Slow impact crash damage?

Moab

Moab

TJ Expert
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Joined
Dec 15, 2018
Messages
3,154
Location
El Segundo, California
My son slid on wet pavement into a rental cars rear end yesterday. The only damage to the Jeep is the passenger side of the front bumper is about 2mm pushed in on that one side. You can barely tell. Any need to fix this? I'll post pics later. But it really does appear to be just cosmetic. A tiny scratch on the square rubber bumper on the one passenger side. Can't tell unless you look really close.

The other car had the bumper cover pushed in and it separated about a half inch from the body.

How hard do you have to hit for the airbags to go off? They didn't.
 
If Jeep airbags went off everytime something was bumped into that caused a bumper (or much else) to bend 2mm, all the Jeep airbags would have gone off by now i suspect.

Whether or not to fix it is up to you...If it's a street queen that you keep looking pristine, then maybe you should fix it.

Based on your description...it is completely (and barely) cosmetic.
 
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PatMc said:
If Jeep airbags went off everytime something was bumped into that caused a bumper (or much else) to bend 2mm, all the Jeep airbags would have gone off by now i suspect.

Whether or not to fix it is up to you...If it's a street queen that you keep looking pristine, then maybe you should fix it.

Based on your description...it is completely (and barely) cosmetic.
Click to expand...

Even tho little damage happened to the Jeep. The other car was hit pretty good. I suspect that the rear bumper and cover will need replaced.
 
With my old car, I had a lady pull out from a stop sign across a lane of traffic on a 4 lane street and I hit her on the driver's side door pillar at around 25 mph. I was finding glass from her car windows in nooks and crannies for years.

I thought I killed her when she disappeared from view under my hood. But she drove off to a parking lot across the street. Totaled her car, $6,500 in front end damage to mine and my airbags didn't go off.
 
moab said:
Even tho little damage happened to the Jeep. The other car was hit pretty good. I suspect that the rear bumper and cover will need replaced.
Click to expand...

Of course...if your son was at fault, the other vehicle will need to brought back to pre-accident condition either out of your wallet, your son's, or your insurance company's. Steel bumpers tend to do a number on plastic cars with minimal damage to themselves...which is why everything I own has steel bumpers.
 
I believe airbag deployment is based on sudden deacceleration (coming to an abrupt stop, usually from hitting an immovable object). Not inpact alone.
 
I probably wouldn't worry about it but I would use it as a learning lesson for my son. The original TJ bumpers aren't that tough to get pretty straight again and if he messes it up in the process of fixing it, they aren't to expensive for him to replace.
 
PatMc said:
If Jeep airbags went off everytime something was bumped into that caused a bumper (or much else) to bend 2mm, all the Jeep airbags would have gone off by now i suspect.

Whether or not to fix it is up to you...If it's a street queen that you keep looking pristine, then maybe you should fix it.

Based on your description...it is completely (and barely) cosmetic.
Click to expand...
Given that it will be your sons fault, I'd keep quiet, hope the other guy does not file a claim.... who knows?? Any insurer will bump your sons rates exponentially.
 
billiebob said:
Given that it will be your sons fault, I'd keep quiet, hope the other guy does not file a claim.... who knows?? Any insurer will bump your sons rates exponentially.
Click to expand...

Or at the very least, offer to put the bumper back where it goes with sheet metal screws. I like the way you think.
 
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