LS430 Write-Off....Value?

[bqf]

Afternoon all.

I bought a 2003 LS430 in 'Mystic Gold' from a chap off Twitter (as it was!) almost exactly two years ago.  The car has been terrific - not a single problem, save for the steering wheel tilt motor which I replaced easily.  Never let me down, never had any problem with it.......and then Friday happened.

I was driving through the Dartford tunnel when traffic came to a halt, fairly suddenly, but not 'screeching tyres' suddenly.  Except for the scaffolding van behind me, who stopped within an inch of my rear bumper.  However, 7 or 8 of his untethered scaffolding poles decided they weren't stopping, and made a right mess of my roof, wing mirror, bonnet - and the two cars in front of me.....

Anyway - I'm fully expecting it to be written off.  It only has 162k on the clock and was in great condition before the shunt.  Any ideas what I should be offered?

I'd be keen to buy it back and try to clean it up as best I can, as it was so good mechanically.  

Anyone got a nice LS430 they want to sell??

[cruisermark]

I reckon £2.5 - 3K

[Malc1]

A prosecution for dangerous driving with an untethered load make any difference to the liability for a better pay-out ?

Malc

[bqf]

32 minutes ago, Malc1 said:

A prosecution for dangerous driving with an untethered load make any difference to the liability for a better pay-out ?

Malc

Even worse - he was uninsured!  My insurer offers uninsured driver cover so I will get my excess and NCD back, but frankly I doubt the police will even follow up on it.

[Malc1]

6 minutes ago, bqf said:

Even worse - he was uninsured!  My insurer offers uninsured driver cover so I will get my excess and NCD back, but frankly I doubt the police will even follow up on it.

That’s terrible 😢 

Malc 

[BigBoomer]

And at worst the scumbag will get a £300 fine and will continue driving uninsured.
So many are now risking it as there are never any cops out and about so it's only if they get nabbed by ANPR or have an accident that it comes to light.
I imagine that the van was insured under someone else's name (to get around ANPR detection) but the driver wasn't covered by that (or any other) insurance.

I hope you get a decent offer and can buy it back and fix it up as a Cat N write off. 

[bqf]

1 hour ago, BigBoomer said:

And at worst the scumbag will get a £300 fine and will continue driving uninsured.
So many are now risking it as there are never any cops out and about so it's only if they get nabbed by ANPR or have an accident that it comes to light.
I imagine that the van was insured under someone else's name (to get around ANPR detection) but the driver wasn't covered by that (or any other) insurance.

I hope you get a decent offer and can buy it back and fix it up as a Cat N write off. 

Yep, you’re right of course.  People think they can get away with it.

hopefully I end up with c£2,000 and a written off car I can attack with the filler 

[jonthetourist]

It could have been a lot worse. A scaffold pole could have taken your head off😱