My poor mini ran over a deer last month. I won't get into the details but it was unavoidable. I say ran over because it had already been hit. It seems that the extent of the damage is the wheel well, left fog light, lower "spoiler" or what ever you would like to call the lower black piece of plastic that goes over the wheel and then under the bumper and possibly the bumper.

The question is, do I take it to the dealer because it is still under warrenty and I will probabley be making an insurance claim, or do I take it to a local body shop with a good reputation and possibly even consider some after market parts? Will having them do the work void my warrenty? Will the dealer try to fix things or just replace the parts (which I would perfer).

Thanks for your opinions,

Alex

 

Here's my 2 cents. If you go to a body shop to fix it and they miss something, such as a front end part. Then, a year from now, that damaged part causes other parts to be damaged. So, you go to the MINI dealer then and ask for repair under warranty, and they see that the car was already repaired and that part should have been replaced, but wasn't. Well, they may not want to fix it under warranty. So, if it was me, I would go to the MINI dealer.

 

I am in a similar situation, but I will spare the details. I am taking my car to the dealer. They have been factory trained for this car, and they will be willing to accept more responsibility if something is missed. Plus, if it is going through insurance, it does not matter where you take it, at least for my situation.