Just spending a Sunday morning reading the "Mini Blogs" and have a story that might help. Dec. 08 my daughter and l were driving the 87 Westfalia down the freeway doing about 65 mph (anyone who has ever owned one knows l most of had a tail wind ). It had been raining and the road was wet, so the car in the right lane moves to our lane and tags the right rear quater panel right before the wheel. The van slides to the left and ends up going into the ditch backwards. Looking back that saved my life! My 9 year old daughter and l had gotten into a arguement as l got into the van and l forgot to put on my seat belt. So the seat to all of the impact. It then flipped 35 feet in the air and landed on my side. We both climbed out without a scratch. So the insure company on there side, Geico, totals it out for $5500. l said that l wanted to keep the vehicle and the by back was $100!! l asked for a faxed copy. Once l received it l said that l couldn't even replace it for that so the offered $7700. Still not got, we found on on EBay for 9500 and said that that's what l wanted! After a month of talking back and forth l got a check for $9500. The sad part is that l love my Mini so much we have another one coming and l'm seeing both tho help pay for the new Clubman.........so the moral is keep on them, day and night! Eventuly they'll just want to get you of off of their books, Good Luck!!

 

Just coming in on this one....

First are you going through your own insurance or is Geico the insurance carrier of the other driver?

Secondly, Geico cannot sell that car at auction without the title. The power of attorney is used to clear the lienholder from the title, not to sell the car. So if your car was sold at auction and you still hold the title on the car...they have violated many state laws with the Department of Insurance

With that said, file a complaint with your state Department of Insurance for the actions Geico has done at this point. It is 100% illegal to sell a car without a Title. POA does nothing for this.

Contact ebay so they know this. Not so much to screw over Geico or the company selling the car...to protect the next buyer down the line. THIS CAR WILL BE REBUILT AND SOLD!!!

Bend the dealer over...get everything you can which from what it seems the many miles you are putting on their cars seems like you are well on your way. I wish you the best of luck with all of this.

Jason
NY State Licensed Adjuster.

 

Dude, you can make a bloody fortune on this impending lawsuit. You have suffered calculable damages in the form of the car itself, probable higher insurance rates, possible higher gas costs for the rentals, possible legal fees due to the innocent injured driver of car #2, phone calls, internet charges (checking on your car at E-Bay), etc. Don't worry about attorney fees because he'll just tack another 30+% on to the suit to pay his costs. There's no way the dealer can win. He will pay you almost anything you ask to settle out of court. Let your attorney be the SOB. You just sit back and count your money. You can sue the dealership, their insurance, the employee and his insurance.

I too hate attorneys and honestly believe they are the number one cause of what's wrong with this country (aren't most politicians ex-lawyers?), but sometimes you have to take advantage of what's on your table. You got screwed now it's time for you to get even - legally.

 

Whoa - Gluhwein (aah...reminds me of the wonderful Weihnachtmaerkt when we lived in Germany...) it is because everyone thinks "hey - let me get mine" that those lawyers get rich, the courts are flooded, insurance costs even more, and every business is throttled due to fear of suits...

Having said that, if you stand your ground, put all this in writing, present it to the dealer and Mini NA. You are certainly entitled to recompense for this situation, but don't look at them like a big pot of gold. While it might be wise to have a lawyer available if they refuse to take responsibility, the minute you involve one you know it is the lawyer that will make the money. REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOME, by the way.

My unsolicited 2cents. (Oh wait - if you posted here, then you ARE soliciting advice, rants, abuse...)

 

[FONT='Times New Roman']We thought we were getting to the end of this huge mess, insurance company settled. The ladies insurance company that was hit paid out 70%, the dealership insurance paid out 30%. Car is finally paid off as of last week; title will be mailed to us. We have spent many hours e-mailing, phone calls, letters, arguing, headaches, and just plain old stress. Now the lady is deciding she wants to sue the dealership and us separately. Our Insurance Company appointed us a lawyer free of charge, and is push for us to be dismissed. But still it is something else we have to deal with. And of course every part of her body is injured and she can no long work a full day. The dealership has placed the same car on order a while ago, but it’s a 2009 this time. Now we are still unsure if we are going to accept this offer, of go elsewhere. They have adjusted the price as good faith, for the burden we have gone through but of course we think it should be more. We are expecting a call this week, as to exact the arrival. No papers have been signed yet. We did contact Mini Usa directly and they said the dealership has to take of this on there own, it sounded like they were saying the are not responsible for the dealerships action and what nothing to do with it. We are avoiding the lawyer stuff but have only really gotten advice so far, we are not looking to get rich or run them through the cleaners. We only want what is agreed upon and disserved, and move on. [/FONT]

 

Agree with zzMini - there's no reason to try to gouge anyone.

However, you have gone through a lot (time, stress, etc.) and DESERVE to be recompensed for all of that besides getting as close a duplicate to your MINI as possible for the same price! And never think the insurance company is doing anything for you. A lawyer might be a good idea just to make sure you don't 'forget' anything (this could effect your future insurance rates and who knows what other repercussions could materialize).