Car slide no abs

[onestressedwoman]

My son got a new car to replace the one that engine seized

 

However on Wednesday we had freezing fog and when he put his foot on the brake the car did nothing but slide abs never kicked in and he hit the back of a car (all on dash cam) and airbags didn't got off so...

 

He calls his insurance and they have asked does he want to claim for his car to be repaired or not.

 

Checked and his car was on a recall for abs may 2006- may 2008 his first registered on 1st of September and on speaking to Audi they want it in to check it and fault find well there is definitely a problem with air bags !

 

Question 1. what does the insurance mean about him claiming for repairs or just paying out the third party?

Question 2. Anyone know the procedure if car goes back to Audi?

 

Children !

[CraigMcK]

Can’t answer the other questions, but ABS on ice does not always work. 
ABS works by detecting one wheel is stopped (sliding) while the others are still turning. It then releses the breaking to that wheel etc. However  on ice it’s very easy for all 4 wheels to lock up. Under that circumstance the ABS thinks the car has stopped and does not come into operation. It’s possible that is what happened in this case. 
 

Was the damage significant. Airbags don’t trigger for every accident, I think it’s estimated over 20mph on impact, do you have an idea how fast he was still going?

 

Regarding insurance, they may be suggesting the ongoing costs going forward would be reduced for a thrived party claim only? I assume he is fully comp?

Edited December 7, 2019 by CraigMcK
Typo

[onestressedwoman]

Yes fully comp 

 

I'd say he'd was probably 25mph when in the slide he literally turned out of a road maybe 35'  and hit the ice slid really sped the car up it was 3/4 secs till he hit the other car almost square on.

 

I'm the most panicky mother when it comes to kids driving I wouldn't let the younger ones into the big kids cars till they've been driving a year but this boy he is a driver! 

 

Front grill - slam bar  totally bent - lights misaligned and oh my the bonnet

Radiator is all good so I need to check if it will reduce his next premium 

 

Although I didn't know it until yesterday his excess of £945 voluntary £500

If they take it in it will beyond economical repair (mot was due in January) but if he buys it back it will then be a CAT on the car?

 

It was such a good buy £4500 2008 75,000 on the clock full service history has been really well maintained never gonna find another like it - but very juicy

 

He was devastated 

 

I don't bloody know 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2019 by onestressedwoman
Spelling 😂

[Hammy1962]

If your running a car with a large excess, for whatever reason, you might want to consider insuring your excess', which will cover your excess in the event of a claim.

They won't like the suggestion on here as its an insurance cost for a product you might not use (like GAP) but if you do need it it can save you a lot of money.

 

H

[onestressedwoman]

Hammy

 

I had no idea insurance excess was so large... my son was 17 when he took it out and he thought it was just the £500 although a great amount these young ones really have no choice.

 

How do you insure your excess never heard of it but too late now.

 

And by the looks of things he isn't going to have a car to insure for a long while

[Hammy1962]

I don't think they like us linking to sites so I've sent you a PM

 

H

[aesmith]

On 07/12/2019 at 22:40, CraigMcK said:

Can’t answer the other questions, but ABS on ice does not always work. 
ABS works by detecting one wheel is stopped (sliding) while the others are still turning. It then releses the breaking to that wheel etc. However  on ice it’s very easy for all 4 wheels to lock up. Under that circumstance the ABS thinks the car has stopped and does not come into operation. It’s possible that is what happened in this case. 

Some ABS systems work by sensing deceleration of the wheel,  meaning they would still work if all four wheels tried to lock up simultaneously.  Our car works like that, on slippy wet ice you may have no braking effect at all but the wheels do not lock up.  To be honest I thought they all worked like that, but if some work only be comparing speeds then yes they will be fooled by all sorts of conditions.

[onestressedwoman]

If I could pload the video someone can really tell me before I take it into Audi 

 

Will it work in his favour to give his insurance the video ?

[aesmith]

To be honest I don't think it will help with insurance.  Although it seems unfair for something that was outside his control I think that even if the accident was due to a proven fault with the car they will still see him as at fault.

Regarding repair, write off etc, the car will only be classed as write off of any category if the insurer chooses not to repair but to pay out the value instead.  It won't apply if he repairs the car himself dealing with the repairer directly.  If the excess is that much it might be a better way.

[onestressedwoman]

So he has arranged to have repairs carried out by an approved repairer (his friends dad) rather than insurance fixing it so he gets paid out for it and he can keep it 

 

I mean what's the point of being fully comp if they try to get you not to claim for your vehicle

[CraigMcK]

Just read one of your messages again. Was this on a downhill slope?  It’s odd if the car got faster while breaking, even sliding. 
 

if you want to load the video and send the link I’m happy to have a look. 

[onestressedwoman]

I will get my son to upload the video when he gets in.

No down hill slope just a small  gradient and from the turning he came out of its maybe 15 shops until the traffic lights.

Maybe it didn't get faster but he feels like it did (not clear on the video) 

I'm picking him up from work tonight I'll pay attention to the gradient when I go back.

 

He'd only changed up to 2nd so he wasn't driving fast 

 

Upside he knows now to always be prepared for ice

 

[onestressedwoman]

Drove past the road yesterday it's amazing that you drive for years and you don't notice these things yes it was downhill so reason for increased speed I've  never noticed that before how bad is that me not knowing it was downhill there when I've been driving these roads for 30 years