goy my 05 mcs tursday morning, was out friday night driving haing fun. Went around a tight turn and maybe hit gravel or ice or something cause the car slipped out of nowhere and basshed the curb. I wasnt going that fast really no faster than normal for that turn. but the abs or dcs lights didnt come on or take over at all? why would that be. landed against the front wheel and broke the axle and wheel and some minor damage around the front and back of tire well. the back left rims got scratched up cause i bounced off and ended up on th other curb i think. some kinda fluid was leaking out from under the rt tire? Any idea what im looking at here? will the dealer fix it or will they send it out? Do repairs take long on minis? this really sucks

 

thats horrible, I am sorry to hear that. unfortuneately, i don't have any answers to your question.

 

If you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance the damage should be covered less the cost of your deductible. In that case you could have the dealer fix it, pay your deductible and be back as good as new. Your insurance rates might go up but only for 3 years and hey that's why insurance is there.


If you don't have insurance you are looking at a big repair bill.

Either way sorry to hear about what happened.

 

Damn that sucks man. How fast were you really going?? I don't think the DSC would of even done anything if you hit gravel. Its almost like hitting a huge patch of sand or ice. DSC would of actually made it worse probably. I hit a huge patch of ice the other day and came inches from a poll. I tried to accelerate out of it but the DSC killed all power. Sorry to hear about it.

 

Bad luck!

Godspeed.

 

Been there, done that...when I was 17...and didn't know how to drive appropriately for conditions.

 

By the time i was 17 i had my car, had participated in two driving/racing training courses and had been to a few autocrosses....not all of us are incapable of driving safely in those situations....heck i have seen lots of old geezers lose it in the snow

Dont pass judgements

 

Sorry about your misfortune and hope you can get it fixed quickly and not too expensively. Unfortunately, DSC and ABS don't change the laws of physics: if there's little or no friction between the tires and the road, it's gonna slide.

Mark

 

Do bad about the MINI. Sounds like both front and back tires hit the curb together. The DSC wouldn't have helped with all four wheels sliding sideways. It works on the differences between the readings from wheel to wheel. If they are all sliding the readings are probably all the same. The S packs a big punch and it's easy to loose control of all that power.

 

Wow, my condolances. Don't have the answer to your question, but please keep us informed on your repairs. Good luck.

 

Cooper beagle Hit the nail on the head.. "bad luck!" That's it, and yea, it sucks. I'm not going to fault you for taking that turn at that speed. Like you said, youve taken at that speed before. Unfortunately, stuff sometimes just shows up on the road, nothing ya can do . Just dont let anyone make you think that you did something wrong. For most, maybe taking turns fast might be the mistake you made, but not for this car. We dont get them so that we can put around in the slow lane, and take turns at 15mph like we're driving a lincoln continental. In this car, stuff like this is gonna happen.

gravel DOES suck. I have this wicked awesome course/park by my house. Huge hills tight curves, abandoned. But it has a lot of scattered gravel all over, so it totally lowers the speed at which i can take those turns, which is totally a bummer. Sorry to hear about it, GL with the repairs so you can get it back out there and show that curve who's boss again. Maybe just bring a broom and sweep it off before you take it.

 

Now, to get on topic:

One thing people don't realize, is that new tires are very slippery. The tire manufacturers use a mold release to get them out of the tools, and it takes a few hundred miles for that to wear off. So even if you didn't hit ice or gravel, you might have just overcome the tires' ability to grip the road.

As for ABS, well, you would have had to have hit the brakes for that to work. DSC, if you had it on (I always turned mine off) would have helped but if the car was truly sliding all four wheels, well, it wasn't going to be able to bail you out of that.

But, your car will be fine, they'll get it fixed. Then, try some autocrossing and get used to the limits of the car when the hardest thing you'll hit is an orange cone.

 

I think he meant compreshensive coverage as in 'good through coverage'
instead of Comprehensive Coverage as in car struck by flying object or
while at a parking lot. You're looking at a One-Car Collision coverage
which I assume your deducible will be MUCH cheaper than paying for
the repair without insurance.

