Yesterday I was taking the 55S in Santa Ana, right before the 405, to where I was going to show my old car, Honda Accord, to a potential buyer. For locals you know that this location of the freeway is always horrible. There is major construction and heavy traffic from the 3-day weekend. The car in front of me, a ford ranger around 15yrs old, slammed its brakes. The slammed my, I easily stopped 5ft shy of the Ranger's bumber. I looked in my rear-view mirror and to my horror found a Chevy Silverado going way to fast to stop, but it gets worse...I saw his eyes, and they were definately not facing where they needed to be. He finaly looked ahead, saw me no more than 30ft ahead at a dead stop. He must have been doing around 40mph when he hit the brakes. He slammed right into my 3 month old car! He hit us so hard that we, me and my girlfriend got knocked into the ranger. The bozo in the Ranger turns on his hazard lights and parks his stupid truck in the fast lane, cars are barreling past us, it wasn't the safest place to park! I waved over to the shoulder, we went over to the side and I called the CHP, who said their presence wasn't necessary. We examined the damage of the cars after determining that the people involved, 5 from the 3 cars, were ok. My girlfriend and I were shaking like crazy as we saw the damage that had been done. The metal bumbers on both trucks were destroyed, bent in and under. My car, of course had damage to both bumpers. The driver of the Chevy at fault was very easy to deal with, and I was very greatful for it. He appologized for "de-virginizing my car." Three nice months with not a scratch and now my car took it from both ends! Gang Bang MINI, it's new name. I am affraid that this accident will hurt the re-sale value, as there is always a potential for "internal" damage. My car faired pretty well, drove off just fine. The best part is...the people who drove an hour and a half to see the Accord were understanding, they waited, they bought the car without even haggling the price! So, obviously I am pissed and sorry for my poor car. But My girlfriend and I are ok, my car will be fixed and I sold my car which I have been trying to sell since June, yes June! It is tuff to sell a 4 door, gold, 5spd Accord. Now I must leave, drive the same stretch of freeway to "seal the deal" with the purchaser. Wish me luck! Eeeek, I'm scared!

 

Important thing is that you and your girl are safe but wait till tomorrow when your neck will be sore. Make sure you let that owner of the Silverado pay. They might be nice during the accident but they will change their story when claims are being processed. You can't trust anyone these days!

 

Sorry about the accident, Greg. I agree that the driver of the Silverado may change his tune once it comes time to deal with it. Hope you and your girlfriend don't have any residual whiplash or other physical problems. The MINI can be repaired and brought back to perfect condition. Best wishes to you and glad you sold the Accord! :smile:


Clo/Wanda

 

6K post.

 

Thanks for the support guys. This happened yesterday, we both woke up a little stiff, but that happens most mornings, I guess it's still a bit early to tell if we were injured. It's kinda funny, well not really...just a couple hours before the crash I was frustrated because my microfiber towels were linting on my just washed car! That really put things into perspective. I sure hope he doesn't change his story, but like you, I also fear for the worst. In retrospect it isn't a great sign that he gave the driver of the Ranger $70, which was tooken and then the Ranger took off. Only time will tell how this will turn out. After driving it, I am even more worried that the suspension, or frame may have been tweaked. I might be overly sensitive but, the car didn't seem to drive quite the same. I didn't seem as glued to the ground. I will keep you guys posted.

 

Sorry to hear it. Did you get the insurance card info and vin number from the guy that hit you? You should call his and your carrier right away to make sure theres no problem here.

 

I agree!! I'm still going through one of these things myself. If the Siverado driver accepts responsibility then your repairs will go much smoother and you may also be able to claim compensation for possible loss of value to your new MINI. (...heard about that here on NAM...thanks chollomo!:smile: ) This is what I'm doing anyway. So sorry to hear this happened to you.

 

hope everything turns out well.

my co-worker got tapped by a p/u in the parking lot recently. being his 1st accident, he didn't get all the necessary info and kinda assumed the other driver was accepting responsibility. unfortunately, the driver gave him a bogus phone #, and my co-worker didn't check his driver's license or insurance info. plus he didn't get any witnesses' phone numbers. fortunately, he did get the other guy's license plate and reported the accident to the cops, who somehow released to him the guy's insurance info and real home phone#. although my co-worker still hasn't talked to the guy directly, his car's in the shop getting fixed and the two insurance carriers are supposed to be working out the details of compensation.

needless to say, getting the right info from the start woulda saved my co-worker a lot of stress. plus some witnesses in case they start changing their story.

 

Sorry to hear about the rear ending. I got rear ended several months ago, the damage was minor fortunately--the chrome trim piece on my bumper took all the damage. But the guy who hit me admitted it was his fault and was like, "I'm so sorry, I'll pay for everything". I'm thinking you better believe you will. I got his phone number, vehicle make/description, driver license, license plate, his and his girlfriends name who was in the car. After I got my estimate, I called him up, and he wouldn't return my phone calls. I decided to contact my insurance company, and they said if I was rear ended, I wasn't at fault, and it didn't matter how little the accident was, that it was still my duty to report it.

So I did, cause I needed their help in collecting. They said go fix it, and we'll collect from the drivers insurance later. That was it. I used a AAA approved body shop, and within a week, my car was good as new.

