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Thread: Minor Impact to Plastic Front Car Bumper

  1. #1
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    Minor Impact to Plastic Front Car Bumper

    Someone backed into me parallel parking. The bike on the back of their car put a tiny dent in my license plate, but nothing shows on the plastic bumper and it's still firmly attached. I would let it go, but I was in the car and the impact shook the car a little.

    Their insurance, not mine will cover it. My body guy says it's probably fine, but to be sure he will have to disassemble and repair as needed. The estimate is for $720.

    I'd like to just take the money and not fix it, but I have a little concern that if I have a major impact the bumper may not absorb it.

    Just think about all the little bumps that happen to parked car bumpers that nobody but the perpetrator knows about. Unless the bumper is cracked or loose, the car would be driven. If a major impact occurs wouldn't the bumper do it's normal job? I may have just answered my own question.

    Anybody experienced with this have ideas?
    "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
    - Henry Ford

  2. #2
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    A lot of the modern vehicles have parts that are intended to bend, crush, etc., to absorb and dissipate energy in an accident. It can be hard to tell what has happened without taking it apart and looking at the parts. If those parts are already bent or crushed, it may not be able to absorb/dissipate as much energy in a collision as it is designed to.

  3. #3
    You can't take money from the insurance company and not have the work done. That's fraud. You can choose not to do anything and not to collect any money from the insurance company, but if they catch you taking money and not doing the repairs, you can be legally liable.

  4. #4
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    My experience is that many insurance companies just issue a check to the owner for minor damage and do not care if you fix or not. I see no liability for fraud if you choose not to repair the damage it is purely your choice.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  5. #5
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    As an ex-supplier quality control person who has covered both fascias and bumpers; it is entirely possible to damage the internal bumper without marking the fascia surrounding it. Although, usually the paint shows that it has been struck. To determine this the fascia needs to be removed and the bumper and its attaching brackets need to be inspected by someone who KNOWS what the original looks like. For instance, the bumper under the fascia for an early Pacifica looks like it has already been in an accident, although the crushed ends are designed that way. Also the bracketry is an essential component of the energy absorbing system that keeps the occupants safe in an accident.
    It is your call whether you wish to check it out, but you should do so.
    Mike
    From the workshop under the staircase, Clinton Township, MI
    Semper Audere!

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    You can't take money from the insurance company and not have the work done. That's fraud. You can choose not to do anything and not to collect any money from the insurance company, but if they catch you taking money and not doing the repairs, you can be legally liable.

    My son worked for Progressive, a large insurance company, for a time. He said, at least with his company, if you own the auto with no liens, you may do whatever you want with the money.


    When you have an accident the car loses value. The insurance company pays you for the lost value.
    You can choose to give the money to a mechanic/body-guy to put that value back into the car, or you can choose to keep the value reparation and live with the less valuable car.


    But, a few things:
    1. If the car is totaled they usually "buy" the car from you as they are not willing to pay to make the car into its previous state. Then obviously you can keep the money and do not have to put it towards a different vehicle.
    2. If, during immediate repair, additional damage is discovered they pay for that, also. If you do not do the repairs, or postpone the repairs, then later additional damage is discovered, they usually do not cover that.
    3. If you do not do the repair and later have another accident it may complicate the claim. (example- an insured chose not to repair damage to the rear quarter panel.. He later had a claim that involved both the rear quarter panel and his rear bumper. The body shop could not repair the bumper without now addressing the quarter panel. But since the quarter panel was already damaged the insurance company would not cover the quarter panel nor the labor associated with aligning the quarter panel to the bumper. The insured had to foot the bill plus the deductible, got almost nothing.)
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew Joiner View Post
    If a major impact occurs wouldn't the bumper do it's normal job? I may have just answered my own question.

    Anybody experienced with this have ideas?

    Near as as I can tell, the only way to tell if it still works would be to have someone you don't care much for drive the car into a wall and see what happens....





    On second thought........

