[Closed] Car shunted - possibility of hidden damage?

if its a newish vehicle then laser wheel alignment to sheck rear axle hasnt moved slightly, result will be weird steering pulling to one side or tyre wear or both.

Fuel leak also a posibilty , get it on ramps down a local garage.

Take it to the body shop for a quote and hand the quote to the driver. He may change his mind. Or he may pay up.

impossible to say over internet

Yeah. There is an impact beam that runs across the rear of the car to absorb the impact. This could be bent or damaged. There could also be back panel or boot floor damage. Personally I wouldn't settle till I'd checked this. You can sometimes get under the car and have a look or I'd you'd like to email me some photos email is in profile.

2007 fiesta

Quoted 950£ by repair shop

Bloke asked me to get second quote, unsurprisingly

Let your insurance deal with it

He is clearly thinking its a bumper and a boot from a scrappy job.

Why should you run around.

Is it carbon fibre?

Get it x rayed

You need to be lifting the boot carpet, that's where the damage usually shows, if it's rippled it may structurally be a write off. Get it looked at professionally, and as mentioned above get a quote. Is he insured? have you checked the registration against askmid.co.uk

Had a relatively slow speed shunt from the rear in our car. The other driver was actually the MIL! It looked just to be a dented rear bumper so thought we could avoid the insurance. Turns out the chassis was bent and the boot floor buckled. Repair quotes came in at £2.2k 😯

Edit: ditto Benji. It wasn't until the boot carpet was lifted the majority of damage was unearthed.

Insurance company verified he is insured.

Think I'm going to go through insurance anyway, van owner had a bit of an attitude and I predict trouble if there is additional damage.

Cheers all.

chakaping - Member
... van owner had a bit of an attitude and I predict trouble if there is additional damage.

Ya, if he has attitude then he will try to negotiate so insurance is always the way to go.

Had similar, impact beam flattened and a bit of a buckle in the floor.
He Started questioning the quote and sob story about daughters b'day present so cut off contact and went to his insurance, it's enough hassle without dealing with someone who thinks it's just a few bumper clips.

When the cost is £950 is it really cost effective not to go through the insurance for the other chap?

The blokes expecting a few hundred no doubt. Plus whys he expecting you to run round garages? Sorry insurance call.

Or why not take £850 and keep/run the car into the ground? A 07 Fiesta cant be worth that much??

I had a rear-end shunt recently, no visible damage whatsoever. Turned out to be smashed to crap internally, all the internal bits that absorb the impact had, well, absorbed the impact.

At the very least, you need to go to a garage to get it checked / get a quote before agreeing to anything.

OP yes. Check exhaust. I was rear-ended, settled with insurance then 6 months later exhaust failed due to having been bent in the crash

Or as hora says, you can take the cash and leave the car as is

Does her neck hurt?

Seriously, my wife had a low speed shunt 7.5 years ago and is still in almost constant pain and has spent thousands on various physios/osteopaths and is now considering surgery.

I would involve insurance and keep your options open.

The wife's car was reversed into by a woman leaving the parking space behind her. Apart from the note the woman left on the window there were zero external signs of any impact. Turned out the axle was so badly twisted the car was barely driveable. Cat C write off.