A couple of years ago some X5 hit me from behind. I was stopped and he wasn't going too fast. Since then, my trunk--and more importantly, my taillights--have been unaligned. Here is a picture:



Now that I'm out of school and have some money to spend, I was wondering how I could get this fixed or whether I could do it myself to save some cash. I'll describe the alignment issue a bit more since it's hard to tell from the photo. When the taillights are perfectly aligned (the trunk doesn't lock closed in this scenario), the trunk sticks out farther than the rear panels. Also the trunk sticks up close to my rear windshield. I'm not sure if the trunk arms are bent.

Any suggestions? When this first happened someone at a body shop told me they had a machine that can "pull" the trunk and align it. At the time, it was too much money for me to spend. Any DIY suggestions? Buying new trunk arms? Thanks!

 

If I got new hinges--parts 24293 and 24296 (2 and 3 in the picture)--would that help?

 

hindges might work, but then again it might not. Did the body shop reuse your trunk lid or did you get a new one? Sometimes trunk lids may look straight, but if hit from the side or rear, they may twist a little and cause the misalignment.

 

I actually never got it fixed. So I'm contemplating what I can do now. On Majestic Honda, the hinges are like 35-45 each...I could try it, but it'd suck to be out $90 if it doesn't work. Thanks for the reply/insight though!

 

more pics will probably help. Top view, trunk while it's open, where it locks down, the other side. Just this one pic doesn't help too much...

 

Will get to it as soon as the rain lets up here!