Hi

I have a 2010 Accord EX. Unfortunately, I rear-ended into another vehicle as it halted suddenly. There was no damage to the other car nor its passengers.

Unfortunately, the car had a something like a tow bar which caused damage to my front bumper and possible more.

I am not an expert, but I see the following things.

• No Airbag deployed
• Front bumber broken (a square hole where the tow bar hit)
• Minor bend to Hood, Hood not closing fully as there is a bend in the front structure of car - able to open the hood
• Slight bend to the Radiator bar thing
• Possile frame damage (???)
• Headlights not broken - working fine, Car is derivable without any issues
• When I looked under hood, I am able to see some steel frame like thing that seem to have had a direct impact of the tow bar and is bent pretty badly. But, not sure if that is the car frame or unibody (??) or what it is.

Can someone advice on what are the things I need to look for to repair these? Could there be a Frame Damage? Will it be totalled?

Since, this is my first accident, kinda scared. Any advice, tips to help me feel better/worse would be helpful. Thanks in adv.

Here are some pics..

 

A few pictures would help?

 

Thnx for the reply. I have added a few pics.

 

I've hit a deer a few weeks back; the damage was similar.

The hood is gonzo; that needs to be replaced. Same for the bumper. I assume that the bent bars can be straightened; if the 'frame' would have been bent seriously enough, then you would sense that on the steering.

Here a car is totalled if the repairs exceed 70% of the car's value. I guess your damage can be repaired for $3-4K; and this car worth considerably more than $6K. So unlikely that it is a writeoff. Now if there's indeed structural damage to the car, then that's another question. But only a competent body shop can answer that.

 

Thanks for the reply. A mechanic took a quick look and said that the Hood, Front bumper needs replacing. The Radiator support bar is bent, the front support bar is bent. But, unless he opens it he cannot assess the full damage. He said, there seems to be no damage to frame - just the support bar in the front. There might also be some internal headlight parts that might have broken.

I don't feel any difference in steering. The doors are closing fine. Except for the physical damage everything seems to be working - driveable without any issues.

Just worries if there would be any frame damage.

 

Don't; highly unlikely. If the bent bars pulled on the 'frame', pushing 'em back will push back at the connection points, too. (And 'frames' can be straightened, too.)

 

Thanks for your encouraging words.

 

Mechanic is correct, they don't know until they open things up. However, this doesn't look like a big enough hit to cause frame damage. Is the airbag light on the dash showing? I know you said the airbags didn't deploy but the front sensor behind the bumper may have activated. If so, it will need to be replaced. Also, any issues with seatbeat tensioner, like the seatbelt not winding back into place? If not you're cool, if so that will have to be replaced.

Looks like a nice, clean Accord. you may not wish to go through your insurance company, but this will easily be over $3K for the body damage alone. This is one of those situations were i would tap into my isurance as that is why you pay those premiums.

Anyway, sorry this happened. It could have been a lot worse, these are well built cars and the front end did it's job to absorb the impact and keep the driver and passengers safe! Its just metal.

Good luck

 

Thanks for the reply and kind words.

Airbag light is not on. No issues with seat belt either. Hopefully nothing else is whacked inside. The most important part was no one got hurt.

Would this be go as a minor/major accident on the car reports? Any idea?

 

I had this same accident few years back. The towing hitch impacted my front end.

I would suggest you contact your insurance. My total cost came to over $4k. They had to replace the hood, fender, one head light, radiator and a few other parts. My insurance did not go up as they told me that since the other car did not have any damage, the insurance did not have to pay out.

I just paid the deductible. I had GEICO.

Good Luck.

 

Thanks for taking time to reply. I did and the quote is 4.5k now. Once they disassemble more problems might come up. Good thing is everything impacted is being replaced rather than repaired. Guess I will have to accept that it happened and am happy that no one got hurt.

A couple of other things that are nor working..
1. When I press lock, the indicator doesn't blink. The doors do lock though.
Also, double pressing the lock button on remote will trigger a horn - which doesn't happen anymore - horn works fine when used normally.
2. One of the interior overhead lights (same side that had impact - passenger side) isn't working at all.

Not sure if these are a root cause for a bigger issue.

 

With the hood like that I will guess the alarm system is not going to work, there should be a sensor on the hood....so with the hood like that I'm guessing that is the issue.

The light ? well that could be a number of things....even as simple as the bulb blew.

And yes, glad everyone is/was ok as I know how these things can go. I lost a son at 22 a few years ago in a car accident, he was a passenger in a car involved in an accident. Not a good day when you get a knock on the door, open it and there are four state policemen.....Police: Mr "X"...me: "yes"...Police: "You might want to sit down".

 

Oh my god!!! I am really sorry to hear about your son. It should've been/still is devastating. Don't think even time can heal your loss.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Off topic. I read your signature. As a father also, I think about that song every now and then.


Thanks for sharing your lost.

 

By no means am I trying to get this "off topic", sorry about that and I should have kept my mouth shut/fingers off the keyboard.

Only wanted to convey that yes, I'm glad everyone was/is ok......metal and plastic can be fixed/replaced.

Point, I'm almost willing to be once the hood is corrected the car locks/security system will "come back". Don't have a good service manual for the 2010's but the older ones had a switch on the hood latch. For giggles if you can get it open, try to unplug the alarm switch on the hood latch and see if the door locks operate as normal

"GLD"- many would never put that "two and two" together - signature line. But since we are about the same age I can see where you would "get it".

Again, sorry. Wasn't trying to get this off topic....lets get the car fixed and back on the road

 

No need to be sorry. We are all human behind the text replies.