Got rear ended- these things are SOLID

[pinkslip]

So I was hit from behind while at a stop last night. I can't say for sure, but I think she was going about 30mph. Both of her front airbags went off, and her car is DONE. Fortunately for me, she was driving a little Chevy Cavalier, so my 2 tons of German engineering held it's own quite well.

I JUST bought this car three weeks ago. It looks like the bumper and exhaust tips are the only damaged areas though (I have a Milltek in the mail anyways); all the lights still work and the trunk appears to open and close normally.

Any one experience a similar accident? Is there going to be a bunch of unexpected damage behind there I should be prepared for (fuel tank, subframe, etc)? I'd hate for there to be any real structural damage to the car. It would be tainted!

Looking at the pics, you wouldn't think they were in the same accident. Kinda funny.

I got whiplash in the neck, and soreness/tightness in the lower back, right now. Hope it doesn't get any worse. I'm feeling pretty lucky though. If this happened in my Miata, she would've thrown me into the car in front of me and destroyed the car.

BTW, the woman who hit me is a nun. A sign?... ; )

[Maverick]

good to see.

i only had one accident so far(2004). knock on wood!!!

I rear ended a god damn cavalier, exact car that drilled your ass, the only rear i hit her was because my 93 maxima's brakes were tooooooo old. i knocked her rear bumper off, my front bumper had a crack, lol.
those shit cars

[b5s4tt]

when you take the bumper off there may be more damage. always check first before estimates are done, or you will need a supplement and you dont wanna wait for that to happen.

[enigma1406]

Check to make sure your quarter panels aren't bent or misaligned at all. I got rear ended as well but my accident was much worse. They have to replace the rear bumper, trunk, both quarter panels and the rear window is slightly misaligned. My radar detector also came undone and smashed the front windshield to add insult to injury.

Even with all that damage (didn't look that bad at night) I could have easily driven home. The only problem was my exhaust also got destroyed, so it was close to hitting the ground and the pushed in bumper would have hit the wheels on some bumps.

Her car was totaled though. Engine damage and the steering column hit her legs. I was really impressed with how the car held up...but now it needs to be fixed (in the process) and I'm just afraid it'll never be the same.

[KlAzE1]

Check to make sure your quarter panels aren't bent or misaligned at all. I got rear ended as well but my accident was much worse. They have to replace the rear bumper, trunk, both quarter panels and the rear window is slightly misaligned. My radar detector also came undone and smashed the front windshield to add insult to injury.

Even with all that damage (didn't look that bad at night) I could have easily driven home. The only problem was my exhaust also got destroyed, so it was close to hitting the ground and the pushed in bumper would have hit the wheels on some bumps.

Her car was totaled though. Engine damage and the steering column hit her legs. I was really impressed with how the car held up...but now it needs to be fixed (in the process) and I'm just afraid it'll never be the same.

dang that sucks, id be pissed!

[ieatfishburitos]

Take it to the Audi dealership for a repair quote... They should nickel and dime her for every possible thing that could be broken.

[pinkslip]

I'm gonna take it to a reputable body shop out here, I think- Karry's Auto Collision. They have nothing but rave reviews on yelp and I have a couple extra little imperfections/scratches/dents I was gonna have him take care of anyways. He should find all the same problems (or more) as a dealer.

[JMG]

Only 3 weeks ago!! Sorry to hear that, but at least you're okay and the damage doesn't look too bad.

[enigma1406]

dang that sucks, id be pissed!

That was my first reaction. I calmed down and got to the point where it didn't matter that much to me before I got out of the car. I mean, it's just a car. And it was completely her fault so I had nothing to worry about there. I'm just not too happy about having to drive my other car now.

Take it to the Audi dealership for a repair quote... They should nickel and dime her for every possible thing that could be broken.

This is what I did initially. They told me that they "can't touch anything custom," so the car was out of their hands in less than a day. I took it to a shop that does a lot of high end cars (which semi scares me) and am hoping for the best. My old body shop was sold, so I had no idea where to take the car. I would have liked for Audi to fix it themselves, but not replacing my custom work (mainly full exhaust) was out of the question.

Good luck with your rebuild. Hopefully there's not much damage other than the rear bumper. If not, it should be a pretty easy and quick fix. My insurance took SO long to approve the replacing of the quarter panels (they wanted the guy to just pull them out and straighten them...bs) because they have to be cut off and the new ones need to be welded on.

[enigma1406]

FYI she hit me so hard, this happened:







Based on your picture I seriously doubt it was this bad.

[pinkslip]

Well it sounds kinda messed up, but your pics make me feel better. If your car could sustain that kind of damage and not have any frame or fuel cell damage, I'll be in the clear for sure.

My Milltek was ordered last week and is on it's way, so whatever the estimate calls for regarding the stock damaged exhaust will go towards other stuff, like the scratches and dent on the side of the car. I'm just glad this happened before the Milltek went on, otherwise I'd be more pissed than I am. I'll have them check out the quarter panels, but I think they are okay. I haven't given the car a thorough look-over, as it wouldn't make me feel any better.

