Well, here it is:

On top of the mis-installed windscreen:

This morning, 8:30 am, while on my way from one office to the other...

Backing down driveway, co-worker blocks traffic with his FORD F-250 beast of a pick up truck, so I can get out onto the street. He is completely stopped and the road is a double yellow no passing zone. I back out into the street, feeling safe...

F*cking biotch of a little old lady passes him, comes round & hits me!!!

*****, *****, *****, *****, *****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bumper cover gone (again!) & most likely the rear bumper as well, rear quarter damage, trim shot, too. & she may have clipped the tyre.




Upon closer inspection (in my humble amateur opinion) the end of the actual bumper looks to be crushed. Means a new bumper & cover. And I'll have to have the frame checked. :( :(

 

Ouch. Charlie and I both cringed for you.

Good news is that it looks pretty minimal. I've been 'tapped' in my Hondas by big beasts of SUVs that have demolished the back end of the car. It looks more cosmetic than anything else. Looking at the pics I doubt there's any frame damage.
Some new panels and some paint and it'll be as good as new.

 

That sucks. The small dent by the taillight hurts more than the whole bumper. Did they fault the old lady? Time to watch the south park old timers driving episode.

 

No idea who the insurance company will find at fault, yet. Will know in the next couple of days. However--she had to cross a double yellow to pass the guy that was blocking the lane. She hit me while still on the wrong side of the road.

 

Jimskater,

That really sucks. I can't believe she went arond that truck. It should definitely be her fault. She was passing while crossing a double yellow and even if she says she was going around the truck because it clearly wasn't moving, she should have only proceeded slowly with caution until she knew that it was clear in front of the truck. What if the truck had been stopped to let a kid pick up a toy that had rolled into the street?! If I practiced that kind of law, I'd take your case just to teach her a lesson.

Good luck on the repairs. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

Keep us up to date on the insurance claim.

Cheers,

 

Well I assume your coworker driving the truck saw the whole thing, so you have a witness, so even if it went to court 2-to-1 you win :D

 

OMG! I about started crying when I saw those pics!!! Oh, such a sad, sad day. The first of the May Dayers with a major crunch - this is the first, yes?

Oh, I am so, so sorry. I would be so heartbroken. Did you at least get out and start screaming at the old woman? Was she driving a 1982 Buick?

Oh, and that episode of South Park? Classic. Purely Classic.

 

This is a bad week for us...


:(

Not bad considering it was a guardrail but still I will need a new hood.

 

OMG!!! How did you hit a guard rail?!?!?!?! Ok, I'm really nervous here - I may just put the MINI away fro awhile..... :( OUCH...

 

So sad. I hope both of you have no problem getting your repairs. good luck!

 

Eek! Jimskater and JWardell,

Those pictures are so sad

I hope your babies are fixed good as new very, very soon.

 

yikes, (knocks on wood)

this kinda stuff sucks

 

jward.... from someone who knows how you feel.

Ouch!!! Good luck with getting your repairs sorted.

Update re: Ollie

Her insurance company has accepted liability, and will be forwarding a check... which I will be sending with Ollie to P. Thearle's Autowerks in Santee, CA. Not sure yet about when... dependent upon receipt of check, AND verification that I will be reimbursed for a rental car.

Additional Ollie update:

Windshield #3 goes in tomorrow morning. After cracking #1 with a rock, the windshield replacement people mis-installed #2---putting the windshield behind the pins at the base, rather than in the pins.

 

I've been pouring over quotes and numbers all week, I will be going with a highly reputable mini-favored body shop. To save money I'll be doing the bumper and trip repairs myself (actually saves me $1000), and the hood replacement and door & fenders repair will run me $2600. In order to make myself feel better, I'll be getting my white stripes painted on the new hood, as it costs hardly more than the vinyl & application.

And there I was trying to save up $700 for the JCW 05 upgrade. :(

My dealer held a rally this weekend, I still participated:

 

JWardell,

I think the big bandaid is great. All you can do in these situations is make the best of it and laugh to keep from crying. It is a lot of money to get all those areas of the car repaired but the hood is a pretty complex part on a MINI. Good luck with the bumper and trim. It is definitely worth doing yourself to save a thousand bucks!

