... happened on an exit ramp. Car behind me was pushed by third car into mine. The impact felt quite hard in the car, but when I got out to check the damage-- much less than I anticipated, i.e. bumper scratched all over, and exhaust pipes (both of them got dented). Well, on one side the bumper is now sticking out a little bit but I hope that's just broken clips or the bumper being deformed. Hopefully, nothing else underneath got deformed.

I just got it appraised and am waiting for the estimate. Worried about low-quality repairs. I will insist on using my dealer's body-shop even they are not a preferred body shop on my insurance list.

Any advice that comes to mind? Potential hidden damage beneath the bumper, or exhasut system I should look out for? Or recommendation for repair shops in the Boston area? I hope they replace the bumper rather than just re-painting it, for example!

Thanks in advance for advice.

 

Since the bumper is plastic, if you have scratches or gashes deep enough, they'll probably replace it since it's kind of hard to fill in the little holes and stuff. The exhaust tips are easily replaceable. Doesn't look too bad. Make sure they check the mounting clips and brackets to make sure they're not bent and if they are, replace them before mounting.

 

"Dateline NBC" just showed that an independent study group found that Acura's TSX rated a "POOR",
in repair cost, for its bumpers in a 5 mi/hr crash test.

 

I saw the same show last night. It was $1400-1500 in repairs for the front or rear in a 5 MPH collision. They thought Honda/Acura tried to skew the test by placing that foam piece in the center of the front bumper. My 95 Civic had the same thing as well as my 97 Accord. That is a lot of cash (well insurance claim) for a 5 MPH collision too!

 

So including the exhaust tips this could be around $2K worth of damage. Wow. I wonder if the insurance appraisal will be much lower.

 

did the police come by and get an accident report? what kind of car hit u from behind?

sorry man, i got rearended last nov. in my 6th gen Accord, and i got whiplash. i had to fill out a police report so that the i could file a claim at the guy who hit me from behind and the insurance paid to replace the bumper on the Honda.

just wondered are all Acuras like this meaning they are expensive to fix with the bumpers costing $1500 to replace?

 

I'm in the Boston area, too, and have a 3-month old black TSX that'll be getting 3 panels repainted sometime this month. We should compare notes on body shops sometime. I picked up the Consumer Checkbook magazine for $10 from the newsstands that has a list of rated body shops in the area, and I will initially pick out a few from that list to talk with. I haven't contacted any Acura dealers yet to see what they recommend. I saw that Claire has a body shop up near Dedham, but that shop didn't rank among the top body shops so I am a bit hesitant about going there, despite its relationship with an Acura dealer. If you get any recommendations from Acura or elsewhere, please post and share them here, and I'll do the same. Good luck!

 

I was hit too and my rear bumper looked a lot like yours. The exhaust tips were bent too. My preferred body shop estimated it at $4100 for: new exhaust tips, new exhaust pipes, new rear bumper and extensive work to bend the trunk tray back into position. My insurance company talked them down to $3700 by bending the other exhaust pipe instead of replacing it.

Lift the spare tire cover up in the trunk and look for deflection in the metal of the trunk tray. TMine was pretty evident. The mistake my shop made when pounding the trunk tray back out was that they pounded the area where the tow hook is welded too far so now the tow hook hangs lower and stuck out like a sore thumb until I took it back and had them paint it black (it was painted silver).

I was going about 55mph and had to slam on my brakes; I don't know if the guy behind me used his brakes at all. Needless to say, he paid for the repairs........

 

I will check under the spare tire this evening. Thanks for the tip!
I will bring it to my dealer who then handles it through their body-shop. The body shop they use is in Brighton. Don't have the name in front of me right now but I will share more details later.
Interesting that there's potentially so much damage. It looks pretty harmless on first sight. Isn't it noticable that one of your exhausts got re-bent into shape?

 

It wasn't the tip that was bent back; both pipes leading up to the muffler were damaged. One so badly it had to be replaced (the exhause pipe actually fell off the hanger and was dangling on one side). The other side wasn't so bad and could be bent back. If you're doing it through your dealer, hopefully they'll do an okay job, but it never hurts to double check!

Good luck!