And not a single apology from the nun who hit me. You'd think she would at least say sorry. Hopefully, that is a sign of an obtuse person, rather than someone intending on fighting liability. Not much she could say in a simple rear-end collision either way, but that would just make me sick.

[sakimano]

pray that there's no frame damage...(well...get her to pray)

[GotRS?]

I had an F150 truck go into my B5 at a light. Wrecked a bunch of his big bling front, but I needed only a new bumper. There are shock absorbing dampers on the bumper at the mounting points each side, check them out under the car, you will see marks on the piston rods where they have gone in/out. I doubt she hit you at 30mph IMO, but anyway the shocks are good for 15mph I think, after that it will hurt the chassis.

Hope you heal up quickly btw

[TN2004S4]

The Same Thing Happened To Me, But In My Case It Was A Toyota Corolla. His Car Was Done, And All I Had Was 2 Tag Screw Implanted In My Bumper And The Exhaust Pipe Was Bent A Little. These Things Are Very Solid.

[sakimano]

I crushed the rear end of a Nissan Maxima the other week. her car neeeded new bumper, quarter panels, trunk

my S4 grille was cracked in one spot...other than that, no problemo.

the cops were stunned...(usually the front end of cars gets trashed, as the pics above attest.

[gjc]

I was in a similar accident over the summer.

Sitting at a red light in my Ti sline A4, hit from behind ~40mph by a Mercedes G Class wagon.

Let's just say the damage was a lot worse than enigma1406 pics. From the naked eye I was thinking:
- new bumper
- 2 new quarter panels
- new trunk

My exhaust was intact b/c I was hit higher up and I actually drove 3 hrs to NYC the next day for a meeting I had to be at. The insurance appraisal was about $3k worth of damage. I took her to my long time audi mechanic and he found the uniframe was smashed up all the way to the front seats. Long story short it went from $3k to about $20k and having the car be totaled.

Huge pain in the ass but the insurance money put me into my S4 today.

[enigma1406]

I was in a similar accident over the summer.

Sitting at a red light in my Ti sline A4, hit from behind ~40mph by a Mercedes G Class wagon.

Let's just say the damage was a lot worse than enigma1406 pics. From the naked eye I was thinking:
- new bumper
- 2 new quarter panels
- new trunk

My exhaust was intact b/c I was hit higher up and I actually drove 3 hrs to NYC the next day for a meeting I had to be at. The insurance appraisal was about $3k worth of damage. I took her to my long time audi mechanic and he found the uniframe was smashed up all the way to the front seats. Long story short it went from $3k to about $20k and having the car be totaled.

Huge pain in the ass but the insurance money put me into my S4 today.

$3k? The trunk alone is over $1k. My total is around $17k so far...

[audikid66]

audis hold up good my b5 a4 when i had it.. was T-boned by some chick doin like 40 in a 25 and all my damage was the rear door pushed in like an inch(still opened and closed fine) lil scratches on rear quarter panel.. and her lil POS was totalled and flat bedded away... audi FTW

[wankeldude]

The Same Thing Happened To Me, But In My Case It Was A Toyota Corolla. His Car Was Done, And All I Had Was 2 Tag Screw Implanted In My Bumper And The Exhaust Pipe Was Bent A Little. These Things Are Very Solid.

_is _there _a _specific _reason _you've _capitalized _every _single _word?

[TN2004S4]

_is _there _a _specific _reason _you've _capitalized _every _single _word?

LOL..... I HAD CAP LOCK ON AND THAT WHAT happens that's all...lol

actually, i don't have a reason.... don't even know why it did that

[enigma1406]

It's a caps lock filter. If a certain percentage (or all maybe) of your post is in caps then it converts every word to have just the first letter capitalized. Caught me off guard once too.

[TN2004S4]

thanks man. Thought I was going crazy for a minute...

[durrmcdanks]

I owned an 06 a4 and i got rear ended at 20 mph by a SUV. I turned around and was like my car is toast. Get out just minor knicks on my bumber and his SUV in the front was just smashed in. Truth in engineering.

[gjc]

$3k? The trunk alone is over $1k. My total is around $17k so far...

At 17 I would imagine you want the car to be considered a total loss so you can get something new?

[norsecarnut]

At 17 I would imagine you want the car to be considered a total loss so you can get something new?

$17k isn't close enough to the value to "total" it is it? What is the % of value anyway to "total" a vehicle? Anyone know? Just think what it takes to "total" a new SC Range Rover, not the sport but the $95k full size. A dunking would be the quickest way.

[enigma1406]

It's a number like 2/3 or 3/4 of the value. $17k is about half but that includes my FI exhaust and a couple other aftermarket things.

[D.C. Designs]

FYI she hit me so hard, this happened:







Based on your picture I seriously doubt it was this bad.

ouch