Why are people buying electric cars?

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My work colleague with the Ariya had someone drive into the side of her car at relatively low speed last week. The car is a 74 plate, and she's frightened it will be written off due to structural damage to the chassis - I'll update when I hear the outcome.
 
The good news for the Ariya owner is that her car will be repaired, although it's going to cost more than £10,000 to do it because they have to replace a lot of body panels.
 
ancient_mariner said:
The good news for the Ariya owner is that her car will be repaired, although it's going to cost more than £10,000 to do it because they have to replace a lot of body panels.
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ouch.
 
mj4456 said:
Bodyshops at their best profit making.
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Not sure that is strictly true. Insurance companies decide what is going to happen to a car. It is one of the reasons older cars are more likely to be written off. For example the front wing of a ten year old car is damaged. Insurance company will insist on a new wing. a decent body shop may well be able to straighten the panel, use bit of filler and it's back to normal.
 
And the new wing supplied by the insurers' preferred suppliers will almost certainly be far below the standard of one from the manufacturer.
 
Approx a year ago my car was hit by a motorcyclist, (he was ok) didn’t want to pay for the repair so insurance it was, local firm was selected and carried out the repair, cash price circa £500, insurance company bill £2000+, no wonder insurance costs are rising.
 
Sorry, Jonathan but it is, especially for older cars where genuine panels are no longer available at a reasonable cost.
 
Nod said:
Sorry, Jonathan but it is, especially for older cars where genuine panels are no longer available at a reasonable cost.
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If they aren't available then the vehicle will often be written off. Personally I once wrote off a Rover 25 that was literally hit by a shopping trolley. (Owner quite wisely elected not to continue with the claim). The only reason Deloreans aren't automatic write off is there is a factory in Europe that bought all the original parts when they stopped making them. Classic cars may be different but that's a specialist market.

Any repairs done by an insurer must meet manufacturer's spec. They don't of course need to use manufacturer's part (per Block exemption rules) but often the easiest was to comply is to use originals - or OEM manufactured to spec.

What insurers don't generally do is buy scrap parts because most reputable insurers require a warranty from their body shops.
 
Bodyshops get a considerably reduced hourly rate from insurance companies, so it's hardly surprising that they will make up the difference with fictional work and adhoc costs.
 
gman said:
Bodyshops get a considerably reduced hourly rate from insurance companies, so it's hardly surprising that they will make up the difference with fictional work and adhoc costs.
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Who told you that?

My cousin owns a bodyshop and they have contracts with several insurance companies. They have pretty much stopped taking any non insurance work as the rates are higher for insurance work and they are constantly kept busy. Before getting insurance work he had 5 employees and one of them was the girl that works in the office. He now had 27 employees although 3 of them are office staff. Insurance companies care less about cost and more about turnaround time.

They had a 6 month old Polo in recently with 2.5k miles that needed a new bumper and a headlight. The car was written of as they could not get an ETA on the headlight from Volkswagon. he bought it from the insurance company for next to nothing. He had it fixed within 4-5 weeks (bought the headlight used from the scrappers) and gave it to his daughter. He has a fairly new M3 that was written of because of ETA that he also bought for peanuts.
 
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f/2.8 said:
Who told you that?

My cousin owns a bodyshop and they have contracts with several insurance companies. They have pretty much stopped taking any non insurance work as the rates are higher for insurance work and they are constantly kept busy. Before getting insurance work he had 5 employees and one of them was the girl that works in the office. He now had 27 employees although 3 of them are office staff. Insurance companies care less about cost and more about turnaround time.

They had a 6 month old Polo in recently with 2.5k miles that needed a new bumper and a headlight. The car was written of as they could not get an ETA on the headlight from Volkswagon. he bought it from the insurance company for next to nothing. He had it fixed within 4-5 weeks (bought the headlight used from the scrappers) and gave it to his daughter. He has a fairly new M3 that was written of because of ETA that he also bought for peanuts.
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An insurance broker and also a separate accident and assist company I work closely with, the UK's third largest body repair shop, another major body repair shop, a smaller local repair shop who I had to use said the same thing, it's also common knowledge in the trade and I've just checked and it appears to be common knowledge online as well.
 
