It snowed a bit in Denver yesterday. When I came home, I knew I should pull into the driveway behind my wife's car, but she leaves earlier than me in the morning, so I would have had to get out of the warm bed to pull the TL out so she could leave. Here's what happened:

 

http://imgur.com/a/YzzuE

Dang, sorry to see that happen, seems like you came out alright though, maybe a new bumper and headlight?

 

Yeah, it wasn't too bad. The woman had a baby in a car seat which I felt really bad about, but everyone seemed to be okay. Looks like I'll just need a new bumper, haven't checked the headlight yet.

 

Good to hear.

But do check the light, if it's cracked you'll end up with water inside.

 

It's probably okay to drive to work and back in the meantime until the insurance adjuster comes to look at it, right? I can't see anything scraping or anything.

 

Sorry to see/hear that and glad everybody ok. Upgrade time possibly with bumber with fogs and maybe headlight mods.

 

I'd call the insurance and ask about driving it. They may not want you to.

 

Good call

 

sorry about your car poor car.

she learned a lesson = this is what happens when you put all season tires in snow.

 

True...funny, I just put on new Conti DWS for the winter and was fairly happy with the handling in the snow yesterday...of course my car ends up getting hit anyway

 

damn sorry about that man. I'd have insurance give you the green light first. you lose a bit of structural integrity with a damaged bumper. not that you expect to get hit again. i probably would sit that one out, then again, the damage *that* bad.

 

Sorry about your TL.

 

ouch! sorry about the fender bender, but hey...looks like an early christmas gift. time to upgrade to a type-s bumper!

 

So, how should I go about doing that? I've been in contact with both insurance companies and spoke with one body shop. I'd like to get the A Spec front bumper or the Type-S, but I don't want to spend a dime out of pocket (bad timing with Xmas.).

Should I have the adjuster come out and cut me a check, then try to find the cheapest repair estimate and hopefully use the difference to upgrade the bumper?

 

there is no aspec front bumper. there is only base, or type-s. aspec items are add on pieces to the existing bumpers.

here is what i would do. take the car to a few different body shops (as long as its driveable)...which it seems to be, and get a few different estimates from them. take the highest estimate you recieve, submit that to your insurance company, they'll cut you a check, and you use that money to buy a new type-s front bumper...they are around $260 shipped. you can get it painted for around the same price.

this is all dependent on how much your insurance check will be for, and keep in mind that the type-s bumper also requires some additional add-on pieces like the mesh grill, fog lights, etc.

 

Oh, ok, gotcha. So getting a new base front bumper and an A spec front lip is probably not going to happen without me paying for the lip, right?

Also, if I go and just get an estimate and a check from insurance, what happens if there actually is more extensive damage that wasn't caught in the original estimate? Isn't there a chance I would already have the check from the insurance co. and be stuck with paying for the additional repairs?

 

huh? A/S works fine in snow its those summer tires that are useless in less then an inch of it , Glad no one was hurt especially that baby

 

It will depend on your insurance. My adjuster came out to create the estimate, and then worked with my shop to keep everything reasonable.

I just had my TL fixed last week from damage that resulted from the snow storm that came through 2 weeks (we're in Castle Rock). Long story short (hit a curb on ice), I was trying to see if one of my struts was damaged how I could get insurance to chip in towards coilovers, but at the end of the day the strut and springs were fine. If they had been damaged, they would have given me money for the value of an OEM part that I could use towards the coilovers. I would start by looking at oemacuraparts.com, etc., and seeing what the msrp is of your bumper compared to a type-s. Odds are you could just pay the difference and get it done. If you don't want anything out of pocket, you may have to get a shop to find a used type-s bumper to put on/paint/etc.

 

you may be better off (money wise) to just get a new base front bumper for now, and POSSIBLY have enough to add an aspec front lip (theyre around $260 shipped and they come painted). this is all dependent on what estimates you get. if you get an estimate of $900, you can certainly buy a new bumper from AckTL05 for $260, get it painted for $250, and get a new aspec lip for $260...and you'll even have some money left over for stocking stuffers.

when you take it to a few body shops, they'll look over everything and check for further damage. if for some reason there are more extensive damages found later, that same body shop will inform your insurance and they'll cut another check for the additional damages found.

 

Great, thank you, sir.

 

i dunno man - I've driven 3 TL's in the snow with all-season and every one of them sucked donkey balls in even minimal snow.

Some all-season tires are obviously better than others, but I'm now a snow-tire advocate through and through when it comes to the TL.

 

I just got the same tires put on 2 days ago. I thought they did great in this last storm too. Probably the best A/S I've used. I didn't want to spend double to get Michelin PA4s + wheels just for a little better traction a couple weeks a year here in Denver...

 

Ouch...sorry to see, especially around the holidays.

 

Does anybody know if I have a body shop do the work, will my car now show up on carfax, etc. as having been in an accident with body work? That would give me even more incentive to buy a new bumper and put it on myself.

 

^^depends on the shop. some shops do not report to car fax. insurance might report, but usually if the damage is above a certain dollar amount. the shop i use does not report to car fax.

 

I had the car inspected by an independent body shop yesterday and they found a couple of things beyond the damage to the bumper:

I think he said this is the resonator assembly? Part of it is broken off.




The headlight got pushed out of place:


Here you can see how the paint is cracked slightly (I know my headlights are hideously hazy-I've tried the kits):


Headlight not flush and a small crack in the paint:


Then there's this part, not sure what it's called, the metal is bent:





Since there's this kind of damage, I guess I should have the shop do the work and forget about ordering a new bumper and lip to put on myself? Or I could just have them do the paint and metal work and do the rest myself to save money?

 

is it worth the hassle?? the car is already in the shop...let the professionals take care of it save yourself any grief. if they mess it up at least you can get them to fix it again...if you mess it up...well...

my time is more valuable to me, if you're going through insurance, then all you have to do is pay the deductible and be done with it. let the shop do it. up to you.

 

Yikes, a lot of small hidden damage. She must have been going pretty fast when she hit to have caused that kind of damage.

 

Sorry to see OP. At least it wasn't a hit and run.

 

Too many people think they are invinsible in the snow just cause they have an SUV...I'd just let the body shop take care of it for you.

 

Yeah, I left it at the geico body shop.

 

So I got the car back a couple of weeks ago, and I immediately noticed that the area behind the grill looks different. It looks like there's now a housing for fog lights but I'm not sure:









I have an '04. Did they give me a bumper from a later year that has the fog light housing? If so, can I add fog lights easily now? On the final receipt I got, it says:

REMOVE/REPLACE Bumper Cover
Add for fog lamps

 

the inner portion of the grilles aren't supposed to be white, it's supposed to be black plastic...

 

he's right..and it looks weird too. take it back

 

It's normal.
Looks different because of the white paint.
Stock plastic color hides those black gaps and etc.
Right front has to be close like that
Left front top gap is for intake

Positive

If you want it black, then take it back.

 

They painted the whole bumper without looking at your old bumper. Id take it back and have them paint it black. You could donit yourself but its not worth it because they should've of done it right in the first place. Good luck.