Well on the way to work this morning going a different way then I normally go, I was ingauging the clutch into first gear and started to roll when then guy in front of me jammed up on his brakes and before I got could stop I hit him. My MINI took the brunt and it bent the hood all up knocked one of my painted headlight rings out, it scratched up the bumper, broke the grille and the grill badges popped the radiator. I will post up pics later. It just scratched his Highlander and might have put a small dent. I got a warning. Its kinda of funny the place I took it to was already painting my door handles and grille surround so I got to take it there for more work. I rented the only thing Enterprise had a quad cab F-150 which I have nicknamed the Baby Eater because it so big. My MINI's name is now Vince from the Crash test Dummies of the early 90s now.

 

:(:(

Sorry to hear. I try to always leave lots of room in front of me in case of such things, but I'm also worried about those behind me too.

 

Prothos,
Soory to hear about you damage on your Cooper ! This is El Tiger from the T-Shirt Crew hope u get your Cooper fixed ! Hang in there Prothos !

 

Sorry 2 hear that, Porthos. Somethin' similar happened 2 me a few yrs ago (had a Volvo 240 then) when the guy in front of me started then suddenly stopped. However, I HAVE had fender-benders w/Scoopie (front-end damage TWICE *heavy sigh*), but the folks who repaired her worked wonders. I'm sure yours will be as good as new, 2.

 

 

Sorry to hear that.... hope you get it fixed soon.


Mark

 

That sucks. The same thing almost happened to me once too. By the time you engage the clutch the cars already going 2-3mph so it can be hard to stop in time. Now I make sure to leave plenty of room in front of me.

 

Here are some of the pics. Don't worry about the chrome surround that was off the car prior to the accident. It was getting paint LBM to match the car

 

Bummer. Sorry to hear about it.

 

I got a partial estimate yesterday $3100 in damages so far on the MINI

 

From a bodyshop perspective, let me make one suggestion.

Take a look at the curvature of the front wheel arch (of the hood itself) and see if it's parallel to the wheel arch plastic flare.

I've got an '09 Cooper coming in the shop Monday hit almost identical. She had other estimates but no one took the time to check out the hood. Many times when a cooper get hits in the front like that, it "bows" the hood to the point you can't tell by looking at it until you look at the gap I mentioned.

The reason I mention it is because the hood is shoved back a hair (indicated by the 1/4" spacing from the bumper to the front hood edge.) That usually tells me that either the radiator support is pushed back or the hood is now "shorter" (for a lack of a better description)

Hope that made sense.


Mark

 

Oh man, what a bummer! Sorry to hear that... :(

I leave a gooooddddd distance between me and the other cars if I can for that very same reason. That and I usually take off very slowly anyways... hope it all gets fixed up for you soon!

 

Thats some why its going to cost so much because the hood needs to be replaced. Its all messed up

 

Bummer !!! I own a mini and a 2006 F-150, and love them both. The funny thing is that the F-150 rides like a limo and the Mini drives like a truck.

 

That F150 is just too much for me I hate how long it takes me to park and how much gas it wastes

 

Sounds like the perfect time for a Carbon Fiber hood................

 

R56 they don't make a CF hood yet

 

Bummer man..

 

I have had my right and left rear quarter panels creased and pushed in and repaired. Both came out like new. Paint matched like new. Left one cost around $600, painted the whole 1/4 panel. Right one a crease across panel and into plastic trim. Cost around $340.
Where at Carsmetics-Express Accident Repair. Lake Forest, CA ask for Kerry Raes, store manager.
They have a shop in Costa Mesa, CA too. I have no experience there but their regional mgr is there.

They have a shops in Florida including Jacksonville, Good Luck
See details at www.carsmetics.com

 

I already got it in the shop. The shop is owned by one of the new members to Sunshine MINIs. He only does insurance claims plus I had some stuff already being paint by his shop that I was suppose to get the day of the accident. Also they might install my intercooler for me toosince they are going to have to take the bumper off and maybe even the stock intercooler.

 

That's why you gotta talk to someone who is willing to make one....

 

Ya its not that big of a deal

 

Wow, first post and it sounds like a sales promo....

 

Damn that is no fun! Sorry to hear about it!

 

Sucks.