161 replies to this topic

[The_Mistro]

On the plus side am i the only one thinking i would like to buy it?
I live in notts and would be able to give you an idea if its repairable .Or i would buy it off you .

I bagsied the spot lights and loom last night!

Considering the plates arnt legal, im pretty sure the insurance company would try and wiggle out of it, because the car technicly wasnt road legal at the time? - just a thought?

thats why i asked if the insurance knew about the exhaust etc etc because if they dont then hes in the *poo* whichever way he decides to go!

[danrock101]

nooooooo

i cant believe this has happend,

whats happening with going to nuremburg now ??

nick

I will sort somthing out!

The guy from the body shop never turned up today, I'll give him another ring tomorrow.

[Tomf]

Ok well reading through it looks like you have already made your mind up and taken the £500, personally i would have gone through insurance, but as you have done this please done just re-shell it for the sake of it.

First of all get yoursell a porta power, and get straightening out the worste of the damage then you know where you stand with panels that need to be fixed/changed.

Is the rear 1/4 bent atall if not then it looks like it could be a prety easy repair... If the rear 1/4 isnt gone, then surely you only need to do a bit of straightening with a porta power, then weld in a new rear bottom corner, new rear vallange, part of the boot floor (if it doesnt straighten out with the porto power...) boot, bumper and rear light.

Now obviously thats no where near an ideal situation, but if you have already made the deal and decided you dont want to go through insurance for some strange reason, then get your 'mate' round and get him to help you do the repairs. If your going to repair it yourself i would guess it would cost you more than your 'mates' given you as you will have to buy some tools, but if taking it to a bodyshop your going to get a lot bigger bill thank the £500 youv got...

Edited by Tomf, 15 May 2009 - 09:13 PM.

[Shifty]

Ok well reading through it looks like you have already made your mind up and taken the £500, personally i would have gone through insurance, but as you have done this please done just re-shell it for the sake of it.

First of all get yoursell a porta power, and get straightening out the worste of the damage then you know where you stand with panels that need to be fixed/changed.

Is the rear 1/4 bent atall if not then it looks like it could be a prety easy repair... If the rear 1/4 isnt gone, then surely you only need to do a bit of straightening with a porta power, then weld in a new rear bottom corner, new rear vallange, part of the boot floor (if it doesnt straighten out with the porto power...) boot, bumper and rear light.

Now obviously thats no where near an ideal situation, but if you have already made the deal and decided you dont want to go through insurance for some strange reason, then get your 'mate' round and get him to help you do the repairs. If your going to repair it yourself i would guess it would cost you more than your 'mates' given you as you will have to buy some tools, but if taking it to a bodyshop your going to get a lot bigger bill thank the £500 youv got...

Toms right, that could be "Repaired" for little money as long as you're not too fussy.

Assuming the roof and door gaps are still ok then the damage could be mainly cosmetic.

Whats the rear frame like?

Post up some more pics if you can

If you haven't got a porta power then a scissor jack and a block wood can work(at a pinch)

If it were my car I could repair that for less than £500 in bits, its the labour that gonna kill the job.

[valve bounce]

after reading threw this thread id proberly say try pulling some of it out first and see if it looks more save able before you go and buy another shell. ive done it before on a mates car (very similiar situation, he was driving to close to me i had to brake he swerved and stuck it in a wall) just chain the car to sumot very solid and keep trying to set off (best to have someone watching it while your doing it) until you get it as close as you can then a bit of paint, filler, light etc and it might just be possible for £500 but next time go to insurance.

[shnevpayne]

Its a toughy but I'd have gone thru the insurance or made him pay the actual bill of repairing instead of making a rough estimate, its tough enough on the insurance when your young, but the good thing about mini's as long as your insurer is good with them they are as cheap as chips. Even with a prang such as that, your mate can always get a smaller engined car and have to "suffer" with the consequences of a higher premium but a small engined car for a year or 2, but its a lesson that is better learnt when you are young because then your driving suddenly becomes so much better.

My first day of driving as in 1st day after my test I pranged someones "Company car" (barely a scratch) but still the insurers kicked my ass for it, (when it wasn't really my fault) but my insurance on my 998cc mayfair after 2 years of driving with 1 years no claims is now a mere 400 compared with the 1045 I was having to pay for my 1st year, and I've changed to the AA because they seem to be the best for young mini drivers.

But thats my advice from one young driver to another,

[aston19uk]

You need to stand up for yourself and mainly against your dad!. If he was a mate, he would understand and claim on the insurance.

[danrock101]

The body guy has come round to look lol, he said he can do it for £600 including parts, he said I should get change from the £600. He's an old school mechanic and was recomended by a family friend who was a mechanic so he must be decent. He also said he wants to make sure it's a good job because he likes the car and it would be a shame for it to be scraped. I didn't think he'd do it for that price, my dad thought it would be closer to 500. He said he's doing his best to keep the repair costs down by shopping around for the parts so that's good.
I'll get the arches sprayed there too while I it's there, I was going to get them done by a bloke on here but at the time I didn't have a full licence so I couldn't bring it up

Edited by danrock101, 19 May 2009 - 01:33 PM.

[Shifty]

Well at least theres light at the end of the tunnel, if this guy can repair for £500-600 then thats really the best outcome you could hope for.

No need to lose a mate, no need to argue further and you get you car back.

Well done.

[Ouster]

I'd still want to get it jigged though - the shell is almost certainly twisted...

[Shifty]

As long as the roof is ok and the door still open and shut as they did before it should be ok.

The impact looks to have been fairly high up the body and the impact was absorbed by the "soft" parts of the shell.

The back end may need sticking on a dozer to pull it straight again, but it not impossible.

I'd be surprised if any of the main mounting points on the shell were badly distorted.

Having said all that I haven't seen the car in person so I am just guess at what I've seen on one small pic and could be wrong.

[midridge2]

i think it would use up the £500 to jig it.