you know the funny thing... you can trust your good friend to drive your car and hopefully nothing will happen. i was wrong. well last night around 8 30 pm he was driving in livermore, ca at patterson pass (mountain road) and he ended up side swiping and flipping the car over the hill. car is totaled. im not too worried about my car because i know ill get my full moneys worth. what im worried is that i got volks on them. im really hoping that i can get compensated for them. i got pictures but i dont know how to post them. im learning how to do this and ill post them asap.

-nam huynh

 

 

That sux. Best of luck.

 

Car and Volks aside...how is your "good friend"?

 

in mexico there is a say, a charro never lends his woman, his horse or his gun.

in my case horse=MCS

never lend it to anyone!

 

these are my beautiful before pictuers....







and now here are the horrible ones....

 

there you go you guys...

my mini cooper at rest.... hahhahah damn.. this sucks

my friend is allll banged up.. and i mean literally he is. well hes just bruised from the airbag and seat belts. man did they save his life!! he has red bruises all over his body and stuff as well as a swollen body. i told him to take a warm/cool bath and lay in there to reduce swelling. so yeah....

 

Glad to hear that your friend is still around to talk about his thrill ride. Looks like size does not matter when it comes to safety. Your "S" gave up it's life for your friend. Anyway, have fun when specing out your new mini.

 

Seeing all those air bags is scary
But the windscreen looks good

 

Maybe I'm being presumptuous, but if your insurance won't cover the wheels (and they're not recoverable), seems like your friend should replace them.

Sorry to hear of the demise of your car! Glad everyone's pretty much OK.

 

Cars can be replaced, people can't. I'm sorry to hear about what happened. I wish you well in getting a new car and everything else straightened out.

Your car held up well by the looks of things. I am impressed with the way these cars 'work' in keeping the occupants safe.

I have to mention that with some people having their windshields crack again and again for no apparent reason, yours made it through this unscathed.

 

sorry about your mini, glad your buddy is still alive too. Go back and ask him to tell you about how fast the MINI was and what he thinks of the safety devices and overall crash performance of the MINI. good luck man!

 

Several things here in response to this unfortunate thread

from the pictures, the wheels look like they're useable. if you have even a half decent relationship with your insurance agent, you should either be able to get the wheels outright or put the originals back on in their place.

While I'm sorry for your automotive loss , as a future owner I'm pleased to see that these things are what they're cracked up to be. If you flip and roll a car and you're belted and your worst injuries are from the airbags, I'd say the car is doing a pretty good job of saving your life.

finally -- ever have any interest to go rallying?? because if you have even the slightest incling to go racing (I dont' mean autocrossing) and you can afford the salvage price, looks like you have a pretty good platform from which to start.

 

>>But the windscreen looks good

Amazing! One little pea gravel size stone has destroyed many of these windshields and yet if you roll it over a hill the glass stays intact.

 

So, I hate to be the dissenting voice, but...are you sure they'll total it?

Reason I ask is that I've had wrecks that looked worse (except for the -rolling down a hill- part on older cars, and they haven't totaled it. To you and I and everyone who's not an insurance agent, the car is totaled. They might have different views.

 

nam, sorry to hear about your car, glad your friend is only bruised. It could have been much worse if the car had not been a MINI. I hope you can get compensation for the Volks, those are sweet rims!
Once again I am impressed by how well engineered the MINIs are in terms of safety.
I think this is a reminder though that accidents can happen to all of us, and are not always under our control.
Drive safe, be safe!

 

Good thing your friend is ok. Now kill him for wrecking the MCS. I would punch him the that swolen arm. more than ounce.

Did it roll over or just on its side? It looks like the roof is ok. I'd bet the insurance co will try to fix it. But it will never drive the same.

 

>>Good thing your friend is ok. Now kill him for wrecking the MCS. I would punch him the that swolen arm. more than ounce.
>>
>>Did it roll over or just on its side? It looks like the roof is ok. I'd bet the insurance co will try to fix it. But it will never drive the same.


I doubt that car will be ever repaired (At least legally). Just the airbags are around $2K to $4K a pop, plus all the exterior damage, plus all the unseen damage.

Too much damage to try to cover up. Once the amount of damage exceeds a pre-determined percentage of the actual market value of the car at the time of the accident, the insurance company then decides to give it the blessing and declare it a total loss.


Now I see a few sticky points with the situation..... Was your friend an "authorized" driver in your insurance policy? Did he had insurance of his own?

Don't be in the least surprised if your insurance company gives you a hard time during the claim process because someone that is not listed in the policy was driving your car at the time of the mishap.


I also hope that no drugs/alcohol were involved in the accident. Make sure your friend had a copy of the police report. I am assuming he got a ticket too..right?


Very hairy situation. Just in case, start looking for a good lawyer just so you are prepared in case things don't go smoothly with the insurance people.


Also, REFUSE to have the car repaired and INSIST on a write off of the vehicle even if the insurance company claims that the car is repairable.


As to the car, I am pleased to see how well it held up and this is without knowing all the gory details of the accident. Glad your friend is OK too.


