I was just in a hit & run accident last week from someone running a stop sign. My stock rear bumper is smashed in & scraped up pretty good on the passenger side near the gas door where I was it. My front bumper also was lightly damaged when I came to rest by hitting a fence. It was creased in right in front of the driver side foglight opening at the bottom of the bumper & its a little scraped up.
My car was towed to a dealership to get worked on, and the body shop guy was telling me that since the bumpers are this "new soft plastic, not the hard plastic like they use on KIA's", they can reform and reshape them so they don't have to be replaced. I thought that was kinda BS because won't they be weak in the areas where they were creased? I talked to a local body shop, and they said that they wouldn't try to reuse the bumpers & I would get completely new ones. I would much rather do this because I'd like to get aftermarket bumpers.
So does anyone know how much damage a stock plastic bumper needs to have in order for you get to a new bumper from the insurance company? By the way, I have a '99 Z front with a 2002 LS Sport rear.
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sounds like
Don't let them get away with just fixing up the old bumpers!!! Make your freakin insurance company pay to have it done right! You can probably just take it somewhere else if they refuse to use NEW bumpers.
2004 Cavalier
13.2@105........
Mods...
BFG Drag Radials
Saab Turbo kit
2.5 exhaust, w/cutout
Spec Stage 2+ Clutch
Depends on what coverage you have and how much work it takes to fix as apposed to replacing. They may also opt for used parts. It all depends on your coverage. They can reform the bumpers and fix them, that's not a problem. It will not be any weaker than it was before if it is fixed properly. Your bumper does not stop anything. It is what is under it that does all the work. Besides 5mph hits the bumper is just covering on the car.
Usually if the bumper is gonna take a lot of time to fix in wich the total hours on bumper would surpasse the value of a new bumper, then you get a new one. (Or used) You can always say you want new and not used. It is your car and you are entitled to do whatever you want to it. The only thing is that you would pay the extra for the bumper.
Here are a few pictures of the bumpers. The front bumper doesn't look bad at all in the picture because they already popped the dents out of it. In person though, there is still a crease there because that area hit a pole on a chain link fence. I'm guessing that they probably won't be getting me new bumpers.
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damn man. that sux. did you at least try to chase them? i hear about this all the time on the morning commute, but i have never seen it happen. if anyone hit me, i would chase them to china. well good to know your ok. the way i see it, you can get a kit now and your insurance could pay for it. if thats what you want. everyone would be saving money.
ive never been in an accident, so i have no idea if that would work or not. just a thought. good luck.
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I would've went after them if I could have, but my car wasn't driveable. Plus, they didn't even slow down & just kept right on going after they hit me. I was driving on a main road, and they came off a side road where they had a stop sign that they didn't even slow down for. They hit my passenger rear quarter panel which sent me sliding sideways into a curb, jumped the curb(which popped my driver side front tire, down into a grass ditch, back up the ditch, and I came to rest up against a metal chain link fence. There was a witness behind me, but they didn't get the license plate number........me & the witness both saw what color & type of vehicle it was but that isn't doing me any good though.
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well by lookin at the pic`s they can be fixed, those are not beyond the replacing point
coming from a commision body tech i would rather repair the bumper instead of replacing it , in your case because they are not that damaged
a bumper repaired properly will last the life time of the vehicle and in some cases another collision
it is your choice if you want new bumpers just bitch and moan to the insurance company
allstate statefarm will most likely repair
the bumper has to be crushed and beyond the point of repair for any insurance company to replace
can i haz bondo
