Poled my S!

[Naganalf]

Last night, while getting my Mini ready for today's run I forgot about one of the poles in my parking garage and backed right into it.     I damaged the bumper, tailight and left rear quarterpanel of my poor car.  The wheel well was pushed in so that it just lightly rubs the tire, so it is only fit for limping to a body shop.  Can anyone recommend a good shop, in particular if you know of one in the Mar Vista/Culver City region?  I've never had to deal witha body shop before.  I poked around this site, and Brad mentioned taking his car to Steve's after his accident, but I wasn't clear on what Steve does.

Thanks in advance.

Kev

[Astra]

Steve's is THE Mini repair shop.. he does not do bodywork there.. but his "guy" is excellent and fairly priced..

I feel your pain..

I backed my Mini into the wall of my parking area and damaged the rear bumper..

[ChefKarin]

Yes we took Brad's car to Steve in the valley and he then sent it out to DeSessa's also in the valley for repairs. We are also in the Culver City area and choose to do it this way because Steve and Desessa have a lot of experience with MINI's and therefore we trusted them. The only propblem with going that ruite is that it is very hard to let your tuning mechanic have your car for that long and not add performance parts at the same time. Let me put it this way, the accident caused us to upgrade to the Aero kit with custom paint, Springs, Brake fluid change, bored intake, and clear bra. But after all that we are very happy with the car and are glad we took it somewhere we trust. Steve will do ther mechanical fixes on the car like alignment and DeSessa will do the body work.

[Naganalf]

Steve sounds great!  Do you have an address and phone number?

Thanks

[ChefKarin]

Here you go  
Steve's Auto Clinic
16205 Nordhoff St.
North Hills
(818) 891-6109

[Naganalf]

Dropped my car off at Steve's this morning.  It seems like a really great shop, everyone was very friendly.

You're right about not leaving there without a mod Karin!  I'm finally having a smaller diameter pulley installed, and a new thermostat.  And I've been wanting to get different tailights, now with one of them busted it seems like the opportune time.  I was almost talked into a new exhaust as well!

[ChefKarin]

I am glad you were happy with Steve. I would like to again caution you to be careful with visitations to your car while in the shop. If you have already decided to do several mods on your first visit it becomes ever easier to be talked into more little things while your car is already being worked on. On the other hand it sure is nice to get the car back better than it went in. And rental cars give you an all new appreciation for the MINI.

[twistnshout]

I would like to again caution you to be careful with visitations to your car while in the shop.

Wise words indeed Karin...I'm very happy with everything that Steve has done...see below...no regrets...but mods can become addictive...I am reminded by my husband that I have 3 dogs and 3 cats and I may no longer "browse" at the shelter. At the rate I'm doing "tire rotations," I may also face similar restrictions on "servicing" the MCS.  

[Naganalf]

Tell me about it Karin!  I haven't even gotten to enjoy my upgrades (hopefully will have my car back early next week) and I'm already trying to figure out what I'm going to do next!

My other car is a 4WD truck, it's always weird switching over to driving that!

K

[Naganalf]

Got my S back today!  It looks better than before I smashed it, and the pulley really blows me away.  I did a sunset canyon run on the way home, up  Piuma and down Los Flores, had a great time with the extra ponies under the bonnet.  Steve did a great job.

BTW I spotted an EB S with white bonnet stripes topping Los Flores just as I was turning onto it, was that someone from here?

Kev