I am soo sad to report that my very first day with my Ice Blue Mini Cooper ended by 7am. I just picked up my car on Saturday and drove it home from the dealership. I didn't drive at all on Sunday and this morning on my way to work I got hit by a Crown Victoria while on the Highway (at 60mph!).

I honestly believe that if I were in my old car (a Beetle), I may not be well enough to type this. The way he hit me, I think I might have spun around a few times had I not been in the Mini. (He was changing lanes in his behemoth vehicle and clipped the back driver's side). I did end up getting thrown around a bit but was able to get it under control pretty quickly and pulled off the road (the engine shut off safety feature and hazard light feature never engaged though!)

My little car now is at the "hospital" where it may be for several weeks -months?????
I am trying to figure out what my actual long term losses will be and how much fighting I need to do to try to get it back to the perfect condition it was before I was hit.
Now I have no car and get to deal with all the fun insurance challenges. :(

Has any one had positive experiences with collision repair shops other than Autohaus... Unfortunately they are not in State Farm's network of preferred shops. I am trying to determine if it's really worth the potential extra cost and time for repairs to have it done there. (They were SUPER awesome to me when I just showed up tear stricken with my broken little car today)

 

Wow, 60 mph. Well, most importantly you're safe and well. The MINI can be fixed.

 

Thankfully you are OK, but what a story.
There are a couple of insurance adjusters on the forum who may have some advice.
I hope that you are soon motoring again.

 

Holy smokes!!!

I feel for you about your new set of wheels, but make sure YOU are indeed okay. And, we are rooting for you to be back on the road with your MINI. Ley us know how it goes...Godspeed.

 

Sorry to hear that, and glad your OK! But the real bummer is that if you ever go to sell your MINI ,it will have that accident show up on CARFAX! Big Decrease in value........

 

Glad you're ok...shame about the MINI. Thankfully it's repairable damage, even if it does take awhile. Maybe you might be able to get a loaner from your MA? They might take pity on you...

 

That rrrreally sucks!

I'm one of those adjusters Little Wing mentioned.

I hope he does not dispute making the lane change. And if so, I hope there are witnesses or a police report. Disputed lane change accidents are some of the worst ones for obtaining enough evidence to put fault on the correct driver.

Once repairs are completed, talk to the other driver's insurance company about filing a Diminished Value claim. If they accept liability and you live in a state that requires insurers to pay DV claims, they'll explain the documentation needed to pay you for the loss in value of your brand new MINI.

Let us know if you have more questions throughout the process.

 

The Autohaus shop does great work and knows how to work on Minis. It would be the only place I would take my Mini.

 

Glad you are OK!

At 60 MPH, I would have a hard time believing that the car isn't totaled. Do you have any pics?

 

I don't think he was stationary at the time. If your car is stationary and hit by a car doing 60, it's a huge impact. If you're doing a similar speed, as I believe this was as it's a lane-chage accident, the impact isn't nearly as hard, of course. Still... sucks !!

 

LOL, I need more coffee. I didn't comprehend that at all!

 

Very sorry to hear this. There aren't many Ice Blues driving around as it is, now with Crown Victoria's drawing a bead on them even fewer.

The part that made me cringe was "shop X isn't on State Farm's list of recommended places". Hmmm. That would've gotten me excited to discuss. I'd do more of it here but earlier in the thread it was mentioned that we have forum members who are adjusters, so I'll yield to their knowledge.

But in a nutshell, based on my experiences with 3-4 accident repairs to my cars, I wouldn't let this (company X has a special relationship with some list of body shops) limit your choice of repair station.

There are estimating guides / software in use, so most shops' estimates should be close. Any I've used claim that they can work from estimates from whomever, and they'd call the adjuster if they run into anything unexpected / huge variance.

How much insisting you can do may depend on who's at fault and their coverage, or your coverage and your relationship with that vendor (e.g. you have life/home/auto all with them or something, they have skin in the game to keep you happy or at least satisfied).

Mostly just thinking out loud...others in the industy will have better knowledge. I've just had the experience a few times that the insurer even pointed out that I could have it fixed *anywhere*, however they'd have their adjuster provide an estimate, or sent me to somewhere in particular to get an initial estimate to provide to them.

