Had an accident, need some advice please.
 

Hi All, my car was assaulted by a bus on Friday which has resulted in damage to the rear wing wheel arch profile and scuffs on the diamond cut face of the wheel itself.

My dealer does not have its own bodyshop so relies on a third party company who only visit once a week for quotations. Call me cynical but this makes me nervous as there's potential for the dealer to pass responsibility to the repairer in the event of a poor end result.

So should I just run with the dealer's contact or seek out recommendations from you guys for Volvo approved repairers in the Essex area? Or alternatively, should I just call Volvo Accident Assistance and let them deal with it? Will they just point me back to my dealer's third party company?

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Ask your insurers who they recommend & take it from there . The insurance company will not deal with comedy repair shops , not tolerate messing about & will possibly offer several worthy repairers for you to use .

It is their best interests to get YOU sorted quickly & happily

You want to check if the bodyshop is Volvo approved at all - not sure how you would do that - a lot of Volvo dealerships give the work to local bodyshops rather than have it in house and that in turn would make it approved - but it will vary.

You would want it confirmed I guess before you took your car there!

Very few main dealers do body shop repairs and they use approved workshops or for small jobs like minor dents and scratches or glass replacement the repair guy calls in the the dealer garage to carry out repairs.

Your insurers will recommend the body shop that provides them with the lowest prices whilst providing an acceptable standard repair, the insurers job is to make money and pay dovidends to share holders (like me).

If it were me I would go with Volvo. They are selling brand new cars and will be a lot more discerning than some (although no guarantee of quality). You should also retain your full Volvo warranty by using their service

I've just looked up "volvo approved repairs in chelmsford" got sent to the main dealer website then their approved repairers 'Hilton Coachworks' in Bishops Stortford. They state they are Volvo approved repairers. I would be inclined to go to them.

I'd go with Volvo Accident Assistance unless your own insurer is offering a better service, which I doubt.

Volvo Approved body shops don't really mean very much. Once your car is damaged your Volvo warranty is gone, with responsibility handed over to the body shop for any future issues. You also have to have your car inspected by the body shop annually to maintain their warranty.

Volvo Cars UK provides a free excess return voucher (£250 on the XC90, which I assume covers the fee your insurer will charge for selecting your own repair) if you repair through them. Volvo will recover the car and return it anywhere in the country.

https://www.volvocars.com/uk/own/exp.../excess-return

Thanks guys, there’s some interesting points to ponder from each of you.

I think I’ll call Volvo and see what they say regarding maintaining the warranty.

Thanks again to all.