crash accident - rear-ended in my prime yesterday

It's uncommon for dealerships to do bodywork. OTOH, ask them for a recommendation; they may have a preferred shop. It looks like a pretty gentle tap, anyway.

What sticks out the furthest, the back of the hatch? So much for "bumpers"...

Kind of unusual to be in a collision with a cop, lol. I'd like to be a fly-on-the-wall when he (she) wrote that one up, lol.

Maybe repost those pics with the license plate wiped out?

 

does your insurance company have a preferred shop? Mine got hit in the right rear and it took 2 months for parts to come in from Japan (I was told they had to take a panel off the assembly line). It looks like you also had some damage to the lift gate itself and not just the glass. hopefully it's none of the carbon fiber work. I was told that a replacement liftgate is $15K. You need a new bumper too (looks like that's cracked). Replacing that is apparently a PITA (mine had to be replaced) as all the sensors have to come out, clips be replaced, etc. then you have paint shop on the new pieces. If I had to guess it's probably a $10K job at least even without replacing the liftgate.

I doubt that you're batteries are involved.

 

$10K for a love-tap like that? I hope you're not right, that's nuts.

Remind me again why they're still called bumpers, lol.

 

bummer! was the cop texting?
looks like you should be fine, but you'll want them to unbutton everything in the back for a thorough check.
can't tell if the hatch needs to be replaced, but that's the domain of the body shop.
as mentioned above, start with your insurance co.
all the best!

 

That carbon fiber seems pretty strong!

 

If you have one, contact your local insurance agent (not the company). He/she may have some good feedback from his/her other clients. So sad -- my sympathies go out to you. In Washington, I still end up working with my insurance company even though someone else is liable and will eventually pay for the damage.

 

I appreciate this is way off-topic, will shut up hereafter, but just to get it off my chest: this is an 81 Accord, with hydraulic-mounted, substantial bumpers faced with black rubber:



I wonder what the repair bill would be for a similar impact? Maybe zero?

 

sounds like the cow pusher hit him on high. i had the same thing with a monster suv and my gen 2, their bumper went right into my hatch.

 

Carbon fiber is remarkably resilient when designed well - there's a story (if I recall correctly) about how McLaren used the same carbon tub in multiple crash tests of the old F1.

OP:
A&L in Palatine is a popular local shop with the car enthusiasts in the area. They do good work from what I've seen (they do a lot of sports cars and BMWs), though that reputation means that they often have a multi-week long work queue.

The one place I would avoid is Richard's Body Shop in Chicago.

I've heard some stories about body shop referrals from insurance companies being a fairly negative experience since the insurance is primarily interested in minimizing claim amounts (and not a good job).

Good luck.

 

What sucks, is even if everything is repaired completely to your satisfaction, there is still a car fax report on it that will affect resale value at trade in time.

 

the red cover on the back of the hatch at least is a loss. that will have to be replaced. but look closely at the bumper where it meets the right bottom portion of the hatch. It looks like there's a nice crack there so the bumper will need to be replaced (which means removing and reinstalling all the sensors and all the clips that hold them on (there's 6 sensors there). that's a fair amount of assembly/disassembly as well as parts and paint shop. They might be able to fix the crack in the bumper, but it will still need to come off to do so.

 

So did the cop do the accident report?

 

Back in those days Consumer Reports tested the bumpers and also reported on the cost to repair any damage from the test. That testing and cost affected their rating of the car.