Just my luck! ... rear bumper

[vanib]

I was taking my daughter to the clinic due to having fever for a whole week. It snowed 3-4 inches today and the roads are slippery.

My 4WD RAV was even "dancing" when it tried to climb a 20 degree incline from a stand still.

Anyway, someone in front of me tries to leave my lane to merge on the right but then comes back in front of me. He slows down while doing this.

I immediately brake. ABS kicks in. The RAV stops a few feet away from the car in front.

2 seconds later ... Boom. I get rear ended by a 2003 Subaru Impreza. The youngster was not able to avoid me. (He could have veered on to the middle "pavement", but I guess that comes with experience, he had a AWD afterall and would have done well in the snow).

My 2 kids were sleeping; they did not even know why I stopped!!!

I was proud of the Rear Bumper LED reflector. The left side is smashed. Rear bumper is obviously gone. Such a small hit but looks at the results. Will have to see what the repair shop quotes. Hopefully there is no damage to the underlying metal. My plastic plate cover is also gone.

Not sure if I will settle through insurance or deal cash. If I settle through insurance, how do I get the repair shop to bill for the rear LED reflector and the plastic plate cover? it is definitely aftermarket items. Will they do the electrical work even if the reflectors did not come OEM with the car?

Also do I need a 4-wheel alignment done?

[whtbaron]

It doesn't take much to break plastic in cold weather so I doubt there's serious damage from what you've shown. Look carefully at door openings and door alignment in the 2 rear doors and the back hatch. If there has been any body movement it will show there, but I don't think you'll find it if you didn't get hit hard enough to potentially get whiplash. You might want to check the 4 wheel alignment for peace of mind, but I doubt this will affect it. As for the claim, I don't have any experience with Ontario insurance companies... we have public insurance in Manitoba, so I can't help you. I had a peice of snow removal equipment tap mine and split the plastic too, so I guess we'll both find out what they are worth.

[Blogson]

That's a huge problem with driving on snow and ice - the other person's failure to exercise due caution! It's good that neither your kids nor you were injured! Don't know about Ontario insurance, but in the U.S. insurance generally covers aftermarket items unless they have been specifically excluded. The body shop will make a list of the items needing repair and replacement and then contact the insurance company for authorisation to repair and replace them. Sometimes aftermarket items aren't covererd because they are expensive and the owner hasn't declared them to the insurance company and paid any additional insurance cost.

[rav4two]

I would not be surprised to find that amount of damage to be over $2000 to fix, maybe greater depending on what they find. Any kind of crinkling of the crush structures and a 2008 Rav might be totaled.

It might sound crazy, but I had a friend with a Lexus who had an SUV back into their hood in a parking lot, low speed collision. The hook was crinkled as the SUV bumper was higher than the Lexus bumper. To look at it, it was maybe a hood, bumper skin, and dealing with a slight misalignment of the headlights.

What it ended up being was a $30k car being declared as a total loss because the crush zones were compromised. From a 5 MPH collision where the Lexus was stationary.

[Freedom55]

What a bummer Vanib! Welcome to the club...I'm getting mine repaired next week and it's covered by my insurance and I will have a courtesy car; I hope they can give me my RAV back in a couple of days. Good luck and keep us posted.

[vanib]

Just got an estimate from the Toyota repair shop ... $1,646.

Rear bumper impact bar needs to be changed.

I will see if the insurance will pay for the licence plate cover and rear LED bumper reflector.

[rav4two]

Wow, $1646! I'm surprised. I expected about twice that amount. I'll have fingers crossed they don't find any damage underneath.

[vanib]

Like I said before, the rear impact bar (behind the bumper needs to be changed). still when you look at the breakdown, it is still a rip-off
e.g. rear bumper protector - $120. You find in for $60 from online dealers.
rear bumper impact bar - $282, online price $125
and the list goes on.

[JuneBug]

What you folks are calling an impact bar is actually the bumper. The plastic part that is visible is called the bumper cover.

[vanib]

I am talking layman term. most people know the plastic cover as the bumper. As usual, Junebug is right