 

Moving this from MINI TALK to UNDER REVIEW.

 

anyone know where my thread went about the accident i just had with my mini, it was up here a few hours ago? was it arrased cause i called the guy a j/o that said i was a stupid 16yr old with an s and i am really 26yr old l.e.o who prolly knows more than him on how to handle a vehicle? if so i am sorry but you dont say ignorant things to someone who just crashed a new car and is upset. anyway if its still here somewhere and im missing it, foot-in-mouth?

 

Moved back to MINI Talk after removing the personal attacks....

Personal attacks ARE NOT tolerated on NAM.

 

Perhaps an improvement in your orthographic skills will lend a bit of crediblity in your self-assessment of being responsible.

. . . just a thought.

 

I appologize about my comments and behavior as im normally very kind and like eveyone here. i was just very upset and have saved so much money and waited so long to get my first mcs and crashed it right away cause of gravel or ice or something. i am a very respoisible driver and when i saw the must be a 16yr old with an s comment i became even more upset as it was false and uncalled for in the situation. i am sorry if i broke the rules. oh btw foot in mouth i see the thread up there

 

The thread asking about where the first thread went has been merged into this one.

Thanks to Clover and Michael for removing and cleaning this up. Hopefully we won't have to remove the thread again.

 

I would venture to say that gravel, ice, or something DID NOT cause your accident....You did. You also sound like you were expecting the car to correct for your bad driver error/judgement.

It sounds like you were not paying attention to the road(conditions) and took the curve too fast. If it's cold enough that there may be ice on the ground, slow down. If you see gravel on the road, slow down. If you see "something" on the road, slow down.

I, like you, assumed there had to be some reason other than driver error when I 360'd my truck a few years back. Now, when I look back on it, I could have prevented it easily. Bottom line is 99% of all accidents are driver error.

Sorry if I sound uncaring, I'm not, but I went through virtually the same scenario.

 

kinda cold there 04yellowS? btal40, it was an accident, yes it sucks. whether it was driver error or bad road conditions or factory new tires or a combination of all three, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. just ignore everyone who balks at a youngin with an MCS. i bought mine at 19 and received a nice bit of flak in the OL because i was so young, hence the reason i'm here. NAM's purpose is to help, and thats what we're here for. IMO, it never hurts to be more careful behind the wheel regardless of conditions. this accident was a stroke of bad luck that could have happened to any of us, don't let it get to u

 

guess who's 15 and waiting for his drivers license to drive their parent's mcs?

-Paul

 

Well, good luck on getting the Mini fixed. That is hard when you just got it. That could have happened to any of us.

One thing you might want to think about is getting rid of the run-flats. I replaced mine with Pirelli Ascemetricos. The *road feel* comes through more effectively.

 

thanks guys, they said front right and back left tires need replacement (as i bounced off into the other curb. Front right axle, ball joints control arms, a little bent fender and they will let me know more once they get it on the lift. i just have to be more careful, i guess, and i mean come on guys 26 isnt that young is it? never had a ding before

 

btal40,
Sorry to hear about your accident. I appreciate your frustration with this all happening so soon after getting your MINI. Some time ago my wife and I bought our "first new car" a 1982 Honda civic sedan in 5 speed. I taught my wife how to drive that very fun car in the first week and on the 2nd day of taking it out to work in April a snow storm hit, another car lost control in the lane next to her on the freeway and she could not get out of the way so an accident occurred. The other driver said "is your car new?" We kept that car for another nine years.

It's unfortunate that any accidents occur, hopefully your insurance will help to pay for the repairs. I've driven in the winter before and it can be tricky hitting road debris or slick conditions. Even on the track and at autocross we have very experienced drivers loose it on fairly clean road surfaces and going no faster than street or highway speeds. I've seen cars go off course and hit a wheel on an uneven patch of ground and break suspension parts.

Let's hope you can get everything repaired and your MINI back on the road.
You're safe and sound, and a bit wiser for having "been there and done that".
Stuff happens.