Hi,

I've got a Fiesta MK6 1.6, 2003.

A while ago I had an incident at a junction, very slow, basically my fault. My drivers' side corner it. There wasn't much damage to the outside of the car, couple of bulbs smashed. The car was drivable, I notified the insurance, admitted fault and went on my way. I was on holiday at the time (on a road trip, sods law) and as there was no issue with wheel alignment or anything else, I thought that was the end of it and perhaps stupidly didn't get it checked out further.

However, my MOT is coming up and I thought I'd go through the checklist to make sure everything was OK. Closer inspection under the bonnet reveals that the front slam panel is cracked right at the front above the radiator. While the headlight is working and secure, it doesn't quite fit into the bracket - nor will it with much squeezing on my part. It seems like the bumper deformed and took out the slam panel with it.

The MOT runs out in a couple of weeks and I've booked it in for this week, but I'll be on holiday just after that until the beginning of August.

I assume that it's going to fail the MOT because of this, but I'm not going to be around to do anything about it until I get back unless magically it's a 2 day fix. I work just round the corner and can probably leave the car parked there (it would effectively be off the road or near enough) in the meantime if that's legal?

What's the best course of action on this? And how does it square with the insurance? I'm guessing they wouldn't pay out, but as the excess is something stupid like £500 I'm not sure it's worth it anyway.

I'll try to post some pictures later when I get the chance.

Cheers!

As far as i am aware (Scottish and English laws may be different) you can drive your car to get it MOTd,(and back home, straight there - straight back) without a current MOT, as long as it is taxed and insured. You cannot otherwise drive it on the road, though untill it is MOTd

it used to be if the car was taxed it could sit parked on the road (even if it was not MOTd) a lot of things have changed and it may be picked up by a passing police car that has number plate recognition - so if you can get it off the road - do so

(others on the forum such as Stoney are more knowlegable about the law than me - best to ask him)

You could pick up a slam panel from a breakers or online and it would not cost the earth (a black one looks ok whatever colour your car is, )- you could fit it yourself or get a friend or realative to do it, or find a pro that could do it at an affordable price

Alternatively the headlight bracket/ slam panel could be repaired - possibly with an extra, inexpensive made- up bracket and a couple of bolts or rivets

The MOT tester can advice you about these things if you ask him niceley - they can be very approchable

I figured at work would be fine - I'm not sure if it's actually off-road, but the car park (fairly large) is gated at night and is only used by employees in the building so unless someone went round with an ANPR cam I don't think that would be an issue. As you say, I'll ask the garage and see what they suggest.

I think the issue with the headlight cluster is that the bumper slightly compressed on impact, though not enough to be visibly obvious, and made the space a bit too small, so only one of the bolts will hold it.

I was more concerned about whether it's legal to drive around having seen the damage - as I mentioned the car is driving fine and I've put almost 3000 miles on the clock since the incident without any major issues. Obviously it's insured and taxed until September so that's fine. No abnormal wear on the tyres or anything that would indicate misalignment

I live in England, btw.

Get a picture up.

I think you are worrying too much.

As long as headlight aim is good and the light is secure, they probably won't worry about the slam panel.

Other option would be to fill, sand and paint over the crack so no one would know it's there