Hey guys,

So recently I totaled my 2012 Clubman JCW. Long story short I was driving spiritedly on a dangerous road and a deer was on the blind side of a hill as I came over the top, I swerved to avoid and completely crushed the back end of my car. The insurance company totaled it and between that and my gap insurance I am walking away clean. Here's the best part. They offered to sell the car back to me for $2500.

Now, I have done nearly every bolt on mod you can do to this car with the exception of meth injection and all of them except maybe the rear left coilover are intact. The thing I am mainly excited about is the engine. I have one of the last N14 engines to be made. It has just over 13k miles on it and is in pristine condition, I babied this engine like you wouldn't believe. I also have a brand new clutch in the tranny, which is also intact.

Here's my question. What should I be looking to get for some of these parts when I go to piece it out? I am more looking for people who have experience in buying salvaged vehicles for parts and can give me realistic estimates. I know its all ballpark, but just an idea would be helpful. If you have questions on the car or people want pics I can post on request. Any info you guys can share is most appreciated.

 

Glad to hear you are OK. Definitely Buy it back. The engine alone is worth more then that. Prices are always what someone is willing to pay. Post some pics and tell us what is for sale and I gaurentee you will get lots of offers for everything that can be taken off.

 

Any JCW body parts still intact (aero skirts or front bumper)?

Xenon headlights? I'd be interested.

 

First set

 

second set

 

third set

 

Final set

 

I'd say buy it back if you have the space to store it while you tear it down. Don't forget you're going to have to do something with the shell once you're done with it. You can take it for scrap metal or most of the time people will come take it away for free if you call one of those places that is always looking for cheap junk cars. You could make some decent cash if you can buy it for $2500

 

Ouch. Those pics are hard to look at and not wince.

Just curious about the new clutch. Why did it need to be replaced if the engine was babied so much? Was it defective?

Agree on the salvage opportunity for that price. If those wheels and tires are undamaged you should be able to get a decent chunk of that $2500 back immediately. In fact, I'm surprised the insurance company doesn't already have an arrangement with a yard to take the car. That's a huge business. I went looking for control arms and struts for a BMW M3 last year....

 

I say buy it back and part it out!

I would be interested in some brembo's for my S just sayin!

 

The clutch was defective, replaced at 11k under warranty, no questions asked. Dont get me wrong, I drove the car like it was meant to be driven, but I changed the oil and filter every 5k miles, always let her cooldown and warmup before spirited driving, made sure coolant temps and levels were always appropriate.

 

Hah, you're telling me man. I was unconscious for almost 20 minutes. Everyone told me that track time was a waste of time and money. I tell them that track time saved me life. Had I not known how to react in a spin and correct, I would have hit that tree directly on my door and you can clearly see how much force went into that car. If you ask me, the time and money I spent at the track paid for itself and a whole lot more considering that my GF was in the car and was able to walk away.

 

That's unreal. To get knocked that hard and walk away to tell about it is incredible.

Good to hear you benefited from proper instruction. Having the instinct to know what to do when you lose control is important. I've had some near misses on track during wheel-to-wheel racing when someone dropped oil or other fluids and I actually credit rally instruction for controlling skids. I learned more in four days at rally school than I did in a year of formal DE. Best money I've ever spent. Still trying to get my wife to do it, though.

 

Wow, glad you guys are alright. Did your airbags deploy? I'd think you'd stand to make some decent coin on that buyback.

 

Airbags did NOT deploy. I was surprised at that tbh.

 

Weird about the airbags...but glad your are ok. would say even through it looks rough, get it back and par t it our. JCW front brakes. I would love to snag a headlight, tach and speedo for the black face, all kinds of parts off of that sexy car. Not to seem like a vulture, sorry it that was a little to forward.

Let us know when you order the next car (I assume you will replace it with another clubbie)?

 

I was recently in a similar situation. My '05 base cooper was rear ended and I really did not want to say goodbye to it. They offered a buy back of $1700 I had 97,000 on it so I would say a JCW with only 14,000 is deff intently worth $2500. I did not buy mine back because the return would have taken a lot of work, you should be able to make your money back quick and be able to keep mods you want and maybe make some money. I went to the shop and took my nice wheels and put on worn out. Notes on Steele rims, I took my redline interior stuff out, the cai, the battery which I just replaced, the shift **** and rear badge for the memory. The only mod I left behind was my beautiful Megan racing exhaust but that was on the car for 6 years through winters so I figured I would not get enough to make it worth finding a replacement and the work of taking it off.

So after all of this rambling, I would say buy back if you can in your situation, if you choose not to you can still go get most of your mods back to sell or use on a new one.

 

Which insurance company? I'll give'em $3000

 

I need the tacho and the speedometer

 

I need an engine-would be happy to pay 3500 for the engine as long as it is complete with manifolds and turbo.

 

I'm new to Mini and just picked up a 09 JCW. It has custom leather upholstered black and yellow seats which are nice but I'd prefer a straight black cloth set. I see you're in Maryland and I'm in DC so no shipping! Not sure they'll fit but thought I'd through my hat in the ring for parts.

 

I think what I will do if I decide to part it out is do ebay auctions. I dont like having to deal with PM bid wars, I want everything to be legit.

 

Something like this is what I will do. I am glad to see that I wouldnt be the only one hawking parts on ebay lol

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2009-Mini-Cooper-1-6l-JCW-turbo-engine-with-15k-miles-john-cooper-works-/151096295106?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item232e0a7ec2&vxp=mtr

 

The airbags didn't deploy because the car impacted from the rear not the front, and it didn't roll over.

That said, there is a strong market for replacement airbags, between that and the rest of the drivetrain being in good condition I think you could make some good money on the salvage - if you have the time, tools and skills to disassemble and market the parts.

 

Sounds reasonable.