Cheers,

 

I'm repeatedly reminded how cheap BMW parts are. The hood is one of the most complex in the industry, double-walled, etc costs less than $300. But as told by both body shops, if it is dented, it needs to be replaced, they can never get the curve back. I actually had a bump on it due to my dealer just trying to pull out on it a little to align things better. The expensive part is the labor not jsut to paint it, but all the grills and especially the wiring that integrates in it.

The fender just unbolts and costs 60 bucks.

The door will be the only thing being repaired, body-shop style.

And for example my smashed trim running light only cost me $6.50. That even includes the bulb!

I gave the car a bath on saturday which I think helped the car to feel better despite its bruises, then took some better photos of the damage. Friday I'll try to fix as much as I can myself in my parent's garage, then on monday my MINI goes to the doctor.

The sad thing? I did not have a single door ding, and not a single rock chip in the hood!

 

jw--

Ollie got the same treatment yesterday. Wash, clay, wash, wax & detail. Oh my aching back. I found a new door ding in the damaged quarter panel. Hopefully the body shop will catch it.

Other than the damage, he looks fine...

 

Ollie's still in the shop!!!!

Seems the body work is done, but the body shop can't get a bumper in.

 

Yikes...I did all the front bumper work myself last weekend and that was easy as CAKE to put on and remove, and I know the back isn't much different. I sure hope things go OK with yours.

It has been a rough week going with out my MINI. Without any semblance of handling or steering. Without satellite radio or CD. Without antilock brakes (!). Without power locks. I don't know who in their right mind would buy a NEON! I configured it out to $16000 as well! What is dodge thinking?

Anyway my MINI will be finished TONIGHT. The body guy has REALLY gone above and beyond to get mine done and I can't WAIT to get it back as you can tell. I'm also really excited to (hopefully) see how good it came out. I've been nervous all day long.

We'll be skiing again this weekend so hopefully I don't have a repeat of the last time!!

 

Hi guys,

Sorry about your repairs taking so long. JWardell having to drive a Neon is cruel and unusual punishment. Go easy on the snow and ice this weekend.

As for Ollie, I'm sure he'll make bail soon. Hopefully you aren't stuck driving a Neon.

Padre is scheduled to go in to the dealer in a few weeks to fix the aux power jacks. I think the fuse blew when the car charger for my MP3 player broke apart and left some metal pieces in the front charger. Padre also has the dreaded steering wheel click/groan when turning both directions now. I had him in once before for the same thing on right hand turns and they tightened things up. That worked for a while, but after the spirited drive through the wine country and out to the coast, it is back.

Cheers,

 

If driving a Neon is cruel & unusual punishment, what do you call driving a Pontiac Vibe?

"cruel, but at least it's not an Aztek, and unusual" punishment?

Latest is "maybe" Tuesday. :(

 

Vibe can't be that bad since it's a Toyota Matrix under the sheetmetal.

 

It's a rental, so it's the small motor. It's a rental, so it's a Pontiac.

More importantly: It's not my MINI.

 

I've got my MINI back, and it looks better than new!

I had to drive a grueling 1.5 hrs in rush hr traffic friday to get to the body shop which closed at 6. I didn't get there till 6:15 (Imagine my colorful words to all the traffic) but he stuck around for me, late, on a Friday!

The work is so amazing. I looked at it from all angles with a flashlight, and there is no evidence of anything. Except of course my new hood stripes that look amazing now that they are real!

Of course I didn't get home till well after dark but I grabbed the tripod and took a pic anyway:


Then I went away skiing for the weekend and had to let it sit in the driveway. :( Actually I haven't even seen everything in real daylight! But it is just as well as it would have been covered in salt and dirt, which probably isn't good to mix with curing paint. Instead I drove my GF's Golf all weekend, which is certainly a huge improvement on the Neon. But when I finally got to drive to work today I was yelping it up just like the first day I bought my MINI! Also thoroughly enjoying my satellite radio again.

Sometimes you need a week away to fully appreciate what you have.

 

Ollie's not coming home today, nor tomorrow.

Cooper bumper arrived at the body shop last night--in a box labelled with the MCS bumper cover part number.