JAckyWhite

hi all.

I need some advice here.

I bought a mini on a cat D. I was aware of it.

However, on close inspection (post purchase) its been found that the Cat D repair included the weld of some new mini front section rather than (I'm told) replacing front structural/chassis legs.

My question is, I know its not going to be AS safe as original, but can anybody tell me just how UNsafe it is [in the event of an accident]? I'm guessing a head on/rear ender collision won't be nice but then which are? But for all other types of front-endish collisions will it save me?

It has passed several years' of MOT's since. Surely, it couldn't be that bad to pass MOT's..?

thanks in advance..

J

Hammie82

iTrader: (1)

If your worried, take it to an engineer or body shop of your choice and get it looked at by a pro

Without knowing the level of damage the car sustained and without seeing the car in person any answer here would merely be "guess work"

Was the mot's it passed all in the same place?

Professional help required in this case

JAckyWhite

It was my local bodyshop/engineer who had it up and underneath and who confirmed the front end had been replaced with some mini front section.

The MOTs did not pass in the same place.

thanks.

scoobychris300

+1

Chesters WRX

No expert in this area, but have welded a few chassis' on older cars in the past.

As i understand it, the crumple zone on newer cars is designed to crumple in a specific order to reduce the force of the impact as best as possible by "slowing" the impact force..much like an airbag "slows" your forward momentum down in an impact.

If you introduce weak points in the chassis legs (read as crumple zone) i.e where a section of chassis leg has been welded inbetween crumple points the weld can act as a weak point which "breaks" before it should do.
Not ideal.

Think of it as carefully standing dead centre on an empty coke can whilst someone passes you weights until the can crushes, it will compact straight down if you're stood perfectly balanced.
Then do the same with a can with a slit (a weak point) cut into one side of it, the can will compact quicker on the side with the weak point.


Bit of a crap explanation & doesn't really help answer youre question..but it will very much depend on the part that has been welded and how skilled the welder was.

This vid may interest you, a crash test carried out by 5th gear on a focus with a repaired chasiss:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjxM9chAe1k

Sorry if it doesn't work (i'm blind posting a link from work - with no access to youtube)

Edit - Please don't bother flaming us for the use of "slow" down & "force" I'm just putting it in simple non physics terms.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

How long is a piece of string? Nobody here can tell you if this repair is ok or not. You can replace and repair structrual components, but how its done and where its done and to what extent is totally individual on each car depending on the damage and what needs to be done to correct it.

HOWEVER....if it was proper structural chassis damage, it should have been classified as a Cat C not a cat D.

But this wouldn't suprise me though as generally speaking whilst that is the way it "should be", but in practice many insurers incorrectly classify a written off car with extensive chassis damage as Cat D, as they get more money for it in a salvage auction....This is the sad farce that is our insurance industry.

CrisPDuk

Is it a proper mini or a BMW? If it's the former crumple, zones are not exactly relevant. If it's the latter, depending on exactly how much car has been transplanted, the crumple zones will still function as intended.

Bear in mind that all cars were originally welded together from a set of individual panels anyway, so if it's two parts which have been joined together along original factory seams, there will likely be hardly any difference. In fact it will probably be better than if it had been rebuilt from a collection of panels as most of the welds will still be original.

My old Sierra XR4x4 was cut and shut, twice, and ran perfectly well for years after, until the tin worm finally ate it