Hoopers' engineer sat in the house with her tablet connected to a search for previous selling results for examples of the make & model, most of which would have been a tad cheaper since they hadn't been dosed with Ensis by Bigging from new and even if they had, how many other cars of that age continue with their six monthly checks to preserve the treatment provider's original warranty?
Apparently none, but fortunately, when her colleague came out to remove the slightly squished rear bumper for a closer look and found that every one of the original studs, nuts and screws was so soaked in Ensis that they all came out without any need for extra leverage or heat, he determined that the car could be repaired, once he'd double checked that it was in fact a UK car and not an Aussie or African import which, he assumed, was how it hadn't succumbed to the usual rust that has killed eight of the other 49 examples that were sold here between 1986 and 1990. The fact that it took him twenty minutes and half a tub of my best hand cleaner to get the still-clagging Ensis off his skin should have given him the clue he needed..
Anyway, I hadn't claimed on my own insurance, this because the coke-fuelled student in the unroadworthy Clio (an MOT failure the week before the collision on brakes, structural rot, wheel bearings, tyres, suspension bushes, springs, dampers, headlamps, steering rack, column, TREs and more) confessed liability at the scene and claimed from his own policy. However, because my key policy - this year for the first time provided by Lloyds Insurance Services for around half the cost of similar policies from Wright's, Adrian Flux and even PF Spare - had the car covered for a value that would have bought me a much more expensive replacement than I would have wanted, that valuation was accepted without hesitation by the student's insurer and so my shiny old AE92 is to be repaired properly.
A bonus of this happy situation is that I won't have to fit my recycled bumper and use penny washers under the studs to get that bumper to sit straight (
) since the car will be taken to a bodyshop where an absolutely split new bumper along with new brackets, new trim strip and even a new number plate lamp bezel will be prepped, painted and fitted to the car once the shell has been placed on their jig and dozed gently back into shape. The massive box sections that run the length and perimeter of the car's underside are fine but the rear valance between the N/S leg and the rear quarter on that side has been dented slightly (hence my plan involving the penny washers) so, in order to fit the new bumper without such bodgery, the jig will be needed as some bright spark at Toyota decided that the rear valance should be comprised of a chunk of steel that's 0.080" thick, yep, that's right, the equivalent of 14swg, but made up from three separate skins as the dent is in the open area of the confluence of three parts. Presumably Those cunning production engineers drew it this way so that the bumper doesn't transmit any impacts directly to the chassis leg, in which case it worked this time.This means that the guy with the local Autorestore franchise won't be coming to do the job at my place with his mobile rig after all, a shame as he's very good at what he does, but that wretched H&S legislation means that using washers or other packing media is a big no-no so the car must be pulled and I can't see my Jockey winch being up to that even if I set it up between my tree and next door's similarly chunky one.
This wouldn't be happening had my key policy not given me agreed values for the cars it covers, so think on..
), but he was more, not less honest for admitting liability.