Here's what it looks like when a MINI Cooper gets hit by an oncoming vehicle at 40 MPH:

 

And the Accord?

 

My car was pushed about 50 feet, then came to rest gently on the front bumper of a rather large parked bus.

 

Looks like the Mini protected the passenger pretty well.

More like Mini - 1
Accord - 1

Call it a tie, neither car drove away it looks like.

 

I was quite pleased with the way the MINI took the impact. Surprisingly, both cars were able to drive away but were towed. The MINI has significantly more damage than the Honda obviously due to the nature of the accident. Neither of us was hurt, although the driver of the Honda had his wrist burnt when the airbag deployed.

 

Ouch! Glad you're OK. Repairable? It looks like the door caved in above the car frame. Good luck!

 

MrDP, were you moving or at a standstill? How did the wreck happen? So glad you are okay. Looks like your MINI did a terrific job of protecting you. Did you get examined by a doc, yet? It's always a good idea, just in case...

 

I could be wrong, but I suspect the Accord would have shown much worse than the MINI if the roles had been reversed. I only say that because I've driven both, and I believe the MINI is more "tank-like" than the Accord. That being said, they are both pretty safe cars!

What am I saying, a MINI hitting another car!!!! If the roles had been reversed, the MINI would have dodged the Accord!

 

Very glad you are OK. That was quite a hit.

 

that MINI's door looks like its in great shape considering the damage
on the outside.

glad to hear you're okay.

 

wow, the MINI help up well.


ps..did this have anything to do with that nasty snow/ice we got up here yesterday?

 

Oh my....quite a mess I would say. But glad to hear that nobody was hurt - that's the most important thing....

Donna

 

WOW !

But it looks like the side passenger airbag didn't go off?

 

usually the airbags only go off if you're hit from the front or back.. but that's only wat i heard
and that accident pretty much looks like mine. but it was my civic i had before. and got hit on the front fender. got totalled..which then lead me to my awesome mini..yayy
but as long as you're ok it's good. =]

 

Kind of looks familiar. Glad you aren't hurt. These little cars are built quite well. I hope everthing works out(either repair or replacement) for you.

Mine was a 45 degree impact at approximately 40-45mph(what the other driver said).

After the accident, we drove to my cousin's house for the night, then 7 hrs home the next day. I had to get in and out through the passenger side, and of course it had to rain during the drive home. We were fortunate that the damage was essentially limited to the door.

 

The side airbags are just that......airbags in the seat and in the headliner above the window that are suppose to be activated in a side impact.

Check out http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=638 for images and ratings.

 

After our accident, the car was checked over by some folks from MINIUSA, and they explained why the airbags didn't deploy in our accident.

The explanation made sense, but I don't remember all the information, so I won't try to explain it here or everyone will be TOTALLY confused.

 

Yoikes! That looks bad! Glad you're OK though. That actually make me feel a bit better about the crash survivability of these cars though, because it's almost always WAY worse for the t-boned car than the one hitting head on (the only time I ever saw differently was where the head-on driver came out worse was because they weren't wearing a seat belt). I am curious about the side (seat) airbags not deploying though.

 

i hope its not totaled *fingers crossed* glad ur safe

 

My goodness! Glad you are ok, you are aren't you? Hard to believe the MINI stood up to a 45mph impact the way it did. Can you tell us more or does insurance and legal prevent telling us what happened?

 

Thanks for all of your thoughts. It's quite a nice community here.

I just got the estimate and from the insurance company and it's $6500. They said that's the visual damage and there will be a supplement when they start taking the car apart, so that figure will most certainly go up. The left the seat out of the equation, and I was amazed to learn that to replace the seat was an astonishing $2500.

 

I hope everything works out okay for you.

Was anyone in the passenger seat? I believe there has to be a body in the seat before the air bags will deploy.

 

Just me driving. The seat was left out of the estimate as they're going to see what the damage is when the door comes off. It'll be included in the supplement I gather.

 

wow $2500 to replace a seat, thats how much a set of leather esparco racing seats cost

 

Sparcos don't have built in pyrotechnics. And they aren't bought by insurance...