Opinions on what to do with my wifes MINI (accident)
 

Well a few days ago while me and my wife were sleeping, a girl decided to ram her car into my wifes MINI, my Ford Ranger, AND our house. Though the house's only damage was some dented siding, and the bed of my tuck is what got pushed in, the most damage was done to my wifes MINI. Geico just came out and assessed the car totaled, missing by a few hundred dollars to be repaired ($10,500) and to buy back is 8,000!!. Do I have the option of taking it to a repair shop to get a second opinion to see if it's less then they estimate?

Yes, please do! Geico and all the other big insurance companies can **** themselves. That buyback price is insane, there is no way that is correct. Go to a few different shops and have estimates done. They will then do the dirty work with the insurance companies. They may write it close to the totaled threshold to get the repair work started, then submit for a supplement to finish the repair. Nothing you have to worry about, adjusters are just trying to go the most cost affective way for their company and in no way give a rat's ass about you and your life.

8k$ buy back?! wow

Adam is 100% correct

I thought so, for a car that's total, and yet the buy back price is that of a same model with higher mileage that is in perfect working order, hell there is even John Cooper Work editions at that price! Not only that but he didn't list a few options the car did have, and he wasn't all that thrilled when I brought out receipts of recent work performed on it.

I'm going to take it to a few shops then, cause I'm not an adjuster but even I felt I was getting ripped off.

My question is, why would you want it fixed if it has that much damage?

I don't care about the resale, it's my wife's "baby" her first car.

We right now have a Chevy Sonic LTZ for a rental, and she hates it, it feels like your steering the car with sticks and rocks. She loves her car, and wants nothing else except another MINI Cooper, but we don't have 25K to shell out ( But I believe I'll be persuing legal action as well because there is a lot more to the accident story I decided to keep out.)

I'd be worried that it would never be "right".

In my opinion,

Have it checked out, but be prepared to let it go.

If it's mashed sheet metal like a quarter panel and that's some of the expense, that's one thing. If there's anything structural, let it go. I would not trust a loved one in a car that needed an assload of repair work.

Fight for a few more dollars and let it go. You dont want a car back that has had that much dammage. I guess the only exception would be if it was all sheetmetal dammage.

If the shop doing the repair work has the proper equipment and training, I don't see why you couldn't repair most anything? :shrug: It just comes to a point of being cost effective for you to repair or replace the car. The fact that its european also ups the pricing quite a bit. I'm sure they wrote for as many aftermarket parts as they could but you can demand OEM. You are going through the person who hit you's insurance, not yours, correct?

i know of a really great body shop right by me not sure where you are but he will make sure the car is 100%

Yes were going through them. Got the police report back btw, the driver is 17, and only has had her driver's permit for less then 4 months :bertstare:

So I just jacked up the car to take a look underneath to see how bad it is.....and it isn't. I see no frame damage, what happened is MINI's famously weak control arms bent in a Z-shape, making it have camber I wish I could have when auto crossing lol. Other then a new sway bar, sway bar link and upper control arm, I see no damage underneath, and if there is, it's very minimal, it's all cosmetic. I felt it wasn't that bad when I was able to close the door without it binding/crooked, and no broken glass. I think I have some calls to make tomorrow.....this one's not going anywhere.

Since they tried to f you, make sure you f them :D

How are you going to force an insurance company to fix a car that they want to total? On top of that, if they got an estimate using aftermarket parts, and you force them to use OEM, the cost to repair just went up even more.

So long as he doesn't have a policy with Geico, they can't tell him what to do with his car. Their policy holder did the damage and the owner has every right to have his car 100% the way it was before the accident. This is why your rates go up when you cause an accident or your carrier drops your policy, you just cost them money.

Yeah thas the key. Although I have to say if my car got totalled i would be a little upset but happy I didn't have to pay for it anymore.

What insurance companies are we talking about? Are you doing it through yours or thiers?

I understand that it wasnt his fault. However, if totaling the car is cheaper for the insurance company, how do you force them to fix it instead of totaling the car?

If this girl had ripped his Mini in half, you couldnt force the insurance company to spend 50k to weld it back together.

The entire issue is that he believes that the estimate was over blown. Which is why the first reply is to take it to a certified but unaffilliated body shop for a second opinion.

If the car was "ripped in half" there probably wouldn't even be a thread.

Jeff, can you post pics?

Right, maybe I don't have a full grasp on the inner workings but in this situation it sounds like the vehicle should be repaired and that buy back price doesn't make sense. Hence the company trying to stick it to him when he should do the same in return.

I'd want the back half if that was the case..for the 'man cave'

Here's some pics and a update. We called Geico and found out that they will only settle 10K max for both vehicles, AND the rental car is taking money out of that 10K, that's what the guy had on his plan, so whether you own a K car, or a Bugatti Veyron that was totaled, they will only pay out 10K!!!! How is this legal? So we called State Farm, and they are going to take it from here. I have to pay the $500 deductable, but at this time I don't give a rats ass. I have another adjuster coming out from State Farm to give a more "fair" adjustment, and will persue to have the vehicle fixed if it is found not to have frame damage, and they will go after Geico for everything...so sometimes it pays to pay a little more for insurance, instead of going with some green lizards words on tv.

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps9d46042b.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps6ca672e7.jpg

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http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps713c421d.jpg

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http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps065bc34c.jpg

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps7cc52db0.jpg

1.) Based on the pics, I'd say this can be fixed

2.) This proves a previous point. You cannot comment on how good an insurance company is until you process a claim. Cheap monthly rates and cute advertisements do not matter if you get chump change when you actually need their services.