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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
******UPDATE: I decided to tackle the rebuild! Read on for adventure...
Well, not the first post I was hoping for...
New member, purchased 2003 r53 in August 2015. Put lots of love into it...DDMworks CAI, 15% pulley, aluminum coolant reserve tank, new vinyl, some paint, some leds. Lots of washing. I loved that thing like no car I've owned before...
Wrecked it yesterday...
Literally 100' from my driveway...A silverado in oncoming traffic turned left in front of me out of no where. He was a contractor looking for a house he was doing work on that day. Spotted the address, turned left into the driveway without looking. I had no chance, especially with the snow.
Obviously needs new hood, headlight, intercooler, radiatorx2, and all the trimmings. Maybe a bumper? Not expecting it to be cheap to repair. Has just shy of 80k on it...
So, whats your vote, the insurance company gonna total this thing?
Last edited by iamfarha; 03-28-2016 at 07:23 AM.
Reason: REBUILD!
If the frame is bent , maybe. They will add up the total fix amount , then base it of the worth of the car. I would say hood , headlight, front core support, grille, bumper, headlight, maybe the intercooler. If it cracked the Supercharger or intercooler , that can be expensive. If they just need body work and a couple panels, paint , bumper hood...etc Then maybe not. But MINI parts can be expensive and the headlighst is Xenon are the most expensive part , as well as the paint and labor. If the IC or SC has issue then expect it to climb.
Also the rally lights are about $76 a light. and it loos like the bracket is gone also.
I say rebuild it if the frame is ok.
And if they need the parts to reduce the cost at the body shop have them shop our site or give us a call.
Thanks ECS, a good chunk of the farkles I added were purchased from you (and way)!
It was a very low speed crash (less than 10mph), so I doubt any serious damage, but the insurer took it to a storage lot (not the dealer) for an adjuster to look at, which scares me...I'm not opposed to doing the work myself, provided I ever get to see the thing again...
I clipped the guys bumper, which pierced the radiator and damaged the intercooler (i think). It was kind of beautiful, really... Like a dying beast, the stark contrast of orange/pink coolant sprayed out on fresh snow and gentle wisps of rising steam, a reminder of the fragility of life.
Appreciate the things you love while you have them, friends...
How much did you purchase the car for?
When I totaled my 2003 R53 I negotiated with the insurance company to pay for some aftermarket parts and they let me remove other aftermarket parts before they took the car away.
If just basic front/hood damage then I would guess not totaled.
If suspension or pan damaged then totaled.
$6.5k @ 73,000 miles. Really clean car, only 2 owners before me (one very nice senior lady). There are definitely a few parts I like to get off (Rennline skidplate, euro shelf, coolant tank, cabrio braces, etc.), but they gave me no chance. I asked them to tow it to the dealer for estimate and they said based on year/mileage it wasn't worth the tow cost. So to the appraiser lot it went...progressive btw.
Last edited by iamfarha; 04-03-2016 at 10:39 PM.
Reason: political correctness
What a bummer with such low miles. Hard to say, being an 03 the value will be lower. probably will get totaled out because of the cost to replace some high dollar parts. Like ecs said the headlights alone are quite pricey.
Sounds like your insurance company already plans to total the car.
Do you have AAA so that you can have it towed to your home for part removal.
I had the car towed from body shop, once totaled, so I could remove parts. My insurance company (Allstate) had the car picked up at my house to go to the wholesaler.
Thanks ECS, a good chunk of the farkles I added were purchased from you (and way)!
It was a very low speed crash (less than 10mph), so I doubt any serious damage, but the insurer took it to a storage lot (not the dealer) for an adjuster to look at, which scares me...I'm not opposed to doing the work myself, provided I ever get to see the thing again...
I clipped the guys bumper, which pierced the radiator and damaged the intercooler (i think). It was kind of beautiful, really... Like a dying beast, the stark contrast of orange/pink coolant sprayed out on fresh snow and gentle wisps of rising steam, a reminder of the fragility of life.
Appreciate the things you love while you have them, friends...
Welcome, and appreciate the orders, sorry to hear this again. Can you buy it back off the insurance if they total it ?
First, assess the damage and see what all you think you'll need. As far as the body, you can go on www.car-part.com and see what prices you find on the exterior body parts. If you report it to insurance and they total it out and you buy back, you'll have a salvage title. Some don't care about this though. Otherwise, sourcing used body parts wont be too hard, you'll just want to know what is underneath it all. If you're DIY savvy you can tackle it yourself. We have plenty of members that have done rebuilds on here. Some had more damage than others. Here is one of them.
Well, no surprise, you guys are all wonderful. Thanks for the support!
Sounds like I'm able to access the car at the holding lot, both before and after the appraiser makes any decision, and I get dibs on the salvage should they total it. Going to go see it again tomorrow to take better photos and poke around under the hood.
Really like the idea of tackling the rebuild...fingers crossed for mostly cosmetic damage. Feel free to pass along anything I should be checking as a definitive uh-oh...