So while AAA costs more than other insurance companies, their service more than makes up for it.

 

I got sandwiched 3 months ago, similar thing guy slammed his brake in front
of me to avoid hitting a car who happen to change lane in front of his car in turns it causes my Poor Mini to get slammed front and back with a total damage of over $13 gran and i have not seen my car yet since the
accident. As far as insurance they still fighting whose at fault. The third car insurance are willing to split the cost (GEICO INSURANCE) but the car behind me trying to play hard ball (FIRST INSURANCE CO.)

Thank goodness my own insurance are paying for now. My quesion to Greg is Did the airbags deployed? Mine did not and I ask the dealer why and they said it depends how hard is the impact. I was able to come to a complete stop but the 2 cars behind me a Honda Accord and 4 X 4 Dodge Ram going 55 MPH according to them its happen so fast they never had time to react.

As far as the frame according to the body shop its okay no tweaked and alignment looks good. I'm just waiting from the MINI service to complete their final check I guess awaiting for parts due to airbags lights on.
Glad to hear you're okay :smile:

 

gregsminis, sorry for your accident but happy to hear you and your lady are okay. I'm sure your Nini will be back it tiptop shape in no time. Non-Mini owners always comment that they feel that since the car is so small that it cannot be safe ... I beg to differ.

 

Lucky to hear no injuries. Your repaired Cooper will suffer what is called "diminshed value" after repairs. Think about it. You have two identical Coopers for sale. The accident free "original" car will sell for more money than the one that was repaired. If you plan on keeping it, don't worry about this and enjoy the car...

 

Let us know what your body shop tells you after you take it in. I got rear-ended in my Lexus IS 300 by a 4 Runner a few years ago.

At first, it seemed like there was no external damage. But the hit was pretty hard, so I got the person's insurance information anyway.

I took it in to my bodyshop, and they cleaned the bumper up and saw a huge crack all across it. It was about 1300 in damage. I also developed bad back pain that same day, which required quite a few visits to the chiropractor.

The moral of the story is that damage to you and/or you vehicle may not be immediately visible...

Hope everything is ok :smile:

 

Coz Phoenix drivers suck!!!

 

I'd like to know how the rear passenger compartment faired in the various rear end collisions reported on this thread. Would have my infant in his car seat survived the collision?

 

When the CHP says they don't need to come out, insist that you think you may be injured, then they MUST respond. When they get there, make sure they document the accident with a police report.
Chances are good that the CHP will find the Silverado driver at fault and state so in the official report. More then likely, the Silverado driver will be cited as well. This will give you, and your insurance company, plenty of official documentation as to who was at fault.
Also, when it comes time to repair, insist on only the BEST body shop in town, or that they total the car and replace it with a new one to your satisfaction.

 

Most police departments will respond if there are injuries, but if you make a false claim of injury you may get yourself in as much trouble. Not a good idea to lie to the police.

The best thing about this situation is that you are ok.

Take it from me... the car CAN be fixed.

 

Saying "I think I may be injured" is different then "I am injured". In the aftermath of an accident, no one knows if they are injured or not until evaluated by a professional.

 

Thanks for all of the advise guys. I had another crash yesterday, but not my car. My computer got a virus and now I am fearing the lost of some valuable items on my hard drive! The damage done to my car appeared to be minimal. Dented and scratched both bumbers and a tear in the rear bumper. The guy in the Silverado was appologetic and quickly admitted fault. I called my insurance company the same day and I should be receiving a call from an "adjuster" soon. How do I go about making a claim for diminished value? I let you know what the damage is as soon as I find out. I may also post pictures if my computer gets up and running. Thanks again.

 

I guess I look at it differently... I AM a healthcare professional...

 

Update...I got my car back yesterday. I missed it! It looks good as new, $1379.74 later. Both bumpers were replaced, new "bumper supports," and a fresh coat of wax. Now that I have my car back I'm thinking it's time to start doing some mods!

 

Yep.... I had $2000 in damage from a 4 Runner... when will people learn?

 

That, to put it mildly is ********. The driver who hit you should at the very least be looking at fines for Wreckless Driving/Endangerment for not looking at the road and Failure to Reduce Speed to Avoid an Accident for hitting you. Don't ever let the police slink out of a call when you've been struck by another car! But that's just the way I feel, my '95 Olds Cutlass Supreme SL Coupe has been hit a lot, a whole lot.

 

I worry about the Grandboy in the same seat.He is the only one that ever sits back there.

 

Depending on the damage and also his insurance company, you MAY be able to write the car off. If the chassis is even slightly damaged, its a writeoff. If his insurance company is statefarm, go in for the kill. These guys will write it off, but you need to be tough with them.

The same thing happened to my friends 3 month old Mitsubishi EVO 8. If u saw the damage on the bumper, you'd think it was nothing, but because his rear chassis was just slightly out of shape from the F150 impact, they wrote the car off, gave him 30 G's and because he lives in Cali, he has first choice to buy car back from them, which he did for 1250, yes one thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. He sold it the next week for 12 grand, altho, people would have paid 18 for it.

So goodluck, if you know what you're doing, you'll end up with 2 MINIs , oh and dont forget the $3-15K potential for your injuries. Go see your doctor and your lawyer. The theeeves.