Technical Hidden accident damage from low-speed rear-end collision?

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Technical Hidden accident damage from low-speed rear-end collision?

44sunsets

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My TwinAir 500C got rear-ended by someone. With Australia's terribad drivers, it was inevitable.

It was a 3 car collision where a Toyota (Camry?) sedan creeped forward when the lights were still red at the intersection, and hit the Toyota Echo behind me, who then shunted into me at low speed -- presumably the Echo driver hadn't been applying the brakes very hard.

Video here:


(Audio is relatively loud/clear because I had the fabric roof open)
Not shown: me cursing after the hit :bang:

It was a low speed collision but I felt a hefty jolt. We got out and exchanged license and rego details, and from external inspection none of our bumpers were damaged or even scratched (as far as we could see).

The next day, I looked over my rear bumper and still couldn't see any problems. I looked underneath the car, everything seemed fine and in place, nothing broken or dented. As far as I could tell, the Toyota Echo had contacted my bumper where the wide horizontal silver chrome strip is.
Tail pipe wasn't loose or anything. I tested all of my lights, indicators, rear boot hatch opening/closing, rego plate light, boot interior light, reversing sensors, roof mechanism etc, and all is working normally. The car still drives and feels the same.

I have a couple of questions for those who are more familiar with the 500's bumper and internal workings:

1. I'm wondering if it's still worth lodging a claim with the insurance company to get the rear bumper checked for structural damage? Do you think this kind of low-speed bump would warrant that? I hear that cars now have crumple zones and things like that which may take damage in a collision even though outwardly everything looks fine.

I don't know a lot about cars, but I'm wondering if potential problems could develop in future. At the same time, I'm loath to start anything with the insurance if it's not going to end up amounting to anything. I almost wish the collision had been more forceful and left visible damage so I didn't have to dither about this :/
I asked my insurance company and they said they don't keep a record of accidents if you don't lodge a claim with them. They said there is no time limit for when you need to lodge a claim after an accident. I asked if they could simply make a note on my account that I got rear-ended with all the details and they said nope, you have to lodge a claim in order for all of that to happen.

2. Is there anything else specific that I can check myself? I've done all the usual visual checks I can think of.

Your thoughts/advice are much appreciated.
 
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Would guess the third driver looked at the wrong set of lights and the one behind you may not have applied the hand brake?
Didn't look too heavy, does the bumper still line up, perfectly? most cars can shrug off a 5mph bump just the polystyrene behind the bumper maybe squashed, key is to look up underneath behind the bumper and in the boot would advise against removing the bumper until you decide what you're doing.
 
Well there are two ways of looking at this,
1/ It was aminor collision and unlikely to have caused damage
2/ It clearly was the other partys fault (you have video evidence) so report it, take it to an authorised repairer and get it checked.

There are two things affecting the decision,
a/ Most insurers require that you declare an accident regardless of making a claim.
b/ there is hassle and possible increased premiums if you claim.

I would suggest that as you have put evidence of the accident on here and on youtube and because of a/ above you should put in a claim or at least tell your insurer.

Robert G8RPI.
 
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Would guess the third driver looked at the wrong set of lights and the one behind you may not have applied the hand brake?

The Camry driver actually said he got distracted because saw a pretty girl smiling at him. I kid you not. Maybe he was looking at his phone or something, who knows. A pity the Echo didn't have a rear-facing camera!

Didn't look too heavy, does the bumper still line up, perfectly?

Yep bumper still looks perfect to my eyes. Looked underneath the car where the bumper is and everything is intact and not misaligned. Looked in the boot underneath the felt lining and all looks normal.
I don't think I'd trust myself not to screw things up if I tried to take the bumper off myself, especially with the reverse parking sensors etc.

Well there are two ways of looking at this,
1/ It was aminor collision and unlikely to have caused damage

At the moment I'm leaning towards this, since everything with my car seems normal.

or at least tell your insurer.

Yup I did that, and they said they don't care and won't record anything unless I make a claim.
I was surprised at that since most post-accident how-tos always say you have to notify your insurance company that you had an accident. (I made sure I saved a log of that web chat with the insurance rep)
 
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I had a similar occurrence last year but in that case there was a 1" gouge in the surface of the bumper. Like you I had no idea how much the bumper had flexed or what damage might lie behind it. The other party denied responsibility but I had video evidence like yours so I cut a DVD and handed it off to the insurance company with my claim. The external damage was fixed and the car was checked for further damage behind the bumper. The fact I had the video settled the matter and it cost me nothing - no excess and no increased premium (apart from the usual annual price hike of course!).

I'd certainly agree with putting in a claim and supplying the video to your insurance company. It's inconvenient, but you can get your car checked properly and, if there is any damage, get it fixed, and it shouldn't cost you a cent.
 
If there's literally no damage I'd rather leave it be than have it 'repaired'.

Here's a good look at what a straight one should look like:

http://www.fiatlancia.com/500mod1.html

Cars these days are required to pass a 5mph impact without damage, so you've probably got away with it.
 
I recently had a similar accident, car behind actually bumped me with little issue then someone hit her into me at an estimated 75kmh! Huge noise!
Lots of ambulance activity and although the last car was totalled mine looked like just a bad luck bump in the centre of the bar.
This ended up being a reasonably big repair!
What looked ok outside needed bar reinforcment, tail light panels , beaver panel and new bumper!
Although in your case if the insides look ok it's probably not hit that far in, but I'd still get someone to assess it, you pay nothing if it's a claim anyway, don't know why you wouldn't get it checked?
(Mine was about $3,000 damage, cost me nothing having been hit from behind)
Good luck, here in Surfers Paradise everyone's either on their mobile and the city walkways are more than jam packed with stunning curvy distractions, I've often used the abs after being distracted lol
:)
 
and it shouldn't cost you a cent.

Sadly not if you live in rip-off Britain.

In the scenario you have described, just reporting the facts to your insurance company will result in a 'no-fault incident' being recorded against your policy, and they will almost certainly load your premium for the next three years as a result. (n)
 
What kind of dash cam is that?

It's the original Mobius ActionCam, which can double as a dashcam. Was good a few years ago, but by modern standards it's a pretty average camera, especially at night when everything just turns blurry and blotchy.
https://dashcamtalk.com/mobius/

Pic of my mounting setup using a Pedco UltraClamp:
attachment.php


I also have a Mini 0806 as my front-facing dashcam. This has better image quality, but the reliability can be spotty and firmware is buggy. Not really recommended.

If I had to buy a new dashcam now, I'd get a Street Guardian.
https://dashcamtalk.com/sg9665gc/

BTW, thanks again for all your responses, everyone. Definitely gave me a better perspective on things.
 
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Thanks, I thought maybe you had an all in one (front and rear) that I hadn't seen before.

I have a pair of K1S's:

https://dashcamtalk.com/koonlung-k1s/

I'd probably only give them 3 out of 5 but there isn't any real competition (main issue seems to be writing speed of two HD cams onto one micro SD). I want something simpler and more set and forget for my vintage Pick Up.
 
Got rear ended a lot worse than that and there was zero damage to my floor boot or lights etcetera. They tried to repair my bumper because they were an agent for the insurer but they completely missed sections that were cracked. Made them swap the bar, the rubber mounts were really the only thing that were visually broken. But they replaced the reinforced beam, there is no foam from what I could tell.
 
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