Driving in rush hour traffic I got rear ended right on my passengers side rear corner.

Looks like some serious suspension damage.

Doesn't look to me like it would be a write off but would you keep it?

 

Hard to say, I was going to say yes until I saw the rear wheel sitting at an odd angle. Might be hard to get it fixed to get it to track correctly. What does the insurance adjuster say?

 

That doesn't look like a write off on a 1yr old "S". Let the body shop do their magic and make sure you get a 4 wheel alignment as part of the repair. Your baby should be good for another 10 yrs!

 

I'd agree with ammodave...it should be very fixable, and should last along time if repairs are done correctly. Looks to me like $4-5K in damage which would negate any total write-off of a 1 y.o. car.

A lot can depend on your insurance...my daughter recently had a major front-end accident ($10K damage) with her newer SUV, and went to a body shop recommended by her insurance (Allstate). The repairs are guaranteed for as long as she owns the car. A few months later, she noticed one side of the car was 1.5 inches lower than the other. She took it back to the body shop where they discovered a previously unnoticed crack in a strut that was slowly leaking. They replaced the strut without question, and car is back to normal.

Good luck with your repair.

 

I won't know until later this week what the total damage is.

I'm not sure how confident I would feel drive a bent mini.

 

My personal experience has been that the car is never the same after a wreck that tweaked it more than a bumper cover.

Fix it, and see how it goes. If it doesn't feel right... well, your gut will tell you whether or not you can live with it.

 

Make sure you file what is called a "diminished value claim" with your insurance company. I really don't know the procedure, but it reimburses you for the difference between what the car was originally worth and its value after the accident. I learned this the hard way. I got hit when I had my 2010 R56. There was minor, cosmetic damage, but when I traded it for my 2012 Countryman, I took a $5400 hit because the accident showed up in the CarFax. Just my $.02 (or whatever that's worth in Canadian dollars!).

 

This ^... Same happened to me, took a big hit when I went to sell a vehicle that showed an accident in carfax..

 

Not only won't it be quite the same it won't sound or feel the same, either. Parts can be replaced and alignment done to perfection but it will still be different. Some people can live with different and some can't.

Sorry it happened to your Mini.

 

Got the insurance appraisal back. $7,500.00 worth of damage done.
The body shops estimator figures it will be at least another $1000.00 more once they start taking it apart.

I asked about a "depreciated value claim" but there is no such legislated requirement for insurance companies to pay the difference in Canada.
The insurance companies say the car will be worth the same once repaired and then turn around and sell the cars history to car proof and car fax which then devalues the car.

Gotta love the system!

 

Finally got the mini back.. Took 2 1/2 months to get suspension parts and get it back in one piece.

Seriously going to look at trading it in.

It seems to feel the same but it makes me nervous. Can't hep but feel "unsure" about the car

 

The irony is that if you are hit and your car is totaled and the insurance goes to pay out and sees it was wrecked before, they are the first to claim diminished value on it. But the other way around they say if it is fixed then diminished value does not exist!

 

You're obviously too tuned into the damage and worried about it to ever fully enjoy the car again. Sell it to regain your piece of mind.

 

If you're satisfied with the body work and they were able to align it to spec I would say it's a keeper. To me the body damage really didn't look like all that much. The suspension damage is more worrisome so hopefully they are able to align it.

Val

 

I could not get over the feeling of driving a damaged car.

Just traded it in for a 13 paceman S all4.

Crowfoot mini gave me good value on the car and I got a great price on the paceman.

 

This is what my sister's insurance company said when her car was totaled and they wanted to fix it. quote from the insurance guy "you're wrong, it doesn't matter as long as the car has been fixed, it will still be worth the same no matter what." I had to fight them on it, and eventually (and very unfortunately) after some strong language, they totaled it and cut her a check for the value of the car.

and the people who pay are the ones who get accused of fraud! definitely gotta love that system.

 

That's just not true. It really depends on the skill of the guys fixing it.

 

Sorry, but that's not true. A car can only be factory original once.

 

You need to get out of the 60's... You can repair anything to better than factory condition. It takes time, skill and money. You wouldn't be able to tell anything was different with that little accident. (and yes, it was a little accident...)

I'm not talking about a really solid whack that sets off all the airbags, and crumples the unibody here. We've got a fender bender and some sacrificial suspension components.

 

+1

 

I've purchased several vehicles from insurance companies that were "totaled" and repaired them for resale - as well as worked for the largest organization in the world that judges original and restored vehicles - and I understand your point. If you spend enough time and money, you can rebuild anything to better-than new using modern techniques.

However, that certainly doesn't happen with even the best body shops fixing average daily drivers. Time is money, so things tend to get fixed to be safe and serviceable, but not perfectly. Straightening metal always changes its characteristics. Welding in new metal is never the same as factory original. The results can be good, but there always are changes, inconsistencies and flaws.

In a case like this, I'd bet the mounting points for the right-rear suspension were moved out of place, but I'd certainly agree that if the damage was only to bolt-on parts there shouldn't be any issues beyond cosmetic ones. I'm not trying to argue here - just making the point that if damage to a vehicle and the needed repairs make you uncomfortable, sell the freakin' car and move on. Life is too short to make yourself unhappy or angry every time you climb in your car.

 

If the car is taken to a decent enough shop and as long as the frame is still straight, there shouldnt be an problems putting this car back together.

The rear suspension mounting points should not be what failed on this car. The control arms on this car are like butter, very easy to bend them and they then take the stress off of the mounting points.