Me and the mini were involved in a minor accident yesterday when i blacked out behind the wheel. The bad news, it could be totaled. When I was out although at low speed I ran over a low tree stump, and then swerved across the road into somones house. The tree stump knocked the engine and transmission way back, and possibly out of the aluminum cradle. The shift lincage doesnt even work, and I believe the axles might be broken. Other then the very front bottem, the car looks fine. The people who are going to fix the car say of course the car is fixable, but that the repaires might cost more than the car is worth hence totaling it. My question is what should I do? I want to get the car repaired as much as possible, would rather not get a new mini (this is an 04 JCW) and what should I do if it is totalled? I have heard never sell it to the insurance and things like this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :
First of all, the question you have to ask yourself is why did you black out? Is it a medical condition? I wouldn't worry too much about fixing the car, i'd worry about what caused you to black out. If this is a medical condition, then you need to see a doctor, and if its anything but a complete one off, then you can probably no longer drive until the condition is completely cured.. if you were unwell, then you shouldn't have driven. I assume there was no other reason for 'blacking out' (drink, drugs, either pescription or other) or tiredness?
It will be up to the insurance company (I assume you are claiming) to decide what happes to the car. You would be surprised how many cars are written off due to inocuose looking damage. Once the chassis is damaged, most new cars are written off. It would be better to get a new car from you insurance than one that has been repaired, if the mechanical damage was so bad. Most accident damage is cosmetic - easily replaced body panels. Once you start messing with the chassis or mechanicals, long term reliability after a repair will always be a problem.
If you are claiming against your insurance, don't worry yourself about the car being written off, its the best outcome in the long term.
Blimey mate i'm glad your ok! Might be better to cut your losses even with the wait for a new one. It could take ages to fix the damageanyway, and you may never be happy with it once its repaired. Good luck! I hope you can sort out what made you black out too!
Thanks guys-The reason I blacked out was of some sort of a minor epiliptic condition that I have a history of, and I have already seen doctors and the simplest solution to cure that problem is just to adjust the way I take the medication, it really shouldnt be that big of a deal. (besides not being able to drive for an extended perioded of time, especially without the mini). I dont know, Its just I guess I have become personally attached to this car, and I guess I should just get over it and see if I can get another with the same specs. Im just curious if there are any better ways of "getting rid of it" besides selling it to insurance who will sell it to a salvage auction? Also, is there anything critical i should remove from the car before it gets turned over to the insurance? I was thinking about taking the badges off as memorbilia and my friend already jerked the shift knobb off to save for me when I was in the hospitall. (stuff like factory auxilary gauges and stuff...)
are you ok, didn't injure yourself or anything. I know this probarbly doesn't help coz we all know how much we love our MINI's, but at the end of the day they can be replaced, where as some body parts and particularly life itself are hard if not impossible to replace.
If you are feeling Ok now think of it as a very lucky escape, imagine what may have happened if you were to of blacked out on a freeway and hit oncoming traffic and hurt or even killed someone. I have to say I would take the new car option if offered. I once went of the road in my Pug 106 GTI and the insurance paid to have it put right and it was never the same car.
Anyways here's wishing you well in whatever you decide, take care
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Once again thanks to everyone, and yeah Im fine besides the usual airbag burn. A friend told me if I was in a civic I would have been killed, but I walked away unscathed. The whole thing seemed like a dream, sitting in the middle of no where, looking out the window, dazed at a police officer, but as soon as my vision cleared I looked down and I saw the airbag had gone off and I was like oh no. Pretty soon I was out of the car and checking out the cars damage, and since then just worried about getting it fixed. Thanks for all of yalls help, as I will take it into consideration.
You must have different laws in the USA on epilepsy... if you suffer form it in this country they take away your driving license.
I was walking my dog in town once, about 10 years ago. A Saab 9-5 with a middle aged driver came up the street, bouncing of car to car to car. Must have hit 20-25 cars, then veered across a busy pavement and chnaged direction completly. Came straight at me and the dog - I didn't even realise what was happening - when it hit the kerb in front of me, it fortunaly swerved viently, mounts another parked car and almost drove clean up its bonnet. Amazinlgy, despite the fact that there must have been around 100 people in the immediate area, no one was hit. Everyone thought it was a drunk driver, and quite an angry mob started developing. Anyway, turned out the guy had had an epileptic fit while driving. Seems they had given him his licence back after not having a reported fit for over two years.
He later said he would never drive again. Funny thing was, if his car ahdn't of been an automatic, the accident wouldn't have been half a serious. the car would have stalled early on. It was a miracle no one was hurt.
Don't worry too much about the car. Can you imagine how bad it would have been if you had hit someone? Your OK, the car will hopefully be replaced.
Don't know how write offs work in the USA, but in the UK, once an insurance company writes off a car and pays out, it legally becomse their possesion. Take out anything personal. the rest is just so much metal cast in a shape that appeals to you.
Right now I will have to wait 6 months to drive again, and its well worth it to make sure I dont trash another mini while Im unconsious The mini being stick did help out, and I am sort of erked about the whole sitution, I believe that all of the damage occured at no more than 20-25mph. Then main thing was when I went over a short tree stump, (about the size of the intercooler, I believe) it sent the engine back into the trany, and knocked everything back out of the cradle. Also knocked a big whole in the oil pan. Just one moment I am driving and one moment the cars gone. Happened to fast, no good bye drives. (didnt even see or feel the wreck) I just want whats best for the car.
To be honest I've had a couple of knocks in previous cars, and they've never "felt" the same, even when fully repaired. Probably just an "in the mind" situation, but I'd sooner have a factory fresh replacement if that's an option (sounds like THE option in your case).
Comments about cars not feeling the same are quite right. Over the years my family and friends have had various cars repaired, and there always seemed to be something that looked ok but didnt work right.
If insurance was going to cover the costs, then I would treat myself to a brand new S. In the meantime while you wait you can save up for some nice new accessories
Best of luck with your condition, glad you weren't hurt.
Get all the repair estimates your insurer will allow. If they insist upon using their adjusters, get other estimates from local, reputable shops for comparision.
Your insurer will try to minimize the amount of cash they must pay, and you must try to maximize it. Just be sure that you have repair estimates from shops that are independent of your insurer. That way, at least you can have some assurance that you're getting a decent deal (or not) from your insurance company.
In the end, the insurer must use widely accepted means of determining your car's value and the cost to repair it. If their settlement is not realistic, you can hire legal representation to help plead your case. That usually works, insurers don't like litigation. It probably won't get to that stage, though.
Just hang on and be patient, you'll probably get a reasonable deal out of it.
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ently, mounts another parked car and almost drove clean up its bonnet. Amazinlgy, despite the fact that there must have been around 100 people in the immediate area, no one was hit. Everyone thought it was a drunk driver, and quite an angry mob started developing. Anyway, turned out the guy had had an epileptic fit while driving. Seems they had given him his licence back after not having a reported fit for over two years.
The mini being stick did help out, and I am sort of erked about the whole sitution, I believe that all of the damage occured at no more than 20-25mph. Then main thing was when I went over a short tree stump, (about the size of the intercooler, I believe) it sent the engine back into the trany, and knocked everything back out of the cradle. Also knocked a big whole in the oil pan. Just one moment I am driving and one moment the cars gone. Happened to fast, no good bye drives. (didnt even see or feel the wreck) I just want whats best for the car. 
