TomF

I was at a Home Depot parking lot last night. To make a somewhat longer story short, I was walking away from my car after parking, looked back, and noticed a car backing-up across the parking lot. It was clear he was going to hit my car, and he did. I'm guessing he was going 10 mph... only visible damage are two slight scuffs on the bumper and the left side of the bumper is pushed in about 1/8 in. I was actually surprised there wasn't more damage based on the noise and speed of the other car. If I recall correctly, A4 bumpers are still 5 mph rated... I think they worked well.

By the way, the guy just sped off... got his plate number, police is now trying to track him down. Police thinks it may have been intentional.

Anyone know if I should look for any 'internal', underside damage specifically? I will take it in.

Tom
1.8TQMS Silver/Ecru

A. Udi

Trucks take out both of your headlights, bend the hood and fenders. They don't even need to be doing 10 mph, if they as much as touch your A4 the damage is $1,000+. I am surprised that insurance companies don't charge 3 times as much to insure trucks.

Only a good body shop can check for frame damage, good thing you got his license number. Hope everything's OK.

TomF

... it was a old Honda Accord - bumpers met up nicely.

Brian

Why would the police think it was intentional?

DaveN

and Audi has put in some nice sensors for how far the bumper got pushed in. The bumper is on these spring/plunger assemblies, and moves when it is hit. On the bumper mounts are a plastic cylinder that gets crushed as the bumper moves in. By looking at how much of the cylinder is not crushed you can see how much movement was still left. If they are not crushed all the way then you are likely fine. If they are you should get it looked at. You can see them just by looking up under the bumper with a flashlight.

Zsolt

I backed up into a concrete pole when my car was 1 week old (go figure, did not do anything silly in years, new car, baptised it quick). My bumpers were pushed in too. Easy to fix: lift trunk liner, there are 4 big bolts. Loosen, realign bumper and tighten. Little bit of misalignment may remain as the bumper cover may have slid on the bumper.

TomF

A couple of reasons...

-I saw this same car crossing the parking lot (without lights on) when I was pulling in. I didn't cut him off, but he did have to stop to let me go by. I park, walk 20 feet, and then I see the same car backing up from one side of the parking aisle (as if he's parked) to my side without slowing down. The driver of that other car clearly was not parking to go shopping.
-Also, the policeman said that he talked to someone else in the store that had seen this same car 'roaming' around the parking lot.

Tom
1.8TQMS Silver/Ecru

TomF

thanks for the suggestions...

Raoul

Check that the bumper absorbers are not 'oozing' oil. This is an indication that they have expired.

Brad Bilut

Let us know what happens! I hope they bust his ***!!