MINI rear end damage

A friend's MINI got hit in the rear. The damage doesn't seem major but I had a couple questions about it. Could he just take the money and we fix it ourselves (minus the touch of body damage I saw aka the crease below the taillight)? If he can, would it even make sense to and how do you go about finding a matching paint bumper (ebay, other source?)?

Basically I guess my question is where is the best source for replacement body parts and how do you deal with the insurance company?

That's a few thousand dollars worth of damage. You could patch it together if you find a bumper cover used in the correct color.

Ours got hit similar to that years back, it was a couple grand in damage. There was a lot bent that we couldn't see without the car apart.

In reply to mndsm:

Yeah. We were going to pull the rear bumper off tomorrow and take a look. The steel part of the bumper is rubbing up against the rear wheel.

Will pulling the bumper off affect anything with the insurance claim?

In reply to 93EXCivic:

I wouldn't do anything until you've talked with your insurance agent. Some policies will allow you to make repairs yourself, but it's more common that they won't be supportive. They want to make sure that: 1. The car actually gets repaired (i.e., you don't just pocket the cash) 2. The repairs are done to professional standards (think liability here). No offense to your abilities, but they'll trust a shop over an individual.

--Carl

you can look on car-part.com the will list bumpers from all over and see if you can locate one in the correct color. I did this for a mirror for my old Saab 9-5.

In theory, pulling the bumper cover off would allow the adjuster to view the damage better. In theory.

My hunch, though, is the attachment points for the bumper (the square aluminum piece visible through the damage) as well as the bumper cover have been tweaked, so it'll probably need some frame rack time to get pulled straight again.

The rear control arms are designed to be sacrificial and bend easily, so check those for damage if the rear wheel was touched. Fortunately, they're pretty cheap and easy to replace.

Try NorthAmericanMotoring.com for the bumper cover, but R53 bits are getting harder to come by. You need an R53 cover. The R50 and R52 covers are different. All of the black plastic trim (not part of the cover) is available from Pelican if needed and isn't horribly expensive. Since it's '05/06 car (going by the tail light design), the color is Hyper Blue.

Ian F wrote: In theory, pulling the bumper cover off would allow the adjuster to view the damage better. In theory. My hunch, though, is the attachment points for the bumper (the square aluminum piece visible through the damage) as well as the bumper cover have been tweaked, so it'll probably need some frame rack time to get pulled straight again. The rear control arms are designed to be sacrificial and bend easily, so check those for damage if the rear wheel was touched. Fortunately, they're pretty cheap and easy to replace. Try NorthAmericanMotoring.com for the bumper cover, but R53 bits are getting harder to come by. You need an R53 cover. The R50 and R52 covers are different. All of the black plastic trim (not part of the cover) is available from Pelican if needed and isn't horribly expensive. Since it's '05/06 car (going by the tail light design), the color is Hyper Blue.

This is why I started hoarding up parts a while ago- I knew the R53 was different. Got my last bumper cover for 60$.

In reply to Carl Heideman:

That is kind what I was wondering.

If it was possible, we were thinking about getting a body shop to quote just the full repair versus just fixing the sheet metal and us doing things like replacing the bumper cover, taillight and trim piece.

Is there a loan on the car? Because if there is, you aren't going to be able to fix it yourself. Insurance will make the check out to the owner and the shop, or the owner and the bank, and the bank won't be interested in just giving you the money when they've got a damaged asset out there.

I don't recommend you do it anyway...body damage isn't like replacing an engine. There's lots of stuff you may miss and it winds up being a cluster. These things usually don't go anywhere as smoothly as you think they will.

In reply to ddavidv:

No loan on the car.

This is kinda in the "If you gotta ask, you can't or at leat shouldnt" category.

That said, the bumper re-enforcment is $132 from JC whitney and there are a few places that specialize in selling pre-painted bumper covers for reasonable money. If going that route, I would leave the bit under the tailight alone and just make sure the suspension is OK

Since there isn't a loan on the car, the insurance company doesn't care if you fix the car yourself. The appraiser will write the estimate and write a check. What you then do with the cash is your business. The only thing you can't do is then go to a body shop if you mess up repairs and ask the insurance company to pay to fix it again. From insurance perspective, it's your car...fix it, don't fix it, it's up to you.

But I'm betting there's more damage behind that cover. If you pull the cover off, insurance won't care...it's ruined anyway. Just take a few pictures after you pull it off.