  8. #8
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    If it was a bike rack then I don't think there would be to much damage as the rack would take the brunt of the impact.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Velasquez View Post
    My son worked for Progressive, a large insurance company, for a time. He said, at least with his company, if you own the auto with no liens, you may do whatever you want with the money.
    Not exactly the same thing, but I just had some insurance work to fix damage to the house and the insurer insisted that we agree that they can send their own inspector to check the work if they want, we have to send them pictures of all of the finished work and if we did not use the money for the work intended, we were guilty of fraud and they would use all legal avenues to recover the money.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Henderson View Post
    Not exactly the same thing, but I just had some insurance work to fix damage to the house and the insurer insisted that we agree that they can send their own inspector to check the work if they want, we have to send them pictures of all of the finished work and if we did not use the money for the work intended, we were guilty of fraud and they would use all legal avenues to recover the money.
    A house is a different story if there is a mortgage because there is a liability to the lender for restoring the value of THEIR asset. Same would apply if there is a car loan.
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  11. #11
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    So, you saw the Bike and it's rack after the collision ?

    How damaged was it?

    If minimally, I would sure think your bumper is totally fine.

    NOT a bodyman here, but just look at it logically.

    I'm pretty sure a car bumper can take alottt more force to affect it's components than a bike and rack can.

    Marc
    Last edited by Marc Jeske; 09-02-2017 at 2:54 PM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Marc Jeske View Post
    So, you saw the Bike and it's rack after the collision ?

    How damaged was it?

    If minimally, I would sure think your bumper is totally fine.

    NOT a bodyman here, but just look at it logically.

    I'm pretty sure a car bumper can take alottt more force to affect it's components than a bike and rack can.

    Marc
    Yes, I glanced at the bike rack. It wasn't damaged. There wasn't a bike on it. I would bet the attachment points to their car would be heavily scuffed or dented. Like I said my car shook a little, but the only visible damage is a dent in my license plate 1/16'' deep by 1/2'' diameter.
    "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
    - Henry Ford

  13. #13
    Personally, I think you over reacted, give the other person a break. I don't believe they hit you hard enough to do any damage, especially, if the thing that supposedly did the damage was a bike frame. Put yourself in the other persons shoes, wouldn't you want another person to give you a break for something so simple? It takes a fairly good hit, to do any damage to the crush portions and brackets. And where it was hit was such a small spot, I doubt that there was a bracket in the area. Your license plate took the hit, it is all that would have been damaged.
    Len

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Len Mullin View Post
    Personally, I think you over reacted, give the other person a break. I don't believe they hit you hard enough to do any damage, especially, if the thing that supposedly did the damage was a bike frame. Put yourself in the other persons shoes, wouldn't you want another person to give you a break for something so simple? It takes a fairly good hit, to do any damage to the crush portions and brackets. And where it was hit was such a small spot, I doubt that there was a bracket in the area. Your license plate took the hit, it is all that would have been damaged.
    Len
    It doesn't really work that way Len. The guy that backed into me said "I don't see any damage but that tiny dent in your license plate". I said, I agree, but I'm not a car body expert and my whole car shook from the hit so I'd like to have a body shop look at it. He gave me his insurance info like I would have If I backed into him. Simple as that.

    In my state it's my option to use the $720 to pay a body shop to dig into it, or keep the $720 and accept a possibly degraded front bumper.

    Many of us may be happily driving around in cars that have had the bumpers hit that hard. If we didn't see it and it happened when the car was parked unattended we now know a minor hit can shake the car and create no visible damage.
    "Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
    - Henry Ford

  15. #15
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    You can make amazing repairs to plastic bumpers with a heat gun. I don't know if that's what you need but for future reference. That stuff has a memory. Get the area hot enough and apply pressure from the inside (which might be awkward). At some point it will pop out. I've done it a few times and it wasn't perfect but it changed dents from looking like they needed a repair to not worth the trouble of repairing. You need a heat gun, not a hair dryer. Don't try to melt it but get the area hot.

    I don't see a problem with just taking the money.

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