Last night I took 3 of my friends out on a ride in my brand new MCS. We drove up an old windy road, and on the way back down I hit some loose gravel on a quick left turn, and the car slid off the road and up the little mound right there. In the process, a quarter of my beautiful front bumper got chopped off.

I've got the Aero Kit, and I definitely want to stick with the Aero bumper. Also, that big piece of plastic right behind the headlights will need to be replaced and the plastic trim to the left of the wheel. Any idea what this is going to cost me to get fixed?

 

Probably it is going to cost you enough to get your insurance involved. Sorry about the incident, but it seems to me that your driving demeanor could well have been on the wreckless side and put you in this unfortunate situation. At least you and your passengers are OK.

Perhaps next time, if you want to show the handling abilities of your MINI, go to a closed track which is a better/safer environment for *spirited* driving.

 

If you are taking this thing to the dealer, I bet it will cost you enough to get insurance involved. If you are going to get a new bumper on your own and install it, that will certainly be cheaper. I'm sure you can find the part numbers for the other plastic pieces you need and order them through your dealer and they shouldn't be overly expensive. And although I haven't removed those pieces, I can't imagine they are very difficult to install. Does your car still seem to be aligned? Did your shocks or struts sustain any damage? You may want to have that checked. But if the car drives fine, you may not need to.

 

It seems to be driving fine. On the way home there were a lot of little rocks and things that caused the car to make a very annoying squeaky sound, but every time i hit some kind of bump we could hear them falling out and by the 3rd bump everything sounded normal again. As for repairs, I'm going to get a quote from a trusty body shop first, and see what they say.

 

Sorry but I've got to respond to this....

That's gotta be the most obnoxious post I've ever read... Are u this guy's father??? I'm sure he feels bad enough without your comments!!! Were you there? You can't assume anything about his driving... he could have been behaving for all we know and just had some bad luck. How about just answering his question about cost to repar and keeping the scolding to yourself!

Sorry... back the regularly scheduled postings.

 

no, he's C4, the master black belt.

 

Seems like adding insult to injury.

 

Wow, looks like I touched some nerves here. No harm intended, please accept my apologies from the black belt master himself...

 

that sucks..sorry to hear it ... I guess those side shots of your car i was hoping for won't be for awhile. I hope you get 'er fixed and back on the road soon - be thankful no one was hurt, besides your wallet

 

Well thanks for sticking up for me Jrzy!

I got an estimate from the body shop today-- $1760, which is about what my real father predicted. I'm not going to get the insurance involved, don't feel like paying higher premiums just to save $1k. Good news is (besides that we're all safe) that the car is running fine. I'm not going to be driving much, just because it's so embarassing driving around without a full bumper. But everything should be fixed in about two weeks.

- Brandon

 

Who cares about a bumper. Strip the other bumper off and you save ??? in weight? Strip off the rest of the body and maybe get that thing down to Elise weight

BTW, just so you don't feel like your the only one who has broken loose on gravel, I was driving a MR2 Turbo in Colorado within the speed limit and broke completely loose on tiny gravel on the road ... did a couple of 360s and scared the hell out of myself. .... It happens.

 

Yeah, well, now slow down!!!!


J/K hahahahaha[IMG]images/smilies/lol.gif[/IMG][IMG]images/smilies/lol.gif[/IMG][IMG]images/smilies/lol.gif[/IMG]

 

any pics ?

 

The suggestion to check the shock tower area is a good one. Even hefty potholes have been known to cause mushrooming. Open the hood and see if either of the "humps" where the shocks go into has become deformed. Then look in the hole and see if the rubber has broken loose.

Also, I'd take a look at the rims and the tire's sidewalls.

 

I did the same several years back with a VW GTI. It was early spring and the roads were covered in sand from the town plow trucks. Went around a small corner like usual and slipped right off the road down an embankment. Ended up totalling the car! So I feel your pain!

 

You have a non-real father, too?

 

Please save the sermons for Sundays. Most of us are grown here

 

"Wreckless" is definitely my favorite NAM misspelling. It basically means exactly the opposite of what the person is trying to say.

Good luck getting the car fixed up!

 

If it were me.... I would buy the bumper over the counter at the dealer, maybe even try for a discount. I would then take the bumper to a body shop and have them shoot it. The bumper is a piece of cake to put on (ask me how I know). I would say a chunk of that 1700 is installation. I would guess, $400 for the bumper and $300 MAX to get it painted. You just saved a grand!

 

I love that too, even just for the way it sounds funny when spoken aloud

Sorry to hear about the misshap :( John Monk's advice is spot on about the bumper, you can save money by buying it directly yourself (perhaps from Classic with the discount) and take it to be painted then install yourself. Also, if you get a good price quote on the parts the bodyshop might even match that if you give them the chance. Painting prices can vary a lot, I know that I pay more for reliable top quality with lifetime warranty on the work then I might if I chose differently, so thats a factor to compare among different places too and can impact your final cost.

Regarding the shock tower mushrooming - can anyone recommend shock tower reinforcements to help prevent that?

 

The M7 Strut Tower Plates were made to help address that specific problem.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. It can happen to the best of us. Up here in New Hampshire, there is a load of sand to worry about all over the roads in the spring...plenty of .


Hey Goatherder, nice Hobie!

 

Good advice, but don't forget E-Bay.--sometimes you can even find the correct color, from people who installed body kits or parting out a car.

 

Thanks, will put it on the list of things to consider

 

Public apology:

I want to extended my sincerest apology to the originator of this thread and all the folks that got offended by my comments. I agree with all of you, I was totally and completely out of line.

Wasn't having a particurlary good day when I made my original post and got carried away for no reason.

We are all humans and make mistakes from time to time.

Peace.