I am SOOOOO PISSED.

Earlier this morning, my wife and I are on our way to vote. What was a festive morning suddenly turns sour when making a left turn onto a side street, this idiot doesn't wait for me to finish making my turn and clips me at the rear driver's wheel. He had a stop sign, I did not as I was on a main street. He puts a dent in the quarter panel and scrapes up the wheel and plastic fender.

My wife and I were not hurt just jolted a bit. The idiot had insurance and I did file a police report. He was not concerned about our safety (maybe because I yelled and called him an idiot in my anger, I did however quickly calm down)

I am taking this to Princeton, MINI to get this fixed. Is there anything I should know about? I spoke with Art (body shop mgr.) very nice and informative. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also, how bad will this affect my resell value? The damage is very minor but it will require bondo and paint to fix. The insurance company should pay for that hit as well...

My new JCW isn't so new anymore. OrangeCrush, any comments from the body shop side?

Thanks all. I need a beer, even this early in the AM.

 

Aww dude. I'm so sorry to hear about your story. The bright side is that you and your wife were not injured.

You mentioned about resale value. I read in a different thread (1st gear -week 36) of a similar situation. One of the repliers advised the owner who's car was damaged to go after the other driver's insurance company for the amount of the lowered resale value (in addition to damages). You should definitely damand it.

 

Since its minor maybe to can work it out with the other driver and avoid insurance. That might (not sure) avoid a carfax report. Just a thought. Good Luck.

 

In my experience "working it out with the other driver" is usually a waste of time, and even a minor fender-bender can easily top a few thousand dollars in repairs.

 

Is there any way to get any repair done from the dealer, without affecting your carfax report?

 

First ever scratch by a flying object (or stone?) from a construction Van this morning @ 65 mph!

 

True. You'll never know what kind of damage is done. I don't know if the rear wheels are now out of alignment, visual inspections won't work. Once you go outside of the "law" you are no longer protected. If his papers are fakes then I'm screwed. Its always better to get the cops involved.

I'm also not that type of guy that will pull a fast one on an unsuspecting buyer. I'm honest because I wouldn't want that to happen to me. I'll document the damage really well and let the buyer determine if the damage is worth the cost. I'll try to get some money for the lost resell value due to an accident...I have to find that R53 Mini Owner...

Thanks for your comments, please keep them coming.

They Body Guy guesstimated it at 1700 dollars

 

No, it hits carfax from the insurance claim, I believe.

 

Sorry to hear you got a bit of a bang!!!

 

You should refer to your state for it's stance on diminished value. Many states do not consider diminished value in your claim. Regardless, you would have to file a claim with their insurance company. There is not a single insurance company that will pay their client diminished value, it has to come from the other's person's insurance.

 

any paint and claim will affect your sale price.

 

Yes and it shows on carfax in about 6 months;(

 

Having just had my prev car totalled, some recent background. This is worth reading: http://www.ican2000.com/dvfaqs.html

 

You guys are great! Thanks for the link.

 

Many ins companies will pay you for diminished value but you have to badger the heck out of them. They'll pay for a rental too (a like vehicle, not a sled).

 

Here's a cell phone photo. I know it doesn't look like much but, its enough to need bodywork and a repaint but not enough to really be considered major work. Its just enough to cause aggravation :(

 

Well is hard to see from your pic..if you don't have any paint damage...i would try to avoid have the car body repaint and bondo....u be surprise a good paintless dent repair guy can take out very bad dents...check out this link http://homepage.mac.com/dentexpert/PhotoAlbum29.html there some picture in the site can give u a good example what can be done!!!!

The wheel arc plastic piece can be replace without hurting your car value. The rim can be fix around $100 at a local wheel repair shop, but since is other party fault just replace with a brand new one. Take your car to good auto body shop to check for any internal damage and check for wheel alignment...good luck!!!

 

Sorry for your trouble.
On the plus side, your damage could have obviously been much worse, but that doenst matter much when you still have that damage to look at in aggrivation!!

Good luck getting your JCW fixed, and we here at NAM are happy to know you didnt sustain any injuries.

 

HOLY CRAP, some of those dents are worse then mine. I was having some side exchanges with OrangeCrush and he suggested the same thing. I didn't think it was possible being so close to the lip but man, some of those are hits are downright nasty and it looks perfect when they fixed it. I'm going to try to go down this route. Thanks for the link.

Also thanks to all the well wishers for my and my wife's safety

 

Not too bad, it sould come out fine. I've been fixing cars for a long time, that's an easy fix.
As for resale, that only matters if you are selling. If you're keeping your MINI, don't worry about it.
Follow the link in my sig and see what my MINI looked like after someone turned left in front of me.

 

So let's say I get my repairs done from the MINI dealer.. but since the cost of repair is < my insurance deductable, I pay for it myself. Then carfax remains unaffected ??, or is the dealer bound to report the damage anyway..??

 

As long as the insurance cos. are not involved or the DMV, nothing should be reported so carfax won't know.

 

Are you sure the bodyshop doesn't have to report the repair even if it's a cash deal? That would seem shifty to me.

 

One thing to keep in mind: no matter how the damage is fixed, you can't change the reality that the car's been hit. If you were to sell the car to someone, didn't advise the buyer of the damage history, AND you got more money from the buyer by withholding that information, you'd be guilty of misrepresention, regardless of who knew or didn't know about that history.

I agree with Ajakeski; this is a small amount of damage and easily fixed. Unless you want to sell the car right away, why do you care about it's worth right now? What should be important is you have a car in good working order.

 

Thanks Ken, yes, read post#7. I always care about my cars, I guess that's why I care about this so much. Its not everyday I drop down upwards of 30k on a car. As a matter of fact its my first time. But I guess no matter what i do, its been hit and I can never change that fact. It just sucks that people who really care about and TAKE care of their cars always seem get hit by idiots who don't.