About 53 minutes ago, my poor R53 lost control in the snow ran into the curb at about 10 mph. I knew the hit was kind of bad but the tire seemed fine and the rim wasn't damaged so I figured I would make the 5 minute commute home and check in the morning. After driving a block or 2, I couldn't help but notice the car was much more out of control than before.

I pulled into the bottom level of a parking garage to inspect the car but couldn't really see anything (plus i'm far from a mechanic so I didn't know what to look for anyway). Luckily my brother was driving by and he confirmed that my driver side (impact) wheel was not perfectly straight. I parked the car in the garage and will have to get it towed to the dealership in the morning.

My question is, as a financially strapped college student, should I have the car towed to Morristown Mini which is 8 minutes down the road or drive it there? Anyone have an idea as to what i'm looking at?

Please respond!
-A sad, sad R53 owner with no ride to work tomorrow.

 

Really depends HOW 'not straight' it is.

A risk averse person would say get it towed.
A poor person might say, "give it a shot".
A risk averse poor person would look for an independent shop that could do the work for less than a dealer would charge.

Could be a bent wheel, or a bent control arm, or both. Severity depends on the speed and angle of the hit, and a bit of luck.

Good luck!

 

Depending on how much your Collision deductible is on your auto policy and if you chose Towing coverage, you may want to let your insurance company handle it for you.

 

I did the same thing on ice about 1 month ago & went up the curb backwards, then had to drive off the curb to get back on the road. Take the car to a Goodyear or tire dealer to check your alignment first. With my experience that is all that happened to the car. It will cost around $100.00. You will get soaked with the dealer and the technician might not know what it is since Mini says they don't deal with tires. That's another story.

 

At 10 MPH, you might have only hosed your alignment. If your car is close to a tire shop, maybe try driving it there (slowly) first and see what they say. They would be able to look at suspension components while it's on a lift.

Good luck getting her fixed, I'd be very sad too.

 

So is this collision because the car was being driven?
I have always had a hard time with the diff between collision and comp. Any help for me and the OP is appreciated.

 

Yeah, it's a single-car collision loss. Collision, in most auto policies, is defined as "your car was upset or hit, or was hit by, a vehicle or other object".

A Comprehensive loss is, "breakage of glass, or loss caused by missiles, falling objects, fire, theft, larceny, explosion, earthquake, windstorm, hail, water, flood, malicious mischief or vandalism, riot or civil commotion, or being struck by a bird or other animal".

This one is definiteley a collision claim.

 

I don't know how new or recently you have bought your MINI. But when I bought mine used there was a pretty good warranty and roadside assistance. I know with mine I can have it towed to Towne MINI where I bought it, free of charge. It is how they get people to buy when they like 1+hours away. I wold at least call the dealer and have them check how much and the whatnots of everything. I have been surprised more than once that something was covered that I didn't think would be.

Maybe my dealer is rare, but they are great on the service end of things, and don't really charge more than independent mechanics plus they do it right the first time.

 

Hi Mitch171,

I bought mine in 2006 but I had an occasion that I had my a slow leak in my tire. When I brought the car to the dealer to have it checked they said I needed a new tire. I had only 10,000 miles on the car at the time. They quoted us $250.00 per tire. My husband brought it to a Goodyear dealer (the tires were Goodyear) & it just so happened that the tire was a recall which Mini should have known. They claimed that they're not responsible for tires but were willing to sell them to us at that outrateous price. We paid absolutely nothing from the Goodyear dealer.

 

At only 10mph there can't be much damage. Now at 40mph... you loose the strut, both ball joints, the control arm, the bushing, the steering knuckle, steering rod, wheel bearing, wheel, and tire. Don't ask

 

oh no... sorry abt yr incident and as it did not happen to me yet, ic an offer much help..... hope it all work out..

 

This is all very helpful information ladies and gents!

I'm going to drive the car (very slowly) over to the alignment shop and hope for the best. Update will come soon!

 

At 10MPH you can still manage to do significant damage if the car impacts the curb just at the right angle

I would get the car on a lift and look at the control arms to make sure they didn't get bent.