Whilst waiting to pick my children up from school one day, I was sat in the MINI, parked, and suddenly I see a car coming around the corner and as it gets closer I'm thinking, "they're going to hit me." And sure enough they do. The MINI jolts forward and stops before bumping into the parked car in front of me. Good handbrake!
I check to make sure my passenger is ok, before jumping out and giving the old lady a piece of my mind. Worst thing of all, she was driving a Mobility MINI Countryman! After I'd calmed down, I took her details and gave her mine and took some photos of the damage.
When you look at the damage compared to the actual impact, I was surprised by how little damage there was - barely a scuff, but the car moved almost 12 inches forward!
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| Hardly a scratch despite being hit quite hard and jolted forward. |
The next day I received a phonecall from her insurance accepting full liability and offering to cover the cost of any repairs - I had to get three quotes. Fair enough I thought. With hardly any damage I could claim for a new bumper and treat the MINI to something else.
Then they started asking how injured I was in the crash and how much it hurt out of 10. I wasn't injured, so I said about a 2 out of 10, and then they offered me some injury compensation too which was more than the cost of the bumper! Wow, I thought. You can see now why people fake crashes for cash!!
Following that, I set about getting some bumper prices. I visited a few local garages for quotes before heading to my local MINI dealership in Colne. A guy came out of the bodyshop and had a look a the scuff and gave me a figure. When I asked them for a written quote to show the insurance company they wanted to charge me £45. Yes, £45 just for a quote... Stunned wasn't the word. So I went home and phoned up the MINI parts department and got a bumper price from them instead - a healthy £698.08 inc vat!
Elsewhere, I had received a quote from a local garage to repair the current bumper for £362, or replace and respray a new one for £595. Still £100 cheaper than buying a new bumper from MINI.
After the money came through I got the bumper repaired, although I did consider buying a complete Aero kit, but I'm teetering on the opinion that I don't like them, but at the same time there isn't much better out there. I like the side skirts and the rear is ok, but I'm just not sure about the front bumper, especially without the inserts. It looks weird. So I stuck with what I had. (I did treat the kids to a holiday though!).
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