bit and explain what I need, it's also the colour, it's not an unusual colour but it doesn't seem massively common

Can you speak to a few local, independent garages and tell them you're not looking to spend a huge amount and it's the door shutting that's the issue rather than the debt you're interested in. They might be able to do a cheaper job and get second hand parts

Yes I'll do some proper calling around, there's also no mad rush , so will call some other bodywork places and breakers. The one yesterday just wasn't interested as I was clearly a pauper compared to his usual clientele 😂

Thank you ! I'm thinking of switching to an automatic in a couple of years anyway ahead of dd learning to drive (doesn't seem any point learning gears these days ) - I don't think I'd get much for a trade in (car is ten years old) so although it's fine it's probably not worth chucking loads of money at it . (Or keep it and dd learns gears and has a nice battered car to start out in!)

Go to a reputable back-street repair shop and tell them what you've told us. They'll find all the bits from a breakers and will respray if necessary so get a quote and then weigh it up against your excess and (probably) increased premium.

Are you at all handy or fancy having a go yourself? See if you can see a YouTube video on replacing the door or buy a Haynes manual for your car and see what the process is - if it looks like something you could do then go to a scrap yard and buy a door off a wrecked car. If you decide to do it definitely buy a Haynes manual.

No not at all handy , complete klutz. Hence the damage !

First, if it's just the arm/mechanism bit then it is not 1.5k.

Second, doesn't seem any point learning gears these days ...this is absolute nonsense. Why on earth would a person restrict which car they can drive with no solid reason (like a disability)?!

it has a big dent but most importantly the mechanism is damaged and it won't stay open and has to be slammed hard to shut.

Why wont it stay open?If its closing itself ( or trying to) you may have damaged the pillar on which its hung- which ould well explain the cost

There's a catch that attaches the door to the main body, that's what's broken. My service garage is great but doesn't do body repairs, but I wonder if they might do that. I'll email them a pic.

The 1.5k was for having a new undented door , which I would like, so was wondering about whether to go through insurance to achieve this .

But alternative is to just get the catch fixed and see how I feel about the dent in a few weeks I guess .

Totally agree with this. "No point learning gears these days!" what??? I've never heard this in my life. You learn in an automatic and you're stuck driving them. It really limits you for cheap 2nd hand cars, jobs (obviously if they involve driving), borrowing a friends cars in an emergency, just about everything. I was told by my driving instructor that I should try an automatic. No way. I found a new instructor instead. I'm so glad I did.

Local scrapyards should have a door.

I presume OP means that in a few years, all new cars will be automatic as they are electric so it won't be restrictive in the way it has been traditionally. By the time my DD learns to drive I doubt there will be any manual cars on sale anymore.

Hope you can find an independent repair shop that can sort you out more affordably.

Regarding manual vs automatic for new learners, I kind of agree with both sides. I think current teenagers may well be the last to learn to drive a manual car due to electrics (and hybrids, as we realised the last time we changed our car) not ever having a manual gear shift equivalent. But I'd like mine (16 and 19) to learn just so that they have that skill. Who knows, they may be in demand one day many many years in the future when most people are unable to drive any "classic cars" ...