I just wrecked my MINI on saturday night.. head on collision with another car at 70 mph that was in a spin from losing control over what happened to two cars before him. My MINI tightened me in my seat with the seat belt, air bag deployed. I went thru 2 more lanes of traffic before coming to a stop in a ditch/shoulder. The MINI put on the hazards and the interior cabin lights, unlocked the doors, opened the windows and demanded attention after the accident just like it was suppose to. I got out with just burns to my wrists from the air bag and bruises where the seat belt tightened up around my tummy and shoulder/chest. What do you guys think of the damage??

 

Sorry to hear about the wreck. But you made it out ok.
Looks like lots of body damage, but if the cabin and engine are still intact, I would think it is repairable.

 

wow. glad to hear you made it out unscathed, that sounds like a pretty horrible crash! My gut is telling me before seeing the photos that a crash like that has got to be totalled, but to be honest, the car doesnt look too bad. Of course, there are a lot of components underneath the skin that very well may be damaged. You wont know until the dealer tears the body off and the insurance rep can inspect it. Again, glad to see that youre ok, minis may be small but from what I've seen on here theyre very safe! You think you want another one after this is all over?

 

Sorry to see your 1st Post here relating to your poor MINI. Those pictures make me sad....

But - your MINI did it's job and saved your life. A car is a car as sad as that is - but you're lucky to have just walked away with nothing major wrong.. Looks like you will be MINI hunting again....

Donna

 

Glad you're OK and sorry about your car.
Although the pictures don't look too bad it's really hard to say how bad it might really be underneath. Given you said it was head-on at 70mph, and we can assume the oncoming, spinning car was probably still going about half that speed, that's a 115mph force to the vehicle chassis. Not many vehicles are repairable after those kinds of impacts and it is truly a testament to the MINI's safety that you had no serious injuries through that.

 

Glad to hear that you are OK...
WRT to your mini, it really depends on what is damaged under the skin.

If there is minor frame damage, your car might not be totaled, but its really upto the insurance co.

For instance:
I was involved with a hit and run... A deer hit me on the left front and kept on running....
I had a bent hood, a cracked headlight and headlight bracket, and a tuft of fur from the offending bambi.
The quote was for $1000 to fix.
Insurance co. totaled the car for $2500, which is about the middle price of what they were going for at the time/condition.
I had it fixed for $1000, and kept $1500 for my troubles. (and no, the car did not get reissued a salvage title)
I was told that they totaled the car b/c the RISK of frame damage that could be found once repairs started, which could cost more than the value of the car.

This was in NJ...

Also in NJ, my wife got into an accident that she walked away from (offset-frontal)... the car looked OK from 50' but once you got up close, you could see that the frame was pushed back about 1-2" (and the LF control arm was sheared off, and the engine-cradle was cracked, and the engine was pushed 1" down and to the right...
but the driver's side door still opened and closed without issues.

I hope this helps, and am glad that you are in one piece.

 

Glad to hear you made it out relatively ok. The body damage doesn't look to terrible, but as others have mentioned it is what's underneath that might be the bigger issue. Great to know that even though small, our Mini's will protect us the way yours proved. Sorry she is all banged up though.

 

the good news is you're fine and there were more than a million MINI's made so it can be replaced. it held up suprisingly well though for 70MPH. i hope everything works out for you.

 

Thats not totalled

 

Looks like you need new headlights.
I have a passenger 2003 xenon for sale.

buy it!

 

wow...just wow...

Sorry to hear about your accident, hope all comes out well

 

The damage doesn't appear to be consistant with a "head on collision" at 70, but that is pretty bad damage. Looks like it could certainly be totaled, just off body work alone. But glad you're OK. Get another Cooper if that was the case, because that car looks AWSOME for a 70 MPH impact....

 

Dude, don't you think this would have been better as a PM instead of pushing your stuff in the open?

 

 

I hit a small deer at about 55. Over $7k in damages, and no damage past the hood. You have hits to both sides of the car past the hood. And airbags fired. Mine didn't. Like the others have said, it will depend on the under skin damage. If the A pilars are bent, as well as the frame arms in front of the firewall, then I think you'd want it totalled!

It all depends on the adjusters calculations.

Matt

ps, glad it took such good care of you... -M-

 

Glad you are OK, the MINI did it's job and protected you. I have to ask, where did this happen?

 

I'm glad you are okay! From your pics, it doesn't look like there's much damage.

For a point of reference, my previous MINI was totaled:

 

I'm going against the grain and saying there is a 70% chance that MINI is totaled.

The Unibody (again, folks, the MINI does not have a frame) sustained some pretty serious damage. The joints where the front cowl meets the cockpit on both sides appear to be bent. Add in the cost of the airbag replacements, and you're talking major bucks. Add in the possibility of undercarriage damage from going in the ditch... totaled.

I may be wrong but I would not bet on that car being repairable. Knowing the year and mileage might help us decide though.

Glad you were not more seriously hurt. And I'm also glad I'm not the one handling that claim... sounds like a complicated liability decision given the scenario you presented.

 

I got hit a few years ago and my damage looked less than yours. I thought it should be totaled, but my insurance company dug in their heels and insisted on repairing it. In the end it cost $500 more to repair it than I paid for it new.

 

Glad to hear you are OK and sorry about the damage to your MINI. Its always amazing to see how these cars ride out major accidents and drivers walking away with minor injuries. These truly are fantastic cars!

 

Glad to see your OK. It's hard to believe by looking at the car that you hit someone at 70MPH. The car did an excellent job in protecting you. The bottom line and the most important thing is that your alive. The car can be replaced you can't.

 

Very sorry to see what happened ...but really glad to see how well the car protected you.

Dean.

 

Wow. Glad you got out OK. And I am so pleased to hear how the Mini protected you and 'did its job' at the end. This post explains why full-coverage insurance for 2004 Mini is only about $70 more every six months than my old '94 Probe. There's a reason they aren't too costly to insure! Because they save lives!