R50 Mini cooper hit while on holiday

[aust240378]

Hi all,

While on holiday in Cornwall my mum has rung us to let us know her neighbour has hit my wife's mini which has been parked outside my mum's due to some roadworks being done in our street.

The Mini has had damage to the door and part of the wing but it's hard to tell from my mum's photo's how bad it is.

The good news is the woman has admitted liability and is insured the concern I have is that it will write off the car if we go through insurance and I don't think we would have been allowed to be parked outside a house that we don't live at overnight, plus being 350 miles away until Saturday makes it a bit awkward

So advice would be welcome on how to play this as it would either be insurance or we could ask for a cash settlement so we could get a new door/repair done privately?

Car is worth maybe a £1000 on a good day



Thanks

Austin

[Challo]

aust240378 said:

Hi all,

While on holiday in Cornwall my mum has rung us to let us know her neighbour has hit my wife's mini which has been parked outside my mum's due to some roadworks being done in our street.

The Mini has had damage to the door and part of the wing but it's hard to tell from my mum's photo's how bad it is.

The good news is the woman has admitted liability and is insured the concern I have is that it will write off the car if we go through insurance and I don't think we would have been allowed to be parked outside a house that we don't live at overnight, plus being 350 miles away until Saturday makes it a bit awkward

So advice would be welcome on how to play this as it would either be insurance or we could ask for a cash settlement so we could get a new door/repair done privately?

Car is worth maybe a £1000 on a good day



Thanks

Austin

I suspect you will need to wait to see the damage if you want to potentially avoid going through the insurance company. Would you want it repaired or not bothered?

Like you say it would get written off by the insurance company, but you can buy it back if you want.

I wouldn't worry about it not being at your house.

[Krikkit]

aust240378 said:

...the concern I have is that it will write off the car if we go through insurance...

I suspect you're absolutely right, if it needs paint.

aust240378 said:

...and I don't think we would have been allowed to be parked outside a house that we don't live at overnight, plus being 350 miles away until Saturday makes it a bit awkward

I assume you're thinking of that bit on your insurance where they ask "Where is your vehicle usually parked overnight" ? If so forget that, it's an exceptional storage while you're away from home.

[Wacky Racer]

£150 should sort that out easily.

Forget the insurance, see if the person that did it will cough up.

[J4CKO]

Try and get say £250/300 off her, source a door off eBay/breakers in the same colour for about £50 and swap it over, there are no shortage of them, the wing looks like with a bit of TCut it will polish out, or get a wing as well, they arent that hard to change. I would imagine it would take me half a day to change the door and wing, swap the door card, locks, trim etc.

Depends whether you want it perfect, passable or arent bothered and can live with a dent and take the cash for something else as it doesnt look like it affects the operation of the car, its cosmetic.

The insurance will write that off as they would quote for a new door and wing, sprayed and fitted and that will be more than a grand

[bristolbaron]

If you’re both happy to, I’d take their (probable) £250 excess as a cash equivalent and call it a day. It’d be a bit of work sourcing a replacement in the right colour and getting it swapped over, but ultimately the best way to guarantee she gets to keep the car.

[ingenieur]

I would stay away from replacement doors as they never fit as well or look the same colour once replaced. Especially red paint which is the best one for changing colour over time.

Best approach is to have the dent pulled and paint made good.

I'd say that wouldn't have to cost the earth. A reasonable bodyshop could do that for £500... an unreasonable one would charge 1000s... but not necessarily for better work.

[robdcfc]

Wacky Racer said:

£150 should sort that out easily.

Forget the insurance, see if the person that did it will cough up.

Yeah good joke, theres obvious denting and paint damage to repair that would be around £7-800 from the pics

[ingenieur]

robdcfc said:

Wacky Racer said:

£150 should sort that out easily.

Forget the insurance, see if the person that did it will cough up.

Yeah good joke, theres obvious denting and paint damage to repair that would be around £7-800 from the pics

He might be thinking about the 'replacement door' idea... which like I say... not a good one.

[757]

aust240378 said:

Hi all,

Car is worth maybe a £1000 on a good day



Thanks

Austin

Lovely shiner that one! Take the money (if she coughs up), and don't repair it, or do a very minima DIY, once washed and taken black scuff off, will look less worse

Wouldn't be putting any correction money, or repair into a car worth so little - see it as patina and character.

[66HFM]

It may well depend if the car is your wife's pride and joy or if it is just a cheap runaround...
Were you planning on originally keeping it until it was worthless / unviable to keep?
It may also come down to what damage has been done to the drivers car as to whether she wishes to go through insurance or not...
Is the rest of the Mini immaculate as well or as battle scarred?

[Drezza]

I'd do everything possible to avoid insurance getting involved, If the car's only worth a grand I'd ask for £200 and live with it.

[J4CKO]

ingenieur said:

I would stay away from replacement doors as they never fit as well or look the same colour once replaced. Especially red paint which is the best one for changing colour over time.

Best approach is to have the dent pulled and paint made good.

I'd say that wouldn't have to cost the earth. A reasonable bodyshop could do that for £500... an unreasonable one would charge 1000s... but not necessarily for better work.

