This sucks!

I got rear ended yesterday by a Mustang.

 

Ouch. I feel sorry for both you and your MINI. Hopefully everyone is ok. Looks like he hit you at a decent speed.

The toughest part will be the repairs to the hatch and roof like you said. I'd also make sure that the shop does a thorough check of your entire exhaust all of the way up to the engine to make sure the header and other parts haven't been affected. They may elect to replace the hatch itself and as for the hinges, I'm not sure. May need some more pics of what the damage looks like with the hatch opens (if it still does open that is) to get a better idea.

 

Thanks for the well wishes. No one was seriously hurt, but my neck was a little sore this morning.

Pics of the hinge probably wouldn't show anything - kinda tough to see the dents.

I took the car to a body shop today and they feel they can restore it to it's former glory. I trust them because I saw the work they did on my friend's BMW when it was sideswiped. We shall see.

Hopefully the repairs can start soon!

 

Good time for a JCW rear bumper upgrade. Hopefully it gets sorted quick.

 

Glad to hear everyone is ok!

Coming from experience with body shops for a long time, that's some pretty good work it needs. The hatch will be replaced period, no sense in trying to pull the dents out, bumper cover in its entirety will be replaced, muffler to the first join will be replaced more than likely, if the wheel arches are damaged at all those too, as for roof I would say(without seeing it) that they would more than likely replace the panel. Its hard to guarantee a fix like that without doing a replacement.

That being said its a very good idea to be there when your adjuster shows up to look at the car and go over what needs to be fixed. In the end its not his car and he does not have to live with it.

 

Sorry to hear about your accident and I hope your OK!

I had the same thing happen last year. A BMW got me. The original estimate was about $4k but once they got into it, they found my exhaust got pushed pretty hard and they had to replace the complete exhaust. With labor, it got to be over $7k. Your exhaust looks worse than mine!

One problem you might want to look at is the seat. Someone else here on NAM posted that his seat back wasn't the same after a rear-end collision. I had them replace my seat back because it would move when braking hard. It's better but not perfect. Good luck!

 

Glad you're okay. MINI's handle accidents so much better than the general public (and some owner's) think. I was rearended in my 2008 by a runaway Infiniti M sedan...Infiniti totaled -MCS repaired.

Good luck with the repair. +1 for being with the adjuster when he does his review and go over it very carefully before accepting the repair(s). Keep us posted...beautiful MINI by the way.

 

Try to get some extra cash for the extra value your car will lose for being in the body shop!

 

Diminished value? Better luck with the soft tissue injury to your neck. Go see a doctor, and / or a chiropractor. That's worth $5-10K

 

They owe you thousands for the depreciated value of your car no matter how well its repaired. You go to sell or trade and all buyer has to do is run a car fax report and they'll know. Check with your Mini dealer to get a idea as to what affect accident will have on cars value..... Oh, and get that neck checked out.

http://www.scinjurylawjournal.com/20...ctual-damages/

 

Like I said, good luck with diminished value, it varies from company to company and state to state.

 

If the insurance company won't give diminished value, take it up with the state's insurance commissioner.

 

Wow! What a great thought! Not that I am all that experienced with accident repair, but I had never thought of that and you are 100% right! It definitely devalues your car.

Great call!

 

+1 Especially in Cali.

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions. My MINI is at the body shop right now... hopefully being restored to near-pristine condition.

 

You really should get your neck checked out and also watch out for any strange headaches. That was a really hard hit.

The insurance company will most likely claim there is no such thing
as diminished value because they are "putting it back like it was".

However (I have seen this happen), if say you were to be totalled
a year from now, that insurance company will be the first to claim
the car had diminished value because of a prior accident.

Keep us posted on how this comes out.

 

I work in insurance and I can tell you first-hand that the car will be worth less now that's its been in a reported accident. It's sad and that's why gap insurance (difference between what money is owed on the car (whether its leased or financed) vs. the actual value) has become so popular.

I hope they restore your MINI to its former glory and you can get back to driving it instead of some awful rental.

 

Goood luck on your repairs, I'll bet the total will be well over $7000 if they find the rear end got bent some.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is to watch the repair costs
vs. the book value.

Many states have by law that at some percentage it must be
declared a total loss. You are much better off with a total than
a 5, 6, 7k carfax report. Even if the insurance company pays out
much less than what it actually takes you to replace it like for like.

And even the dealers now check the carfax when you go to
trade it in, and offer less based on that.

It's also most likely you do not have a lot of recourse in the property
injury claim in regards to the law. I found this out when I had a
super super nice 99 323is crashed. After a lengthy conversation with
a person in the attorney general's office I found out the laws were
crafted by the insurance company, and I had virtually no rights whatsoever,
in regards to property loss.

To the point they just let the car sit for three months without
deciding whether to total or not total. It wasn't paid off so I had
to keep making payments. They wouldn't offer a rental. I couldn't buy
another car because I didn't know if that one was totalled.
I had to go to my own wedding in my barely (at that time) running
87 CRX. I couldn't push the clutch because my legs didn't work
(had a torn disk badly didn't know it until I got worked in on the MRI)
I kinda needed an automatic.

My point being is that there is a good chance you have absolutely
no recourse under the law for how they handle property damage.
(actual experience will vary from state to state)

 

sorry to hear about your mini. ya i was rear ended by an exterra. I was unable to drive away from it. I feel your pain. January was a bad month for minis lol

 

sorry to hear aabout that. Maybe you can get some new stuff i.e. rear wing maybe even and exhaust if you can get the bodyshop guy to help you out lol