kap1

I stopped hard at a red light and got hit by the car behind me. I estimate he was going 25-30 when he hit. The cosmetic damage was almost nil. His insurance adjuster inspected and wrote me a check for $1700, said there was some rattling when you tap on the bumper and that the metal bumer guard was probably bent or damaged.

Having just moved to NJ, I have reasonable confidence this will happen again. I would just as soon keep the $$, but is there a safety reason to have it repaired ? I asked the adjuster, he said yes bc the bumper is designed to take a hard hit, if it happens again without repair the damage could be more severe. Is that true ?

Thanks.

Old Dog

I would agree with the adjuster as the safety impact design of your rear bumper has now been compromised.

Better to be safe than sorry .

archiTT

I recently was hit from behind in NJ as well the damage looked cosmetic and the adjuster quoted me 2,000 dollars for repairs using all refurbished or second hand parts...when I took it to my body shop he told me it was going to cost much more and he would replace with all new audi parts, he handled all of this through the other drivers insurance.. he proceeded to tell me that the insurance adjusters always low ball the estimates assuming most people will opt out of having the repairs done (because they think they are minor) and will take the check and buy a new flat screen. Mean while all of the real damage has occured under the car or behind the panels and if you get hit from behind again the damage will be far worse and you may not be covered because they will blame new damage on existing conditions of the car. Plus a few months down the road that rattle is going to drive you crazy. Just my two cents.

Old Dog

...and a very good 2-cents it is sir .

yycools

There is NO WAY that your car sustained no damage with a 25-30mph impact. So you should take it to a body shop for an inspection, the least you should do is looking at the rear wheel wells to see if any screws are missing, inspect the spare wheel well for damage, and under the car for damage.

As for the rattling, you might want to check the lower valance mounting straps. These are the things your lower valance screw onto. The plastic straps have a tendency to break with age, and it's very possible the impact shattered the straps, leaving the broken plastic hitting metal and rattle. The best way to check is to move the lower valance up and down and see if you hear anything, if so, just remove the two screws (T-25) and take the straps off. It's impossible to replace these straps yourself because its bolted to the body with rivets, the valance clips is strong enough to hold it in place.

Bottom line, get it inspected and fix what needs to be fixed.

kap1

Thanks everyone, good advice. There's no rattling when I drive, only if you hit the bumper cover with your hand. archiTT, very good point about possible coverage issues if I don't repair now.

BTW, I love NJ except for taxes and reckless drivers. In this case though, I blame my former home state, Maryland (specifically Montgomery County) and the red light cameras. I know this has been debated to death, but there are studies showing an increase in rear-end accidents when cameras go up and I have been telling my wife for 4 years eventually this would happen to us. In my pre-camera life I would have gone through the late yellow, would have been safe and prudent even if I might have crossed the line right at the red. And no I don't run reds and I take that very seriously, but cameras made it like the Olympics. A tenth of a second separates winners and losers. Well, since MD made me nuts I slammed on the brakes a second bf it went red. Guy behind me should have been stopping regardless, but his car was totaled and this was purely a red light camera accident.

And no there wasn't one at this intersection, but there are some in Newark and I really expect this to happen again.

Anyway, thanks again for all the feedback.

archiTT

I swear it gets nice here you just wouldn't think it with all the snow that has been hanging around this winter and now it isn't even pretty white stuff its grey with road grime and dirt. Do you have a body shop that you can take it to? If you need one let me know I would highly recommend the one I used. Where are you located?

Best of luck.