Got rear ended, I have a question.

[PopeyeFAFL]

I was waiting in an highway entrance (those tight clover leaf shape underpass), the yield was on me, advance a little (to get a better view, since there was a pile on snow obstructed me view), watch again, stop for one last car, then got rear ended by a Jetta (maybe 4 or 5 year old).It make a loud noise & small shock, now strangly enough, there is not apparent damage, no scratch, no crack, no deformation, nothing (on either car), I guess the lady was going less than 5 km/hrs.I just want to know, if both bumpers where pretty much at the same height, deadly parallel to one another, do you think, there will be internal damage (under the bumper) ?Basically my question, is how, is it done, on a Vibe 2005 underneath (foam, small cylinder, ??), what make the absorption capacity ? Will it still function one more time ?Thanks in advance.

[damronjr]

There is a foam piece under the bumper, and I'm willing to bet your support brackets are busted as well. I had a guy roll into me, no apparent damage, drove off and later found out that both the rear support brackets for the rear bumper were busted. No biggie, but you should probably be safe and either take it apart and look at it or take it in and get it checked. Those foam support pieces are frickin' expensive!

[northvibe]

I hope you switched info, damronjr is right. bumpers are supposed to act like that and the inside foam or honey comb material should break, to dampen the impact. This happened to my mom a couple months ago in a parking ramp, her car bumper just had scratches but some of the honey comb was broken when they replaced the bumper, paid by the guy that hit her

[48-remi]

I strongly advise to get it inspected. A co-worker of mine was rear-ended and it looked minor but the bill came in at 3000 $Some years ago, I was rear ended, it looked like no damage. After a couple of weeks, I found my luggage all wet in the trunk...RémiBase Neptune, Power group.

[jimincalif]

It is possible there is no damage. I was rear ended by a Kia Sephia, same situation, while pulling forward slowly to see before turning, probably about the same speed. There were some scratches on my bumper from the license plate screws. I had it repaired at a bodyshop, they removed the bumper to fill and smooth the gouges, they found no damage underneath. Total repair cost was about US$480 including repainting. Good luck.

[JustinVGT]

After having many morons rear end me, I have some experience with having my rear bumper replaced/painted. Like they said, check the mounting brackets right under the bottom lip of the bumper. Also, take a look at the screws along the top under the hatch. Some of mine broke there. I'm not sure how easy it is to inspect the foam, but try to take a look. The shop may have to remove it to get a better look. My last rear ending was minor as your's sounds. At first we didn't see really any damage, but then at the right angle, you could see all the spider webbing in the paint and the broken mounts were found. It came out to around $750 to have it repainted and fixed. Good luck with the repair.

[johnnymac]

Agreed, always exchange info -insurances!. Most soft hit safety parts are designed for ONE HIT,then they have to be replaced in order to provide engineered protection in the event the vehicle is struck again. Good luck,

[PopeyeFAFL]

Just to close the loop on this, I had a chance of seeing my Vibe on a garage lift, I checked the rear bumber, there was no damage (on the piece that deform & absorb the shock).Thanks for your comments.