Never handled this sort of insurance claim before (maybe some luck there, but mostly just crappy cars I didn't care about), so thanks again for the tips!
Hate it when stuff like that happens. Slow moving impact still does a lot of damage. Nice Mini, too. Hope the insurance folks decide to fix it. Will be a close call, for sure. Do you live in a "no fault" insurance state?
Last edited by MiniRoadstah; 02-07-2016 at 04:09 PM.
you have the right to get multiple estimates and try to find a shop to repair it for less than the total value. Tell the isurance co you want to do that right away, before "their" shop declares it totaled.
Well, no surprise, you guys are all wonderful. Thanks for the support!
Sounds like I'm able to access the car at the holding lot, both before and after the appraiser makes any decision, and I get dibs on the salvage should they total it. Going to go see it again tomorrow to take better photos and poke around under the hood.
Really like the idea of tackling the rebuild...fingers crossed for mostly cosmetic damage. Feel free to pass along anything I should be checking as a definitive uh-oh...
Never handled this sort of insurance claim before (maybe some luck there, but mostly just crappy cars I didn't care about), so thanks again for the tips!
Thanks for the update, hopefully you can get it back and insure it.
you have the right to get multiple estimates and try to find a shop to repair it for less than the total value. Tell the isurance co you want to do that right away, before "their" shop declares it totaled.
It's not that simple. You also have to factor in the value of the car as it sets there now. Example: Car before accident worth $5,000.00. Cost to repair is $4,000.00. At first glance the average person would think the car was not a total loss but what if the value of the car (as it sat there now) was $1,500.00? The insurance company would consider it a total because they would be saving $500.00 to total it and not repair it. (just used easy round numbers to try and make my point)
A little worse than I was hoping, but I still think a rebuild is feasible. Insurance company officially deemed it "unrepairable". Offered cash value and the option for a salvage. I'm definitely leaning towards the rebuild, but have yet to give an official answer. I'm in Michigan (a no fault state), but got lucky as I had broad form on it, and the other guy was clearly at fault. Have been in touch with Chad at Detroit Tuned and have been poking around parts lists, the marketplace, etc. Didn't dig too deep and the hood was tough to get open/take photos at the same time, but here we go:
Obviously the cracked supercharger horn is a bit disconcerting, but I still doubt any serious structural/frame damage. Obvious big ticket items are hood, headlight assembly, radiator, IC? Hoping the SC itself and the intake manifold is ok...guess there's only one way to find out...
Hilarious, just found it on the auctioneers site. Apparently they did a better job getting the hood open than I...
It's official. I'm bringing it home...
And already folks are popping up offering help finding parts! This is a great Forum... hope you get your R53 back together, and better than it ever was. Post the rebuild!
First, assess the damage and see what all you think you'll need. As far as the body, you can go on www.car-part.com and see what prices you find on the exterior body parts. If you report it to insurance and they total it out and you buy back, you'll have a salvage title. Some don't care about this though. Otherwise, sourcing used body parts wont be too hard, you'll just want to know what is underneath it all. If you're DIY savvy you can tackle it yourself. We have plenty of members that have done rebuilds on here. Some had more damage than others. Here is one of them.
Originally Posted by grussell
A & L Auto Recyclers in Detroit have 6 R53's. A quick look shows they have a hood, headlights, intercooler etc. Found them with www.car-part.com
Man, you guys are life savers. You ain't kidding, that site is a massive help, thanks!
I know I'm jumping the gun a bit until I get it in the garage and start digging, but I can't help non-stop thinking about it. I know the build dates can get wonky on the r53's in terms of between year compatibility. Mine has a 05/03 build date. Any obvious parts I should be stingy on in terms of year/build date?
There are a number of r53's in need of repair available on craigslist for reasonable prices (says the guy with an insurance check in his pocket). Any reason I shouldn't consider buying a whole one of those to swap parts (then scrap it when I'm done) or is the per piece option a better/safer bet?
I feel like a kid in a candy store, thanks for being a great community!
[QUOTE=iamfarha;4174575]Man, you guys are life savers. You ain't kidding, that site is a massive help, thanks!
I know I'm jumping the gun a bit until I get it in the garage and start digging, but I can't help non-stop thinking about it. I know the build dates can get wonky on the r53's in terms of between year compatibility. Mine has a 05/03 build date. Any obvious parts I should be stingy on in terms of year/build date?
There are a number of r53's in need of repair available on craigslist for reasonable prices (says the guy with an insurance check in his pocket). Any reason I shouldn't consider buying a whole one of those to swap parts (then scrap it when I'm done) or is the per piece option a better/safer bet?
I feel like a kid in a candy store, thanks for being a great community! [/QUOTE
If you want cross reference parts from a different build date you can use www.realoem.com to look up part numbers and then check to see what year models that part fits. Type in the last 7 of your vin and search for the parts you need and it will give you the part number. Click the part number and it will show the model years that part fits. That way you could back into your build date say from a newer model year.
02-05-2016, 10:11 AM
