Got Rear Ended

[smart-er]

While sitting at the corner of Kuykendall Road and Providence tonight waiting for the light I got hit from behind by a BMW 530i. The sound was huge and the car was pushed into the intersection. But the only damage I can see is that I lost the plug/cover to my tow hook, and there are two small nicks in the plastic bumper cover. The car drives fine and from what I can see underneath there is no bent metal at all.

If it turns out that is all there is in damage then the Smart held up remarkably well to a much larger car.

I am going to drop it off tomorrow at the dealer and let them take a look.

[NCC1701]

Good to hear nobody was hurt, and your smart came out apparently so well. Sounds like you got hit pretty hard to have such light damage, speaks well for the smart. Did the BMW fair as well?

[flywithsean]

Maybe there should be a "Wrecked smart" section in the forums.

Good thing no one else was coming through the intersection!!

[smart-er]

The BMW had no visible damage and the driver was very polite and apologetic. I told him that if he wants to cover the damage out of pocket I wont notify his insurance company. Not sure what that one bumper cover costs, but I doubt its much more than the deductible.

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by flywithsean

Good thing no one else was coming through the intersection!!

Seriously! There was a fatality here a few years ago when a woman stopped at a light was shoved into an intersection and then T-Boned by a second car. This, in a 35 MPH zone. That's why it's so good to hear THIS accident turned out to be minor.

[smart-er]

Well I can say that the seat stopped any whiplash. My head was on the backrest and I just pushed into the seat on impact.. I think if I had a seat with a low back and just a headrest it could have been bad.. My son was leaning forward in his seat at the time texting on his phone, and he was knocked back, but he says he is fine. (he plays lacrosse, I think he is used to getting knocked around).

[Arch]

Originally Posted by smart-er

While sitting at the corner of Kuykendall Road and Providence tonight waiting for the light I got hit from behind by a BMW 530i. The sound was huge and the car was pushed into the intersection. But the only damage I can see is that I lost the plug/cover to my tow hook, and there are two small nicks in the plastic bumper cover. The car drives fine and from what I can see underneath there is no bent metal at all...

Yep, they take a hit from the rear pretty well. There's a sacrificial steel bumper that very well could have been pushed in a bit, but it's sometimes hard to tell on first look. Here's a cut & paste and a couple of pics from a reply I tossed up in another rear-ender thread...

...car does indeed have a real "bumper" underneath the decorative plastic. Its mounts are collapsible and sacrificial. In other words, once pushed in, it needs replacing so that things can work as designed should you ever get rear ended again.

During the 2007 Road Show we had one rear ended pretty hard and everything worked as intended. The bumper absorbed the impact and was pushed in, but no contact was made even with the muffler. It was an amazingly good outcome and the consumer who was test driving the car was actually quite excited about it all. What a great guy.

I digress. Anyway, have a look under your car at the solid bumper and its mounts. Here's a look at how the one (that did its job) looked after being solidly hit from behind...


Notice how it's just pushed in a bit towards the muffler.

Even the plastic survived well...


Anyway, glad it wasn't worse and best of luck with what turns up under there. Hopefully nothing, but again, even the bumper's a cinch to fix. If it shows any damage at all, get it replaced.

Cheers,
Arch

[smart-er]

I went and took a look at the mounts, and I did find that the left one was slightly bent in on top. So instead of being a perfect box shape with a flat top, it kind of bows in on top by about 1/2 inch. So it looks like one bumper cover and bumper mount. At least it wont come out of my pocket.

[SmartPassion]

Looks like you and the smart held up well. I would ask the car be measured on a frame machine nevertheless.

[smart-er]

I got the estimate from the dealer. Only $468. It needs a bumper cover, some clips and one sacrificial mount. I would say the car did fantastic for such a hard hit.