I parked out in front of my apt building after washing my car. This was to keep the dust off my car from the dirt alley by my normal parking spot. Not to mention the crazy bird feeder lady on the balcony above my spot. Well guess what?

">

Someone let junior park their budget rental truck and bam! Knocked it right up against the curb hard enough to see curb dust on the rim. I am so frikkin bummed right now. Someone's insurance will eventually cover it but grrrrrrrr!

">

 

oh. my. god.

I hate street parking for this reason. people are so careless. :( I would be SO upset.

 

Wow, he hit your car from the beginning of the rear fender flare and kept going. I'm currently working in Seattle and am constantly shocked and frustrated by how badly people drive here. I am so sorry for you, I would be devastated, hope the insurance takes care of everything to your satisfaction. Good luck.

 

I am truly beside myself.

On the bright side, after cutting the rest of the bumper and wheel well shroud away, I now have an open wheeled roadster!

 

Truly sorry for your loss, this is tragic, but at least no one was injured.
I live in the Washington D.C. area so everyday driving is a zoo, definitely home to the world's worst drivers per capita.

 

Looks like 2500 to 3000 to me, as long as the frame didn't get bent.

 

I use to park on the street at my job, and someone lightly scraped my bumper (My then nearly new 2002 WRX). So I had it painted about 2 weeks later it happened again. I buffed it out and touched it up instead this time. It never happened again, but I agree parking on the street sucks.

 

That's awful. Sorry to see it happen.

I'm always nervous parking my car on the street here in Brooklyn. Every single car has dented bumpers and scratches, it seems as though nobody cares at all, which is not really logical. Anyhow that doesn't make parking where you are any different. Hope you find the jerk and get some insurance payback.


Also, don't know if anybody else noticed this, but...

 

Looks more like $4500 to me, maybe more....

Remember, this is a Mini.

Rear quarter, rear bumper, paint, labor, new rim.

MAKE them get you a new rim. Don't let them fix it.

And also, since this was in an accident and insurance will more than likely be used to pay for it, it will show up on Autocheck and Carfax, dropping the value of your vehicle about $1K.

Seriously...Been there, done that. We just traded my wife's Lexus IS250 in and she was parked at WalMart, when some guy ripped her rear bumper off with a trailer he was pulling. It showed up on Carfax and we got $1K less for our car. See if the adjuster is going to cover that also. Your car is NEVER worth the same after it has been in an accident. It is called Depreciating Value after accident or simply Diminished Value. The adjuster will tell you it isn't worth less as long as it is fixed properly and this is a LOAD of bull. I worked in a body shop for 3 years and saw it all the time with the adjusters. I would at least make them pay you $500 for Diminished value and fight it tooth and nail. And tell them you ONLY want OEM Factory Mini parts. No aftermarket junk. Aftermarket is ok if you are trying to save money, but not on someone else's insurance. Make them replace everything that is broken. And you can take it to ANY place that does body work. You don't have to use "their" guy. These are your rights. If you need any further assistance, let me know and I'll help you out as much as possible.

 

And from the look of it, he may have messed up both of your rims. Either that or the one toward the street is just really dirty. If he did, make them replace both of them.

 

Thank you! Ministrater, if you didn't already know this, make sure you do what ViperGTS recommends. He covered very important points! :D :D :D

 

How can someone be THAT bad at driving? It's like they didn't EASE it in like you're supposed to. That looks like a 25 mph rear ender. Pathetic.

I'll probably get some major disagreement, but there should be some sort of system in place, so that if someone manages to suck this bad at driving, they have to take driving classes or LICENSE YANK.

 

I can imagine how you feel, it didn't happen to me and I'm mad about it!
Hope you get it taken care of soon, Good Luck.

 

Highly agree with viper. When our Clubman was in an accident we had to ask for diminished value. Don't take no for an answer because the value will take a hit.

 

Thanks for all the well wishes and the advice. I was wondering about the "diminished value/carfax" aspect.

Yes, the black on the driver side rim is from their tire rub. The other rear rim got smashed into the curb.

I think the kid was maybe 16 or seventeen. This just sucks because he drove the moving van although someone else was listed as the driver and yet someone else actually paid for it. They did not buy insurance for the rental but gave me their personal insurance info. I hope this works out. My deductible is $500.00. I will already lose money by taking time off to get estimates.

 

Your vehicle was parked. As long as their insurance is paying for it, you have $0 deductible. Their insurance will cover 100% of it.

Any time someone hits a parked vehicle, it is 100% their fault (unless your car was in the road, which it clearly wasn't).

I would try to get at least $1K out of them to put in your pocket, because your car just lost that in value. And like I said...You can go to anyone/any body shop for the repairs. Don't let them tell you any different.

 

I hate reading stories like this and I am sorry to hear this happened to you. Since the mishap occurred at low speeds, and did not affect the frame (I am assuming) and it wasn't your fault, you may be able to convince a prospective owner that the vehicle is sound and should not be devalued. But it does tend to put you in the position of being more persuasive than you should have too, and that just plain sucks. I hope everything works out for you.

 

I will be asking for lost value for sure.

Luckily, the new-ish Seattle Mini dealership is right on my way home from work. Hopefully they can handle the job.

 

If you sell it outright, you might be able to persuade a potential owner that it hasn't diminished in value, but if you take that to any dealer that runs an AutoCheck or a Carfax on it, I guarantee they will knock $1K off the car. My Wife has worked at 2 dealerships and they are both the same. Clean Carfax gets you top dollar. Anything else they notice, including paint lines or paint thickness issues if the body guy looks the car over, is going to get you less $$ for your car.

 

What frame?

MINIs are unibody construction. They do have subframes for the suspension and engine cradle.

It can be made like new again, if the right shop does the work. I'd call the MBZ, Lexus, Jaguar, Porsche and so on dealers and ask them who does their body work - that's probably the shop you want to use.

 

I am so sorry :(

The very first (and only... touch wood) ding on my car was caused by a moron who couldn't park as well and scraped my bumper on quite badly.

I am now very, very careful where I park if I park on the street. If there is the slightest sign of bumps on the drivers side front or rear, I'll give it up and drive on.

In fact, I was lucky enough to find this spot this past weekend.

 

damn, that mattress is hard core.

 

holy s*** that is horrible.. really sorry to see it. NOT going to make you feel better right now. but if you get a very well rated body shop, they can really do amazing things.. do your research.. sorry man. Damage under a certain amount does NOT show up on CARFAX.. at least that was my experience when another car of mine got bashed on the street.. $3500.. nothing on carfax.

 

quoted for the truth.

i got hit by drunk driver once and no matter how well the body shop fixes it, there's diminish in value. it's inevitable and unavoidable.

i even went to carmax for appraisal after the accident and they said they would have offered 1-3K extra if the car had a clean record.

only problem is, the adjuster at my AAA said I have to be able to PROVE the fact that the accident has caused the diminish in value.

I'm like how the hell am i supposed to prove that?

 

Tell them that is fine. Then go to Carmax and they will know within about 30 minutes that it has been in an accident because the shop, no matter how careful they are, will leave paint lines behind. Hard edges, paint lines, difference in the clearcoat finish. They can tell all of it. Then, when you get your printout from Carmax, call the Adjuster and tell him to cough up the difference.

Maybe you could get Carmax to document the value they would give you if it didn't have the damage and replaced parts.

Either way, try to get it. Fight for it as much as you have to.