Some kid hit me (Made an illegal left turn through an intersection) back in my last MINI. The car was totalled almost immediately. Here are the pictures.





The entire engine block was cracked, oil pan, everything. I was slowly accelerating (The light was red, so I was coasting to a stop, and it turned green about 1000 feet from the intersection.) going about 35 MPH. I slowed down as much as possible but with no maneuvering room I knew we were going to hit... it was a crowed 4 lane intersection. This was a front offset crash, and it was unavoidable (Grip the steering wheel and let him hit me or kill the pedestrian in the x-walk).

Point being I guess, pictures don't show very much. Most of the expense in the car comes in the engine bay. Until they open up the hood and look inside they won't know . Good luck either way, glad your wife is ok

 

MINI's use a Unibody construction. They do not have frames!

Only SUV's and Trucks use Frame Contruction. It's one of the least safe types of construction, and transmits the most energy to the passengers. Almost every new car today uses Unibody contruction. I haven't heard of a car using framed construction since the early 90's.

 

I'm guessing it won't be "totalled".

Assuming the enging is okay and the radiator is damaged, and that there's only minor suspension damage if any.

 

glad she's ok... car does not look totalled... gl

 

Oh my! Your poor MINI!

It actually looks like your MINI was giving that kid the bird!

 

My wife was in a wreck in our 8 month old car a few years ago. The car was T-boned right around the front drivers wheel, but otherwise, fairly similar damage. I wasn't given a choice of totalling, since the initial estimate was around 9k on a 22k car. I did pretty much the same thing as described above (final repair was around 12k), figured I was okay, less than 1 month after I got it back, had a driveshaft break on the axle that was hit; driveshaft hadn't been replaced, repair shop claimed it was my fault (how many of you have ever broken a driveshaft). Long story short, get it totaled if you can. The "it will never be the same again" isn't a myth, it just depends on the car and the exact specifics of the accident, which even the repair shop doesn't always know.

Since it was the other driver's fault, if you can't get it totaled, you may be able to collect diminished value for your MINI. I was able to make a DV claim, which was lucky since otherwise I'd have taken a 6k loss just to get rid of it after the driveshaft was repaired.

 

[quote=Chili Red & Pepper White;1468516] Once they determine the cost of parts and labor, if the total is 70% of the ACV of the vehicle, it's totaled. If it's less than 70%, it's not. Not much you can do about it, regardless of how much bickering and begging you do.

It depends on the state, some states total at 60% (Oklahoma), but some, maybe most are 70%. If you go through your own insurance company--and not the one who caused the accident--you may have better luck at getting them to total it, if that's what you prefer. (You would be out your deductible, but if the other person is at fault, your carrier would then subrogate against them, and get your deductible back in your pocket)

I've been on both sides. My husband has had two cars totalled....and I work in the Total Loss department of an insurance company.

Best of luck to you!