Lesson to be learned: NEVER EVER AGAIN LEND YOUR CAR TO OTHER PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY CIRCLE. CARS, LIKE GIRLFRIENDS, ARE NOT TO BE SHARED WITH OTHERS, NO MATTER HOW GOOD OR TRUSTWORTHY THEY MIGHT BE!!!

 

Does anyone share their girlfriend?

Sorry to hear about all this. I'm glad your friend is still alive and didn't get a spine or head injury and get paralized or worse. Even though the MINI is built for protection sometimes it doesn't take much to land on your head or neck the wrong way and get a catastrophic injury that you cannot recover from.

This leads us to another point. Don't assume that a safe car will protect you 100% of the time. We may feel safe and drive a bit more aggresively because we hear about how good the safety features of the MINI are in crashes but the truth of it all is you are still in grave jeopardy everytime you get into an accident from a big one to a little one.

Drive safely and if you must drive fast then do it on a closed track or at autocross under close supervision and will help nearby. Don't do it on the streets and drive appropriated for road and weather conditions. No alcohol and drugs please.

It's good no other bystanders were involved but in my area every year we see plenty of innocent people killed in other cars related to a car that crashes. If the other cars are not protecting their occupants then this is a really bad thing to happen.

Drive safely and let us know how things turn out.

 

Oh SH*T!!! Thats right up my alley! You have to be careful on that road, its not the safest one in the world. WHen people arent driving their OWN car, they seem to take it for granted.

Nammerz, what are the chances you can sneak into that car and pull out the deck of switches? Ill pay you $20 for just one switch and Im sure you can sell he rest here on NAM!

Sorry to hear about your loss. That sucks and I hope your friend knows how lucky he is to be alive.......... not from the accident, but that you havent chopped him to little bits yet

 

hahahah thanks for the laugh you guys..

uhm from what i was told.. well his stories are all crazy because it doesnt make sense. i dont know if he is lying to me or not. so yeah.

he was making a right turn. he saw headlights coming so he slowed down. ( the turn was a 45mph turn. he was going 55) he thought it was a cop motorcycle so he paid attention to the light and not the road. when he put his eyes back on the road, his first impact was the right front passenger side. he ended up swerving to the left going up hill and literally flew in the air flipping so thats why it doesnt seem like there is no roof damage. he even cleared a fence on the hill. he was going THAT fast. he landed on the side i guess.

hes not under my policy. he wasnt drinking and stuff like that. i guess hew as cocky with his driving and so he decided to see what he can do on the mountain pass. his mistake.

my mistake was that i forgot to put the wheels under my policy so now i may not get compensated.

please you guys, if you guys have any aftermarket parts on your car, put them under your policy because if you're like me you may/may not get reimbursed!!!!!!

-nam huynh

p.s. haha funny thing. i got the m7 device in the mail. now i wont be needing it. but thanks again m7

 

Wow, my heart goes out to you! Yours is the same color and model (S) as mine; it's a damn shame. You mention that it flipped, but from what I see, there is no roof damage. Is the Mini really that well put together? I was thinking about a roll cage, but it looks like it's not necessary... and that seems unbelievable to me. I know it probably happened in a flash, but any idea if the full weight of the car was ever on the roof when it was upside down?
-Cor.

 

hahahah thanks for the laugh you guys..

uhm from what i was told.. well his stories are all crazy because it doesnt make sense. i dont know if he is lying to me or not. so yeah.

he was making a right turn. he saw headlights coming so he slowed down. ( the turn was a 45mph turn. he was going 55) he thought it was a cop motorcycle so he paid attention to the light and not the road. when he put his eyes back on the road, his first impact was the right front passenger side. he ended up swerving to the left going up hill and literally flew in the air flipping so thats why it doesnt seem like there is no roof damage. he even cleared a fence on the hill. he was going THAT fast. he landed on the side i guess.

hes not under my policy. he wasnt drinking and stuff like that. i guess hew as cocky with his driving and so he decided to see what he can do on the mountain pass. his mistake.

my mistake was that i forgot to put the wheels under my policy so now i may not get compensated.

please you guys, if you guys have any aftermarket parts on your car, put them under your policy because if you're like me you may/may not get reimbursed!!!!!!

-nam huynh

p.s. haha funny thing. i got the m7 device in the mail. now i wont be needing it. but thanks again m7

 

>>So, I hate to be the dissenting voice, but...are you sure they'll total it?
>>
>>Reason I ask is that I've had wrecks that looked worse (except for the -rolling down a hill- part on older cars, and they haven't totaled it. To you and I and everyone who's not an insurance agent, the car is totaled. They might have different views.


i'm sorry but you don't know MINI's at all......
there is no way they can fix that car, it is totalled for sure.
mine didn't look nearly as bad and it was totalled.
it's much more expensive to fix than to total it.

 

Sorry bout ur car.
I've said it b4..... cars can be replaced.... people can not...
Glad ur friend is ...ok
Hope things get sorted out ....quickly and painlessly

Peace,
D