I seen this on social media the other day and apparently it's all correct :oops: :$

I'm still getting messages from deluded EV people. Before you start talking rubbish about how good your EV is and how bad my data is, I don't care.
I have some SIMPLE questions for you SIMPLE people to answer, seeing as most of you are all talk and can't actually answer these basic questions:
1. why, in 2024, were 30,000 EVs registered as SORN?
2. why, if EV sales are going so well, are VW almost bankrupt?
3. why, if EV sales are going so well, are dealerships closing up and down the country?
4. why, if EVs are so popular, and if second hand demand is so strong, why is the depreciation nothing short of embarrassing?
5. why, if EVs are so amazing, is my mate Barrie constantly finding nearly new cars that have been owned for a matter of days/weeks/months, changing hands sometimes 4 times in a year? (and yes thats classed as 4x EV second hand sales for those who are keeping track, even if it's the same car sold 4 times because it's either a lemon or the owners can't stand it)
and the bonus question...
6. why do we never see Heir Starmer in an EV? ever?
or anyone else in a position of importance?
Over to you.
Oh, and don't message me anything unless you have answers to these questions.
*EDIT*
I just had a guy say to me 'in 10 years all your efforts will be forgotten'
my reply:
let me answer it for you seeing as you're struggling.
dealers are faking car sales by registering cars to themselves and then declaring cars off the road, hiding them out of sight so they can be sold as second hand at a discount.
now, if EVs were selling well, they wouldn't need to do that would they?
you realise that in 10 years time you won't own a private car right? can you see the UK lasting 10 years?
the problem with all you EV lot is you only see the end of your nose, and you cannot see the wider context of what you're pushing for, because all you see is 'I can charge my car at home' and 'I can preheat my cabin' and 'it only costs me £50 a month on a salary sacrifice instead of £400 for a diesel'.
open your mind a bit, it's astonishing what you start to see.
But as MrsG says, if people can't see something dodgy going on having lived through the last 5 years, then well.... f' em. (her words not mine).
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gman said:
An insurance broker and also a separate accident and assist company I work closely with, the UK's third largest body repair shop, another major body repair shop, a smaller local repair shop who I had to use said the same thing, it's also common knowledge in the trade and I've just checked and it appears to be common knowledge online as well.
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Things must be very different in England then because as I already said that is not how my cousins business works the insurance work they have is all contracted and is at a higher rate than the stuff they do for Joe Bloggs, not that they do much for Joe Bloggs any more.

He has also just bought a franchise for an accident repair claims company. Seems a strange set up they now deal with the insurance company on the customers behalf, it seems a weird way of doing things but basically if you have an accident you don't phone your insurance company you phone them and they contact the insurers via their solicitor, rates for this are higher again than even normal insurance work. He seems to think he is going to make millions from that franchise in a very short period of time.

Maybe it works differently here because in Northern Ireland we have less places that you can go for bodywork etc. There is one large company here that takes about 40% of all insurance claim work. My cousin used to work for them.
 
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f/2.8 said:
He has also just bought a franchise for an accident repair claims company. Seems a strange set up they now deal with the insurance company on the customers behalf, it seems a weird way of doing things but basically if you have an accident you don't phone your insurance company you phone them and they contact the insurers via their solicitor, rates for this are higher again than even normal insurance work. He seems to think he is going to make millions from that franchise in a very short period of time.
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My wife had an accident a couple of years ago and was encouraged by the broker to use a 3rd party company to manage her claim. They really tried to rip off the other parties for all sorts of unnecessary expenses - it ended up with the threat of going to court and she refused to go and testify because the company handling her claim wanted her to make false statements.
 
ancient_mariner said:
My wife had an accident a couple of years ago and was encouraged by the broker to use a 3rd party company to manage her claim. They really tried to rip off the other parties for all sorts of unnecessary expenses - it ended up with the threat of going to court and she refused to go and testify because the company handling her claim wanted her to make false statements.
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I only had a very brief conversation with my cousin about it, Don't think he would stand for anything like that, one thing you couldn't fault him for is honesty and that is one of the reasons his business has done so well. Reputation is everything for businesses here.
 
f/2.8 said:
I seen this on social media the other day and apparently it's all correct :oops: :$
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Really?

