FirstSpin

I keep telling myself it COULD have been a LOT worse....but here I am in Thursday afternoon traffic, rolling at about 3 miles an hour and a guy in a TRUCK (of all things) smashes into a Honda that's between me and him and sends the Honda forward, banging into my bumper.

Only one point of contact (based on what's visible) and it left an inch-long vertical dent near the center of the black "rubber" portion of the bumper. Police report filed. The guy has insurance, so I should be fine.

Question. Other than the obvious (damage to bumper and the bumper-support structure) is there something that I need the body-guys to be sure and look for? My Mazda dealer doesn't DO body. They referred me to a Chevy dealer near them. I want to know what I need to look for and most importantly what THEY need to look for. I'm assuming they've probably never seen an 8. To be more specific, I'm thinking things like crumple-zones and designed stress-fail points. I want to make sure not of them gave way or were otherwise compromised.

Any help, suggestions, references will be appreciated.

By the way, to the EYE, the 8 did remarkably well in the collision. In part because I had my foot on the gas rather than the brake but hopefully in part due to the quality of construction. We'll see.....

cgrx

I would opt to have the whole bumper replaced.

Meowloud

Similar thing happened to me in a different car, and from the rear. The body shop was more than happy to explain to their insurance company that the entire bumper needed replaced (they make more money). BUT the body shop was so nice to give me my old bumper back, with the dent popped out of the plastic! It has a VERY slight lump, but I kept it. I always thought if I backed into something, this would be nice to replace it with since you REALLY had to look to see the disturbance in the paint. :D

FirstSpin

Almost a cross-post - thought I should edit to explain that the reply below is to the member in the post immediately following the original one who suggested that I opt for a new bumper. (end of edit.)

Yep, that's pretty much a given but I appreciate the comment. I was wondering (perhaps a bit paranoid here) if there were other things (connected to the bumper or other elements of the crash-shock-absorbing system) that I might clue into. For example years ago I was rear-ended in a Corsica. The bumper was obviously screwed up. About a month later I noticed two dents, one on either side of the roof, immediately above the mid-body door post (probably has a better name that that) - anyway two dents like someone had popped the roof with a ball-pean hammer. The dents were placed symmetrically and were identical. A body shop guy later told me that these were spots that were designed to fail in a moderate or better impact situation. I'd already taken the check for the bumper by the time I saw these dents (not sure if I missed them or if they took time to show up). Anyway, stuff like that is in part what I'm worried about.

Thanks again for the comment and yep, I'm going for the new bumper (or the cash equivalent and the purchase of an after-market bumper). I need to shop to make up my mind....

Haze

Yeah, that's about it. A good body shop will check for rippling on the quarter panles sort of in-line with the bumper height, roof, and for straight door seams to make sure that the body of the car hasn't been contorted.

I got rear ended on the highway about four months ago in the eight. However the guy who hit me only clipped the corner of the bumper taking out the bumper, but not the mechanical supports inside, and some plastic in the wheel well. The body guy is a pretty good friend of mine, and we went over the car together. He checked all those places including and especially the quarter panels saying that he thought that that was the place he would see eidence of structural damage is there were any. I really know nothing about this myself, but he's been doing it for about thirty years. Anyway, when I got the car back, he said that there was no structural damage at all, and I haven't noticed anything since. The car seems petty structurally solid, and he felt that the bumper system wa well built, so you know, good. Just get the body shop to check it over and look for rippling on the quarter panels and roof, straight door seams, and if all is good there, then I understand that it should be alright, although floor pans should probably also be checked. Best of luck and sorry about the accident. It's horrible getting hit in a new car. I sure know that.

FirstSpin

thanks haze, exactly what i was looking for

MyRxBad

iTrader: (1)

If your car was in gear and in motion make sure that the body shop tells the adjuster, as is is possible that as there is drivetrain damage. Maybe not in your case, but defineately worth them to look into.