As some of you know, my Mini was crashed pretty badly about a month ago. A SUV skidded on a rain slicked mountain road, and used the Mini as a guard rail. The front fender, door and rear fender are being replaced. (Pictures are available at the web site below).

I was talking to the body shop owner this morning when I stopped-by to check on the progress. The inner rear fender needs to be replaced, along with the outer fender (which was already off the car). The door and front fender are no big deal...

Should I be concerned about the structure of the car after they cut the old fender off and weld a new one on? Should I be concerned about a repair estimate that allocates 4 hours for frame straightening?

Should I sell the car (with full disclosure)? If it is fixed very well, what do you think it is worth?

Maybe I am making something out of nothing. Your opinions are welcomed and appreciated!

 

I don't think you should be worried about the quality or safety at all. But I know if it were my car I would forever be annoyed just by the fact that my car had been in an accident. But the frame straightening should be done with a computer measuring system, they'll have the dimensions, get it back good as new, shouldn't be any problem there.

 

You're going to get answers all over the map on this one. The short answer is: it depends. If the repairs are done right, the car s/b good as new.

After a significant off-track excursion, my track car required extensive frame straightening. All the mechanics I asked suggested I pull off the go-fast car and bolt 'em on another car. They were sure it was a total loss. All the body guys said it could be fixed, no problem. In the end, I had the car fixed and it's just as good as before the crash.

 

The proper way to to this would be to drill out all the factory spot welds and replace the factory 1/4 panel and inner fender exactly the way it came off the assebmly line -- make sure they arent patching pieces in, there should be a full panel replacement on the car.

frame stratening takes time. its a very meticulous aspect of repairing a crashed car. make sure they are usining a computer controlled straightener, not trying to do that stuff by hand with older manual tools.

 

Problem with a major repair is that it will show up on the damage databases that people check before buying a car. In other words, it is going to lower the ACTUAL value of the car by thousands of dollars even if the repairs are perfect.

That sucks but would you pay full price for a seriously damaged car that has been repaired. I wouldn't. I had something similar happen when I owned a Focus SVT. I made them pay a premium to me for the loss of value. They didn't like it but they did it

Cheers

 

Wise advice from all of the above.
On a unibody vehicle, everything inside the outer skin is part of the "frame". What you saw for frame straightening was pre-repair for the inner quarter panel. No biggie.
Very good point about the loss of value. With Carfax being available to pretty much everyone, come selling time, someone is going to notice the major repair. Might as well get it now.
BTW, just curious, how much is the repair going to cost? I'm guessing ~$5000.

 

AT LEAST!

damn man, if they need to put a inner fender and quarter panel on, that means complete interior diassasembly, removing glass, lots of time consuming bodywork that event the best bodymen dont liek to do, and the list does on!

then theres paint!!

i would, myself, have the entire car repainted. i never saw a car that had a base/clear paintjob touchup that i liked.... enamel is the only paint ive seen that blends easily.

 

Make sure you tell the insurance company that you expect to be compensated for the diminished value. Many insurance companies will try to avoid paying you this, but you have a right to the decline in the value of the car because of this accident. Here's a good reference article in case you're interested.

 

With all my motorcycles I have ridden them hard until I crashed them. Even if I made repairs I always sold them soon after that. It just isn't the same feeling I had about the vehicle. Inside of me I always thought of them as JUNK after they had crashed. GOOD LUCK, frame straigtening has to fatigue the metal, it already did once when it moved the first time at the crash, but if it is going to be a a big $ loss maybe you will want to keep it. I agree with the computer frame machinery as a minimum, the old way was just chains, sledge hammers and an anchor in the floor, I believe. Picture that in your mind and you'll definitely sell it, eh?

 

Good guess! The initial estimate was $4,500 but that was before the inner fender.

In terms of the diminished value, I am working with a few appraisers to determine a value. At this point I have been told the car is worth $16,500 at most, even assuming a perfect repair. I will definitely NOT give up on this aspect of the claim.

Thanks for the opinions everybody. I appreciate you taking the time to chime-in!

 

12 years as an estimator. Can't get it out of my blood.

Only you will be able to judge whether or not you will want to keep the car. I would assume that the repair shop offers a lifetime warranty; most do anymore. To some folks, this is great peace of mind. To others, nothing will ever be the same again, and they will go back to the repair shop ad nauseum with nit-picky lists of minor and imagined grievances. If you find yourself falling in to the latter category, sell the car. Save yourself (and others) the ulcer.

 

Way back 4 or 5 cars ago, I had a '88 Mustang GT. It was sideswiped while parked on the street by a drugged out guy trying to drive himself to the ER before he died. Anyway, I don't remember the cost or the extent of the repairs, but it was drivable after the collision.

After it was fixed, each time I released the clutch and applied some torque, something in the body/frame would flex and "pop". Although the car was repaired and looked great, I could never get over the "pop" and traded it in.

Hopefully your car will be repaired correctly and you'll never be able to tell.

 

It will NEVER be the same after the repairs, no matter how "perfect" they may be. Been there done that. Frame damage is the equivalent of a person having a broken neck. Any trained used car appraiser will quickly spot body shop repairs made to your car. It is very difficult to accurately replicate factory level repairs on a body shop.

My suggestion to you is to collect on your "Diminished" value claim and sell/trade the car once it is repaired. Your ideal scenario would have been to get the thing totalled but since the total cost of repairs do not exceed 50%-80% of the value of the car, your insurance company deems it cheaper to put a band aid on it and call it a day.

Sell/trade the car, plus your diminished value money, you can order a brand new MINI. That's what I would do.

 

That is exactly what I was considering doing. The only other thought I had was to get something a bit different. I have the ability to get an 05 BMW X3 3.0 for a great price (it is a used car, but used by me...long story) and maybe I should do that. I don't know...

 

I'd suggest using the loss of value amount as a down payment on a new mini... drive this one until the new one comes in and move on... sell it privately or to someplace like carmax with full disclosure of the accident. as long as the loss of value + what you get for the car equals the value of a car with no damage you have done well and should be able to move into the other car with little monetary penalty.

good luck!