Off topic but I was in expediting and there were often discussions about "I wouldn't drive X because it's just so ugly.". My usual comment was from the steering wheel they all look the same but Y adds x% to the bottom line, the thing that actually matters.

I said I would update you. The car came back from the salvage yard, there is no damage underneath, so I'm relieved to say no forklifts were used to move the car. There's a tiny scratch on the front bumper and a long but light one on the roof which will polish out, probably from loading/unloading on transporters. The damage from the accident is less than I remember, unless you pointed it out, most people wouldn't notice. The figure the insurance company charged me to buy the car back off them was far less than I thought, around £1800, just a tenth of what I paid almost 5 years ago. I received a payout of around £9400, so overall I'm happy.

I will put the money towards getting the wheels refurbished, and a dent guy to pull the worse of the damage out the wing. The downsides are that the car is worth a lot less as an insurance write off and will put many future buyers off. My insurance premium may also increase slightly as you have to declare any accidents regardless of fault for 3 years. Despite the decreased value of the car now, I will still receive almost all the money back I paid for the car when combined with the insurance payout, effectively cancelling out 5 years worth of depreciation. The car drives absolutely fine, I'll keep it a while longer and see how I feel, I'm someone who takes pride in the appearance of my vehicles, so it's a little disheartening having damage. But I'm also someone who uses thier cars properly and enjoys the performance above all else. This could be the car I use on weekends and enjoy giving a good thrashing without worrying too much about the physical condition.

It sounds like you came out ok. That's good.

Almost a year since my last update. Such is the love hate relationship of many cars, I kinda lost interest and neglected the GTi for a while, mainly because I had the Porsche to keep me entertained. It didn't even receive a wash until July this year. As a result, the car suffered somewhat, the front brake calipers seized up and I had virtually zero braking assistance. This is a common fault with the GTi's with the big brake upgrade, as Alcon use Chrome plated pistons that eventually corrode and become stuck inside the calipers.

There's a company that specialise in refurbishment, so I sent them away and they rebuilt the calipers using new stainless steel pistons. The pads were shot as a result so I replaced them too. I also had a paintless dent guy pull the dent on the wing, it's 99.9% gone now. Still need to have the paintwork done where the other damage was, and the wheels still need a refurb, but I'm happy the car is roadworthy again and I can enjoy it. I also had two new front tyres as one had a slow puncture, must be my 12 tyre in just 34k miles...

I recently gave the car a full valet and did a 446 mile round trip down to the south of England, she drives just great as I remember, giving around 40 MPG there and back. I managed the journey on one tank with about 24 miles to spare. It cost me £95 in fuel, as I still use E5 which is now a shocking 25p a litre more than regular E10. Who knows how many times I would have had to recharge an electric car for the same journey.

Just ticked over to 34k miles, no other faults so I'll be keeping her for a while yet until I find a similar replacement with similar power at a good price, although I feel those days are long gone now with current car prices...One pic after a wash, doesn't look too bad for a car almost 7 years old, maybe I'm too fussy about the paint and wheels.