VW are in all sorts of trouble regardless of EV - what about Tesla, BYD and others doing well

Dealerships are expensive, they have been closing smaller ones for years, bigger sites is where its at

And as an EV driver, they are bloody good cars! Thats why people buy them. Really cant see why I would change back to ICE unless i wanted really downsize and get a 5k runabout.

Pretty certain that list came from someone who comments on FB 'EV again' when a story has a pic of a car on fire, and also thinks that you have to spend 2 hours a week sitting in the car waiting for it to charge and then drive 100 miles and charge again
 
cambsno said:
Really?

VW are in all sorts of trouble regardless of EV - what about Tesla, BYD and others doing well

Dealerships are expensive, they have been closing smaller ones for years, bigger sites is where its at

And as an EV driver, they are bloody good cars! Thats why people buy them. Really cant see why I would change back to ICE unless i wanted really downsize and get a 5k runabout.

Pretty certain that list came from someone who comments on FB 'EV again' when a story has a pic of a car on fire, and also thinks that you have to spend 2 hours a week sitting in the car waiting for it to charge and then drive 100 miles and charge again
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They are most definitely not doing well. :D

Tesla is currently facing a massive downturn. This has led to falling profits, with first-quarter profits down 71% year-on-year
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I don't care enough to find out if BYD are doing well.
 
f/2.8 said:
Things must be very different in England then because as I already said that is not how my cousins business works the insurance work they have is all contracted and is at a higher rate than the stuff they do for Joe Bloggs, not that they do much for Joe Bloggs any more.

He has also just bought a franchise for an accident repair claims company. Seems a strange set up they now deal with the insurance company on the customers behalf, it seems a weird way of doing things but basically if you have an accident you don't phone your insurance company you phone them and they contact the insurers via their solicitor, rates for this are higher again than even normal insurance work. He seems to think he is going to make millions from that franchise in a very short period of time.

Maybe it works differently here because in Northern Ireland we have less places that you can go for bodywork etc. There is one large company here that takes about 40% of all insurance claim work. My cousin used to work for them.
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My guess is that the insurance companies will be providing so much work that they can command better rates? That would certainly seem logical to me. Also, I'm in Scotland not England, but I suspect things will be fairly harmonised across the border.
 
f/2.8 said:
They are most definitely not doing well. :D



I don't care enough to find out if BYD are doing well.
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Depends on perspective but for companies to break into the car market in such a way, in such a short space of time means something is working!
 
f/2.8 said:
They are most definitely not doing well. :D


Tesla is currently facing a massive downturn. This has led to falling profits, with first-quarter profits down 71% year-on-year
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That may be as more about the Trump-supporting south African Nazi than the cars. I know of a number of people that have refused to purchase possible Tesla products including cars and home battery systems specifically because of Musk's ownership. They may be better off giving him $1 trillion to leave the company than to stay.
 
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ancient_mariner said:
That may be as more about the Trump-supporting south African Nazi than the cars. I know of a number of people that have refused to purchase possible Tesla products including cars and home battery systems specifically because of Musk's ownership. They may be better off giving him $1 trillion to leave the company than to stay.
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Yeah, I thought the downturn was down to this rather than the cars, which are very good!
 
ancient_mariner said:
That may be as more about the Trump-supporting south African Nazi than the cars. I know of a number of people that have refused to purchase possible Tesla products including cars and home battery systems specifically because of Musk's ownership. They may be better off giving him $1 trillion to leave the company than to stay.
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I know people who have shied off buying Starlink receivers for the same reasons. However, I read on a German news site that Teslar have nothing in their development pipeline. That is extraordinary and might be a sign that Teslar realise that they can't out compete the Chinese producers and are intending to bail out of their car production.
 
cambsno said:
Depends on perspective but for companies to break into the car market in such a way, in such a short space of time means something is working!
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It’s hardly working when they are down 71%
 
Clive K said:
I know people who have shied off buying Starlink receivers for the same reasons. However, I read on a German news site that Teslar have nothing in their development pipeline. That is extraordinary and might be a sign that Teslar realise that they can't out compete the Chinese producers and are intending to bail out of their car production.
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I've heard the same claim, which is quite extraordinary as you say.
 
cambsno said:
Yeah, I thought the downturn was down to this rather than the cars, which are very good!
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Except some of their tech is not as good as rivals. Not using LIDAR for example...*

* I appreciate there are differing views on this...
 
gman said:
Bodyshops get a considerably reduced hourly rate from insurance companies, so it's hardly surprising that they will make up the difference with fictional work and adhoc costs.
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Isn’t that fraud?
 
