52 replies to this topic

[tiger99]

Also, have your door gaps changed? If you could find some pictures from before the incident, you could compare them, but your eye may spot the change anyway. The other thing to look very carefully at is the bulkhead crossmember, check for any sign of creasing or buckling, and look for cracks starting from the bottom edge of the inner wings, where they are cut away to clear the subframe towers.

[holmesy]

will try and have a look tomorrow, i did check the doors but they did open the same as before, i dont think it hit hard as it didn't smash the lights, i did drive fine afterwards, because i gave it a belt on the roundabout to see if anything was drastic but it drove fine and held to the road very well

[tiger99]

Good! Often the door gaps do close up, and then there are real problems. From what we can see in the pictures, it is only minor frontal damage, if nothing else is evident. A new front panel may be all that is required. ggrtBut please do replace the tie rods before driving it far. When bent, they try to straighten under braking, and bend even more under acceleration, and you don't want the fatigue fracture which may follow.

[holmesy]

cheers for all the information guys. I have to drive it a few miles around the town this morning to get my valuations, i believe it was the towing eyes that stopped the car in the end as there is a slight bend so i am just hoping they took the force and bent and not the subframe

[JonnyBMX]

hope to god the subframes okay?? i just spent well over £800 on panels fixing my mini all in all its cost just over £1000 doing all the work myself including paint.. without a subframe lol!

[holmesy]

the repair shops are talking about writing the car off!! i really hope it don't have to come to that because im not gonna find another rust free mini like mine for the write off money :'(

[newnham500]

Hang on a minute boys(and ladies), the car jumped forward, up and over the stops. off the ramp, so how manged to gain traction again to pin a guy against the wall, all on the starter motor. hmmm. if you ask me, with those pictures. they took your car out after doing the work to "See what these minis really go like", lost control hit a bollard and maybe the curb and tried to blame it on a work shop accident.

behind the ram is about a meter meter and a half space, the mini would not have come off the ramp and got enough traction to hit the wall, unless it came off that ramp at a fair speed. at that speed the boy would be critially ill, not pinned. plus the impact would be from below, those picture show an impact from the front. we have all moved a car on a starter motor, it jumps about a foot. the only way that could of overridden the stops and hit the wall, assuming the wheels hit the floor after and got traction, is if the driver had the ignition on for a good 5/10 seconds.

im sorry they are lying, and finally if the boy was between the car and wall. either he is made of steel or they are lying, how would his body dent the front. i would expect to see damage on the bottom where the front hit the floor, and not on the front cause his body custioned the blow. instead its all frontal and none under.

tread careful, somthing doesnt add up.

[hunterg30]

there's a few villages missing there idiots,are they training to be clowns ?. totally agree with newnham500.

[Ruckus]

the repair shops are talking about writing the car off!! i really hope it don't have to come to that because im not gonna find another rust free mini like mine for the write off money :'(

This is why all mini's need to be on agree value...

[Shifty]

I bet the lad who did has learned a valuable lesson!!

He's not the first person to do it and he won't be the last!! Mate of mine sent a mk4 escort(brand new) into a wall when he was an apprentice.

Damage doesn't look too bad, but it could easily be written off.

[Dan]

Make sure the repair shops you are visiting know it's not a motor insurance claim. They will be less inclined to write it off.

I don't think the suggestion is that the ramp was raised when it shot forward, you wouldn't test the brakes until after the work was completed and you wouldn't climb up onto a raised lift to do it. If it had fallen then yes there would be far more and different damage and injuries, but when the ramp is down you can drive over the end. It would be easy to panic in that situation and not brake, and assuming the fool did let go of the key it would have just been rolling up to the wall. I would imagine there was something at ground level that the tie rods rode up onto, which also took a lot of the energy and saved the lad's legs.

Sorry, trying not to laugh here, but that would have been hilarious to watch

You think Sam? Ever seen anyone hit by a car? It is not fun to witness at all.

[holmesy]

I know what you guys are saying thats what ive been trying to figure out so im going later to ask for the truth, they said that the lift was on the floor, i think that it has been damaged on the ramp becuase of the bent tie rods which are in the exact spot for the bump stops. All in all it still doesnt add up, the engine could of been hot so the engine might of ignited and caused the speed

[AaronRimmington]

Dont the tutors teach the lads to always check if the cars in gear?

Shame about the damage, hope you can get the car back on the road :)

[holmesy]

well they taught us to last year but i suppose its just one of those moments

[samsfern]

Sorry, trying not to laugh here, but that would have been hilarious to watch

You think Sam? Ever seen anyone hit by a car? It is not fun to witness at all.

I have seen many accidents when i was in the trade, and i know that if someone was standing infront of that mini, they would have pretty serious damage to their legs, judging by the damage to the car.

Edited by samsfern, 20 March 2012 - 04:18 PM.