In your hands just a few days. Again, very sorry to hear this.

 

Let me clear up any possible misconceptions that you or anyone else reading the thread might have.

1. Insurance companies do not own repair shops.

2. Insurance companies cannot choose your shop, only you can.

3. Most every major insurance company has a preferred-shop program.

4. The shops in the program are there for reasons... geographical area and quality of their work are two major reasons they are selected.

5. Those shops get frequent quality inspections. And if they get too many verified customer complaints, they are removed.

6. Knowing these shops so well, gives insurance company a reasonable comfort they are doing accurate estimates and performing quality repairs. That trust enables insurers to reduce the amount of estimators they need, saving cost which lowers premiums.

7. There are advantages passed on to the customer when he selects a preferred shop. Lifetime warranty on the repairs (if you pick a non-program shop, they may or may not give you a similar warranty on their work but that is between you and that shop) which the insurance company will help you enforce, is the biggest one.

8. If you pick a non-program shop, then the insurance company estimator does the estimate. Then they'll give you a copy along with the check. If your shop works off that estimate, cool. But if they don't, you could be responsible for a portion of the bill. We'll pay the prevailing labor rate and price out the parts that we find available.

Bottome line... yes, your choice. Completely. But there are advantages to using a preferred shop that you should consider.

 

HA!

StephSTL

Be careful where you take your car to get the work done, I'm a state farmy as well, I don't know where you live but give this place a call

Stock Auto Body
505 South 6th Street
Wood River, IL 62095
618) 254-9163

Unlike autohause they know how to mix paint and really get a perfect match, I had them do full body and paint work on my mini, the guy worked with me on price and really got me a great deal. Both sides of my car look better than new and you can't even tell I have had the car repainted. They are state farm approved, and they do exceptional work. If you call em ask to talk to Bruce, he has a brand new mini coupe, and loves to talk shop.


side note:

Autohause is a joke, they can't shoot paint, mix primer, and they get an F- in my book. I can do a better job at my own house with a rattle can. If you would like to contest this I will be more than happy to show you something they have painted TWICE @ cost BOTH TIMES which still looks like a monkey painted it with a roller. You know what they told me when I pointed it out, "We can repaint it again, but you will have to pay for it". Are you kidding me? Going to auto hack is like playing russian roulett with a semi auto pistol.

 

Stephstl, thank God you are okay! My husband and I were in an accident 8 weeks ago. We hit a rock wall, probably at about 35mph in his Toyota Camry and my neck was broken. Though I too, am blessed enough not only to be writing this, but to be walking. It is so crummy that it happened with your new baby though too! I surely can understand your sorrow and frustration. Are you sure they can't "total" it? If so, it seems a better way to go for the long term. Otherwise, I hope the insurance people and the mechanics are good to you and get it done quickly. Kind regards, Pam

 

Highly doubt it's going to be a total loss. Lane change accident and impact to the quarter panel, far from the expensive drive train components and no expensive airbag replacements. Even if there is suspension damage, not nearly enough to total the car.

 

Thank you all for your kind words! I ended up taking it to a great body shop that works on some super high end cars and has done excellent work for us in the past. I anticipate I'll get my car back, looking gorgeous, by next Friday.
The damage appears to fairly minor...no structural damage. The bumper (steel part) was just nicked and not of the "vital organs" were damaged. No air bags deployed.
I appreciate every one's insight and feedback! I look forward to seeing you on the road soon!

 

That is great news StephSTL!

 

Steph... the other insurance company accept liability? Or are you using your own coverages?

 

Glad your MINI is on the mend; what an awful start. OTOH, it brings to mind the situation in that old Robin Williams' movie (The World According to Garp): they're home shopping, a light aircraft crashes into the home they're about to be shown. He immediately says, "We'll take it!" thinking that the house has suffered this incident, law-of-averages says it won't have any more.

Hopefully you're done with such excitement too!

What I didn't notice, at first: you're a (STL-area) local! Will be good to see another Ice Blue around, there aren't many!