Yeah, because repainted red doors always match well aged red paint, in all light conditions....

Have changed loads of panels, couple of doors and never really had an issue.

To be honest I would take the money, polish it and maybe try and pull the dent out yourself, wont be perfect but its a car nearing the end of its life, maybe put the £250 towards its replacement ?

Depends how bothered you are, but its not really worth sinking £500 plus into it, could get to an MOT and it needs more than its worth spending on it, nice , suspiciously shiny door and wing get scrapped with the rest.

[Wacky Racer]

robdcfc said:

Wacky Racer said:

£150 should sort that out easily.

Forget the insurance, see if the person that did it will cough up.

Yeah good joke, there's obvious denting and paint damage to repair that would be around £7-800 from the pics

As long as the door opens and closes as it should, plenty of body shops around me would sort that out for well under £200.

It's a small dent ffs!

[anonymous-user]

As a shed driver I would probably try and pull the dent out with one of those glue on/suction pullers and polish out the black scuffs with some T Cut.

The last thing you want to do is go through the insurance, you will to declare this, and pay an increased premium for years.

Hopefully they will offer a couple of hundred pounds for the damage and everyone can just forget about it.

[ingenieur]

J4CKO said:

ingenieur said:

I would stay away from replacement doors as they never fit as well or look the same colour once replaced. Especially red paint which is the best one for changing colour over time.

Best approach is to have the dent pulled and paint made good.

I'd say that wouldn't have to cost the earth. A reasonable bodyshop could do that for £500... an unreasonable one would charge 1000s... but not necessarily for better work.

Yeah, because repainted red doors always match well aged red paint, in all light conditions....

Have changed loads of panels, couple of doors and never really had an issue.

To be honest I would take the money, polish it and maybe try and pull the dent out yourself, wont be perfect but its a car nearing the end of its life, maybe put the £250 towards its replacement ?

Depends how bothered you are, but its not really worth sinking £500 plus into it, could get to an MOT and it needs more than its worth spending on it, nice , suspiciously shiny door and wing get scrapped with the rest.

A good bodyshop will mix their own paint to match the car as it stands. Some people who will attempt bodywork for money will buy their paint from a trade counter and of course if the guy mixing the paint can't see the car he's mixing paint for he can only go by the colour code... which will be the equivalent of the 20 year old original paint.

[J4CKO]

ingenieur said:

J4CKO said:

ingenieur said:

I would stay away from replacement doors as they never fit as well or look the same colour once replaced. Especially red paint which is the best one for changing colour over time.

Best approach is to have the dent pulled and paint made good.

I'd say that wouldn't have to cost the earth. A reasonable bodyshop could do that for £500... an unreasonable one would charge 1000s... but not necessarily for better work.

Yeah, because repainted red doors always match well aged red paint, in all light conditions....

Have changed loads of panels, couple of doors and never really had an issue.

To be honest I would take the money, polish it and maybe try and pull the dent out yourself, wont be perfect but its a car nearing the end of its life, maybe put the £250 towards its replacement ?

Depends how bothered you are, but its not really worth sinking £500 plus into it, could get to an MOT and it needs more than its worth spending on it, nice , suspiciously shiny door and wing get scrapped with the rest.

A good bodyshop will mix their own paint to match the car as it stands. Some people who will attempt bodywork for money will buy their paint from a trade counter and of course if the guy mixing the paint can't see the car he's mixing paint for he can only go by the colour code... which will be the equivalent of the 20 year old original paint.

Its a £1000 old Mini, not a valuable classic, it isnt worth the time, money or effort. To get a decent match, most bodyshops would advocate painting the whole side of the car, or at least blending into the next panel. The minute a pro Body and paint man goes near it, on a car of that value its getting expensive pretty quickly.

[ashenfie]

aust240378 said:

Hi all,

While on holiday in Cornwall my mum has rung us to let us know her neighbour has hit my wife's mini which has been parked outside my mum's due to some roadworks being done in our street.

The Mini has had damage to the door and part of the wing but it's hard to tell from my mum's photo's how bad it is.

The good news is the woman has admitted liability and is insured the concern I have is that it will write off the car if we go through insurance and I don't think we would have been allowed to be parked outside a house that we don't live at overnight, plus being 350 miles away until Saturday makes it a bit awkward

So advice would be welcome on how to play this as it would either be insurance or we could ask for a cash settlement so we could get a new door/repair done privately?

Car is worth maybe a £1000 on a good day



Thanks

Austin

If the car is £1000 and you go via the insurance company then that could be a write-off. Getting it fixed privately might be around £500 for spaying which the neighbour might pay rather than go via the insurance

[carl_w]

ashenfie said:

If the car is £1000 and you go via the insurance company then that could be a write-off. Getting it fixed privately might be around £500 for spaying which the neighbour might pay rather than go via the insurance

Getting the neighbour spayed seems an extreme reaction.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

bristolbaron said:

If you’re both happy to, I’d take their (probable) £250 excess as a cash equivalent and call it a day.

They won't have any excess to pay. This is a third party claim for them.