Pound Coin said:
Except some of their tech is not as good as rivals. Not using LIDAR for example...*

* I appreciate there are differing views on this...
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I have only driven Tesla but compared to an ICE, so much better. If the rivals are better, then great! Look forward to test driving them when I change (I did drive the VW i3, i4 and Skoda SUV thing but these are established ICE providers rather than dedicated EV like BYD - Those I did drive were dull!)
 
mj4456 said:
Isn’t that fraud?
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Yes.

The motor industry is rife with it, including things such as:

Adding on work that doesn't need to be done
Not doing work that is claimed to have been done
Dodgy MoT's
Cut & Shut jobs
Illegal Mileage "corrections"
Using stolen parts
etc

It's common knowledge. There's lots of hidden camera investigations done over the years, there's plenty I know in the trade who are aware of it, not just cars but also HGV's and heavy plant.
 
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Electric cars to be taxed by the mile, is this really going to happen, if so how will it be done?
 
f/2.8 said:
I seen this on social media the other day and apparently it's all correct :oops: :$
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Of course it is, I mean as you know nothing ever gets made up.
 
munch said:
Of course it is, I mean as you know nothing ever gets made up.
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I saw it too. The 'person' who posted it (that I saw) is a very popular person in the car/automotive ''scene'' (?) - website, blogs, IG, FB page, and 175,000 YouTube subscribers...... Again, that doesn't mean that it isn't made up, but it also means it wasn't posted by Bob from down the snooker club.
 
LeeRatters said:
I saw it too.
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It was on the Radio this morning.

Various, "unnamed government spokespersons", have apparently said that they'll need to find some way to replace the 52.95p per litre in fuel duty, which they're losing from people who don't buy petrol for their cars. I foresee a lot of angry electric car owners receiving large increases in their road tax soon.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
It was on the Radio this morning.

Various, "unnamed government spokespersons", have apparently said that they'll need to find some way to replace the 52.95p per litre in fuel duty, which they're losing from people who don't buy petrol for their cars. I foresee a lot of angry electric car owners receiving large increases in their road tax soon.
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I also foresee that hitting the EV market. We all know a small tax now will snowball into a bigger one. Which is at odds with the government wanting net zero, stopping ICE cars etc. I dont really see how you can have both, you need one or the other.

What will annoy me is that no doubt the Tories, LD and even the Greens (maybe reform) will criticise this as another tax on the middle earners and contradictory to green policy. BUT. when one of them get in next time, will they repeal it? Of course not.

I do like the idea of PPM for all cars, scrap road tax and fuel duty and simplify it. Issue is all the older cars on the road. The other is that it couldn't be a flat rate. In London you may only travel 5 miles on a journey. If you live in more remote places you may have to travel 10-20 miles to the nearest supermarket. Chances are the London journey will be more polluting and have more congestion
 
cambsno said:
I also foresee that hitting the EV market. We all know a small tax now will snowball into a bigger one. Which is at odds with the government wanting net zero, stopping ICE cars etc. I dont really see how you can have both, you need one or the other.

What will annoy me is that no doubt the Tories, LD and even the Greens (maybe reform) will criticise this as another tax on the middle earners and contradictory to green policy. BUT. when one of them get in next time, will they repeal it? Of course not.

I do like the idea of PPM for all cars, scrap road tax and fuel duty and simplify it. Issue is all the older cars on the road. The other is that it couldn't be a flat rate. In London you may only travel 5 miles on a journey. If you live in more remote places you may have to travel 10-20 miles to the nearest supermarket. Chances are the London journey will be more polluting and have more congestion
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And if someone has to travel longer distances for work, taking the kids to school, regular medical appointments, etc they would be taxed more than someone who lives closer. There is no fair way no matter which system of taxation is used. But motorists are seen as a cash cow so will be taxed in whatever way.
 
Might be better off getting the bus, if only they would up their game in the NE of Scotland.
 
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