Hey guys,
For those of you who have been unfortunate enough to experience an accident my feelings go out to you. Two nights ago on Saturday 11/10/07 I was T- boned at a four way intersection. Thank God MINI's are equipped with side airbags and side curtain airbags, they saved my life. The driver who hit me ran the stop sign and only attempted to slow do for about 20 feet. The police think that he was intoxicated. My car is sitting in the lot of a repair shop, its the first time my car has not been inside a garage. As you can see from the pictures, i'm not sure if she's going to make it. The driver's side door, hood, and front wheel are all messed up, as well as the alignment / steering/ axial. Ever panel on the driver's side has some sort of damage and the driver rim in the front is scratched up. MINI experts out there, do you think my baby will make it? the body shop told me that it was really bad, but that they've fixed worse, but its really up to my insurance company to see what they want to do with it. i hope they can save it.

edit: notice in the third picture my steering wheel is turning right, but the front wheels are turning left

 

You're right, it doesn't look good. It depends on the value of the car--what year is it?

 

i've had it less than a year! i picked it up in Jan of 07, there seems to be no frame damage though.

 

Sorry to see a Hyper Blue in this condition. Hope that your insurance company helps you out.

 

Ouch! Good thing the MINI is such a safe car. Glad to hear you're ok.
I really don't have any opinion as to repair. Although after a hit like that there may be some hidden damage. It could become a problem after everything is settled. Also may be hard to sell if there's a Carfax report.

 

Wow, hope the other party's insurance helps you out there.... your insurance shouldn't have to pay for that.

 

Sorry to see that, good luck in a quick repair/replacement. How did you hold up, any injuries? Trip to ER? What was the speed estimated at time of impact, 35'ish? Sorry for all the questions, I was just thinking the other day how a mini and driver would hold up in a side impact. Wouldn't mind seeing some more pics of the side curtain airbag if you get a chance.

 

That is disgusting. I absolutely HATE drunk drivers. Talk about complete disregard for anyone else. I'm sure he was fine... they always are. You could have been killed! Thank goodness you are ok.

 

Yeah, I keep hoping that this country will take DUIs (DWIs) seriously and not just put people on probation. I, too, am .

 

Oh - such sad pictures..... But...you are alive and that's the most important thing..

Not sure if your MINI is going to pull through or not. Please keep us posted on what your insurance company says....

Donna

 

Thanks guys so much for all the encouragement I really do think that when i bought a MINI i bought into a family of people who cared about each other. It's pretty apparent that this car and its community is definitely one of a kind! what other car do we know out there that automatically waves to other drivers of the same kind? Update on the situation: I got into contact with the police today and they told me that the other driver was arrested at the scene! i knew that he was drunk and well i guess he got what was comming to him. I'm just glad we're both okay, as i always say cars can be replaced but lives can't. Insurance will go by and look at the car again tomorrow and i will keep you guys updated. from the police report he was going about 15-20 when he hit me which means that he was going about 25-30 in a 25mph zone, so at least he wasn't excessively speeding. will post some more pictures tonight of the close up damage i took when i visited her at the body shop, for now some airbag pictures.

 

Hard to tell if it's a likely total loss just from photos, especially those photos. No offense to your photography skills... just that those are too close, can't see the overall condition of the car.

By the way, MINIs do not have frames. They are constructed of unibody design, as are most passenger cars in our modern world. It's likely that you have significant damage to the unibody that would require segmentation or welding of the unibody construction. That's the equivalent of major surgery.
For your sake, I hope the estimate comes out to about 80 percent or more of the cars ACV (actual cash value) so your insurance company totals it out.

Sorry for your bad luck. I see this sort of thing every day, dozens of times a day, in my line of work. And every time I see photos of serious accidents, it still makes me shudder to think what could have happened had the impact been at a slightly different angle or slightly harder. While you were unlucky to be struck, you're quite lucky to still be healthy.

 

Either way, it won't matter. Sometimes it's faster and easier to go through your own policy, even when you weren't at-fault. If he chooses to go that route, his insurance company will subrogate the other driver's insurance company to get their payment back and also his Collision deductible.

 

what other car do we know out there that automatically waves to other drivers of the same kind?

Being an owner of a classic VW that is another close group of car owners. Just saying it's not exclusive to the MINI. Its usually in the realm of a certain group, where clubs or a large following is already set up. We stepped into the classic MINI and MINI pushed that with the new cars. To build that community. VW still tries to push that community of enthusiasts, but they make way too cars to keep a tight community over the whole range of their lineup.

As to your car. Man that sucks and I feel for you. I am glad you are healthy though. Even though your car is not.

 

Classic Porsches do it, too. Not building too many of the 356's any more.

 

Sorry to hear about your ride! It doesn't seem to take much to total a car these days, and by the looks of your pictures, I can't imagine that it would be cheaper for the insurance company to fix it instead of handing you a check.... Were you banged up at all? I ended up with a burst disc in my neck after we totalled our old SUV that was not discovered for a few months after the crash. You might want to get your body checked out too.

 

Scions

 

From what I've seen with wrecked cars, once it's wrecked, it's never the same- no matter how good of a job the shop did at fixing it.

Leaks, rattles, smells, vibrations... you'll get 'em. And how about when you go to sell it? Would YOU buy a once wrecked car??

I hate to say it- I'd try to total it out.

 

Corvette owners wave as well... but anytime I drive my Dad's... never see any waves.

 

So sad...I hate seeing a MINI in that kind of shape But it did its job and protected you and that's what really matters. I hope you get whichever solution YOU want (total or repair) and I hope they throw the book at the drunk driver.

 

oh yeah my dad took me to the ER after the accident b/c i had some glass fragments in my left arm. actually there's another story to that as well. I went to the ER and waited 3 hours for them to remove 1 small piece of glass, i went home and realized that there was ANOTHER piece of glass in my arm that the doctor had missed. It makes me wonder what kind of attention doctors are paying attention to their patients. This, by the way, was the hospital that i have volunteered at for the last 4 years. I had to remove the second piece of glass myself, quite an interesting experience, i couldn't see the glass but i could feel it under my skin. will post pics. the glass was very very small.

 

sorry i wasn't aware of this fact. it seems that all of the cars with funky body shapes and circular headlights have a tendency to have friendly drivers and they all happen to be cars that i really like!

 

yeah i ended up going to the ER and a doctor checked me up, they removed one piece of glass, but i believe that in another post i shared this story, that they actually MISSED one piece of glass that i later on that night took out myself, it was quite an interesting experience. Thank God for safety glass!

 

what kind of options do i have? it was my first car and i really hate to see it go. what would the insurance do with the car if they cut me a check would they part it up and sell it?

 

Sorry to hear about the wreck!
FWIW, it doesn't look like a total to me. If the drivetrain is intact, they'll most likely repair it. It appears the door took the brunt of the force - add in a left fender, hood and some bodywork on the rear quarterpanel.
If it did get totalled you would get a check from the insurance company, and likely have the option to buy it at the salvage cost. If not, they'll sell it at auction and it will go to a bone yard.
Best of luck and hope you feel ok!

FWIW, Miatas wave too.