2016 Mini Cooper Clubbie Salvage rebuild
Discussion
Following a successful (and profitable!) repair of a 2013 Focus estate I decided to try my luck again and 'upgrade' to a newer Mini Clubbie. A suitable looking car appeared on ebay, deal done it was dropped off last week and the tear-down started over the weekend.
This isn't the first accident this car has had, the paint on the near side isn't great and some of the deforming aluminium crash rails look like they had been reused.
I will take it back and build it straight, repaint the side and bonnet, give it a service and use it for the next few years. In theory it won't depreciate in the time I use it and might even make a few quid.
This isn't the first accident this car has had, the paint on the near side isn't great and some of the deforming aluminium crash rails look like they had been reused.
I will take it back and build it straight, repaint the side and bonnet, give it a service and use it for the next few years. In theory it won't depreciate in the time I use it and might even make a few quid.
This will be an interesting project to me. I very recently sold my 2018 Clubbie SD. Mine was the same colour.
Ran mine for 2 years and did 36k miles in that time.
Really enjoyed my time with it. I think you may do well with it. I bought mine as a 1 year old car for £18k. When I was looking to replace it recently 1 year old Clubbies we’re more like £25k. I sold mine pretty much for what I bought it for .
Look forward to seeing future updates.
Ran mine for 2 years and did 36k miles in that time.
Really enjoyed my time with it. I think you may do well with it. I bought mine as a 1 year old car for £18k. When I was looking to replace it recently 1 year old Clubbies we’re more like £25k. I sold mine pretty much for what I bought it for .
Look forward to seeing future updates.
Edited by Alfa Pete on Tuesday 2nd November 15:00
Thanks Pete, this will be the third salvage car I have turned around (and numerous motorbikes previously)
It is a 1.5 petrol turbo, has decent spec with heated half leather, rear parking sensors and full BOOST multimedia doodah. Pretty much my wife's ideal spec and will replace her 2012 3dr Cooper D (also Cat N) now the boys need more leg room in the back.
My Focus was certainly less complicated and more straight-forward behind the bumper plastics!
I found it was cheaper to order new BMW/Mini replacement bumper irons compared to what sellers on ebay are asking for second hand ones. Always pays to compare the part number before assuming used is always cheapest.
I will update when the next tranche of parts come in.
It is a 1.5 petrol turbo, has decent spec with heated half leather, rear parking sensors and full BOOST multimedia doodah. Pretty much my wife's ideal spec and will replace her 2012 3dr Cooper D (also Cat N) now the boys need more leg room in the back.
My Focus was certainly less complicated and more straight-forward behind the bumper plastics!
I found it was cheaper to order new BMW/Mini replacement bumper irons compared to what sellers on ebay are asking for second hand ones. Always pays to compare the part number before assuming used is always cheapest.
I will update when the next tranche of parts come in.
roca1976 said:
Thanks Pete, this will be the third salvage car I have turned around (and numerous motorbikes previously)
It is a 1.5 petrol turbo, has decent spec with heated half leather, rear parking sensors and full BOOST multimedia doodah. Pretty much my wife's ideal spec and will replace her 2012 3dr Cooper D (also Cat N) now the boys need more leg room in the back.
My Focus was certainly less complicated and more straight-forward behind the bumper plastics!
I found it was cheaper to order new BMW/Mini replacement bumper irons compared to what sellers on ebay are asking for second hand ones. Always pays to compare the part number before assuming used is always cheapest.
I will update when the next tranche of parts come in.
Looks a cracking project OP. Do you need any special tools to get these back on the road, or very much unbolt the old stuff and add the new? It is a 1.5 petrol turbo, has decent spec with heated half leather, rear parking sensors and full BOOST multimedia doodah. Pretty much my wife's ideal spec and will replace her 2012 3dr Cooper D (also Cat N) now the boys need more leg room in the back.
My Focus was certainly less complicated and more straight-forward behind the bumper plastics!
I found it was cheaper to order new BMW/Mini replacement bumper irons compared to what sellers on ebay are asking for second hand ones. Always pays to compare the part number before assuming used is always cheapest.
I will update when the next tranche of parts come in.
Do you think it will work out significantly cheap by the time its all finished and ready to go?
Looking at similar age / spec cars I would probably need to spend £13.5-14.5k
I keep a spreadsheet for costs, the aim including paint will be £8.5k, If I am lucky and score a bumper and bonnet in the right colour it may be slightly less. We will be keeping it however if I was doing it to flip I would probably try £10,999 because of the currently buoyant market.
It doesn't appear to need any special tools (apart from a jack pad with a square section so my trolley jack will lift it!) The bolts are 10mm and Torx are T30.
I was able to reset the Focus by disconnecting the battery, this one seems to have more error / warning messages so may need specialist to factory reset it once repaired if my basic OBD reader isn't able to.
If I was braver I would dabble with crypto currency instead of salvage cars!
I keep a spreadsheet for costs, the aim including paint will be £8.5k, If I am lucky and score a bumper and bonnet in the right colour it may be slightly less. We will be keeping it however if I was doing it to flip I would probably try £10,999 because of the currently buoyant market.
It doesn't appear to need any special tools (apart from a jack pad with a square section so my trolley jack will lift it!) The bolts are 10mm and Torx are T30.
I was able to reset the Focus by disconnecting the battery, this one seems to have more error / warning messages so may need specialist to factory reset it once repaired if my basic OBD reader isn't able to.
If I was braver I would dabble with crypto currency instead of salvage cars!
roca1976 said:
That is the funkiest looking washer bottle I've ever seen! 
Presumably it's shaped like that to get your arm through from a removable panel in the wheel arch liner, in order to access/change the bulbs in the lower bumper?
I did a similar salvage job on my fathers car a few years ago. It had been in the family for years, everyone was quite attached to it. One day a deer ran out and he mullered it, the official repair quote was something like £2.5k on a car worth £1.5k tops. In the end I pulled it apart, straightened the bent bits and replaced anything that needed it for £350, using genuine parts. It's still going to this day, very satisfying afterwards!
roca1976 said:
Looking at similar age / spec cars I would probably need to spend £13.5-14.5k
I keep a spreadsheet for costs, the aim including paint will be £8.5k, If I am lucky and score a bumper and bonnet in the right colour it may be slightly less. We will be keeping it however if I was doing it to flip I would probably try £10,999 because of the currently buoyant market.
It doesn't appear to need any special tools (apart from a jack pad with a square section so my trolley jack will lift it!) The bolts are 10mm and Torx are T30.
I was able to reset the Focus by disconnecting the battery, this one seems to have more error / warning messages so may need specialist to factory reset it once repaired if my basic OBD reader isn't able to.
If I was braver I would dabble with crypto currency instead of salvage cars!
That doesn't seem to bad then, especially if you can get lucky with the parts and avoid paint. Keep watching salvage car video's and they make it seem so easy I keep a spreadsheet for costs, the aim including paint will be £8.5k, If I am lucky and score a bumper and bonnet in the right colour it may be slightly less. We will be keeping it however if I was doing it to flip I would probably try £10,999 because of the currently buoyant market.
It doesn't appear to need any special tools (apart from a jack pad with a square section so my trolley jack will lift it!) The bolts are 10mm and Torx are T30.
I was able to reset the Focus by disconnecting the battery, this one seems to have more error / warning messages so may need specialist to factory reset it once repaired if my basic OBD reader isn't able to.
If I was braver I would dabble with crypto currency instead of salvage cars!
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