Was the A-pillar structurally damaged, or did the cover just get crunched?

Mark

 

What a mess! You have my sympathy. The damage is nasty, but the length of time away from your MINI can definitely cause MINI Separation Anxiety! At least they can get you motoring again, just in time for spring!

 

Real happy for you Jere that it was not totalled. Damage described will not have any lasting effects, and since MINI dealer is doing the roof that means no issues with road noise or leaks. That is also good news. Those tops seem to get blemishes which cannot be removed just from the normal wear and tear they have, so replacing the whole top in this case was paramount.

Any chances your ins policy covers a rented MINI until then ?

 

Hopefully no issues. Besides the factory roof, we had 2 more complete roofs dealer installed on out cabrio.

Mark

 

Best of luck. It's been a long haul I'm sure (and that doesn't count the non-MINI related stress / damage from the storm). I hope this part goes smoothly and that it all comes together without a / too many hitch(es)!

 

After seeing this, I'm glad I left the snow for sunny CA.

 

Just the cover got crunched, apparently the "buckling" in my photo is normal.

Nope, my insurance is paying 80% of my Mazda3 (yuck!) rental, up to $500. Their share will be running out very soon.

 

As you know from this thread, my MINI was supposed to be escaping the body shop tomorrow. Its release has been postponed to Friday the 12th. The reason given was that there is a back up in the paint shop. That means it won't get to MINI of Towson until I was expecting to having it back in a 100% drivable condition.

 

Boo Sorry, J. Hopefully they get it done quickly!

 

Keep the faith, the nightmare is almost over.

 

Well, this body shop is sucking more and more. Now the estimated completion date is 3/16. So, who knows when it will get back to MINI to get the top stuff taken care of. I just want it back.

 

I'd be calling every 2 hours until it was done.

Can you tell I used to work in escalations?

 

The saga continues. Yesterday Alyssa was picked up by MINI Roadside Assistance from the body shop and given a 1st class ride to MINI of Towson. She was checked in around 5:00pm, after all the estimators were gone for the day, I was told to expect a call this morning with the estimate. My insurance issued me a check for $4447.34 for the repairs on the roof. MINI quoted me at just under $4800, a $400 difference that I have no problem paying for guaranteed quality and no voiding of the warranty.

Here is where things get interesting. Knowing that my dealer has a fantastic loaner policy, we dumped off 2 of our rentals that we were now paying full price on. We borrowed my grandmothers car, and planned on getting a MINI loaner. When I got the call this morning for cost, I was also told that there is currently one, yes ONE, roof frame in the world that is not currently in an existing R57. This one frame is assembled in Germany right now, and will need to be disassembled, shipped then reassembled at my dealer, before being put into my MINI. This process alone will take a minimum of 2 weeks. So I am looking at another 3 or more weeks of not having my MINI back. Luckily though, I will have a MINI loaner starting this evening, until my MINI is back in my hands safe and sound.

 

I feel for ya, buddy . It's a long, sucky wait. Luckily, the rental company probably didn't give you a Pontiac Sunfire (SunTurd, SunS**t, etc) which is what I got :-p. But, I also had my S2000 weekender to drive...

My 2003 MCS sustained major flood damage (not my fault) after Hurricane Isabel to the tune of $9,200........only a week or two after installing the ($5500) JCW kit. I paid my $250 ded and the insurance company paid the rest.

Took 6-7 weeks to get everything done (I was told it would take 2-3 weeks). Crown MINI of Richmond did the repairs and the car was like new afterwards .

 

I really HATE MINI parts availability issues. It drives me insane when they tell me that even basic stuff (latest example: automatic transmission filters) don't exist outside of Germany.

It also drives me a little nuts when the dealer doesn't have the foresight to check availability FIRST, and order long-lead-time parts early so you won't have to wait for that foolishness later.

I feel your pain.

 

Well look at the bright side, at least they did have ONE roof frame

And you are driving a MINI again even if it's just a loaner.

 

Only one spare frame for the world sounds kind of stupid. Hard to believe that no one else in the world has issues with their cabrio roof that necessitated replacement.

 

... or they had 50 in stock, but 49 people had to replace theirs last month.

Yeah, the state of MINI OEM parts availability is really pretty baffling to me - I've never owned a car before where you couldn't get most anything in a day or two - even my old Triumph.

 

Slight change of plans. When I got to the dealer last night I spoke with my SA who told me that they wouldn't be able to give me a loaner until the parts arrived. I asked to speak with the technician who did the estimate on my car, I was taken back and was able to ask him some questions. Including the most important, "is it safe to drive in its current state?" He confidently replied back with yes. I then asked my SA if I would be able to get my car back and just drop it back off when the parts come in, she said that wouldn't be a problem. So, as of right now I am driving my MINI Cooper S Soft-top Coupé, . Its nice to have my car back, not only because it's my car, but because we now only have one rental car that we are paying for. When the parts arrive I'll have to drop her off and grab a loaner from the dealer until the car is back to perfect condition.

 

I know it's gotta be good to be back behind the wheel!

 

So is there anything covering the car if it rains or does it just have no roof?

 

The entire (damaged) roof assembly is still there. I can actually open the sunroof, and am very tempted to try to open it all the way, as they bent the supports back into place and said there was no damage to the hinges or anything.

 

Bump...

Have you got your Mini back all fixed yet?

 

It's like you are watching me and know when I do something in regards to it . I stopped by the dealer yesterday to see if the roof assembly was in yet, turns out it was there 9 days ago. Nobody told my SA, so nobody told me, . I will be dropping Alyssa off Monday to have it put in.

 

LOL yessss...I can see you all the way from Kansas City. Hope it doesn't take too long to get your new roof on.