21 Years, 3 Months, 8 days.

[Joay]

That's how long my car managed to be on the road without being backed into by a trailer hitch.

http://designbyjoey.com/ca6/090715a.jpg

Silver lining: since it's going to need paint, I'm getting the rust taken care of.

[2drSE-i]

Ouch. Silver linings not bad though!

[MessyHonda]

that sucks....at least its a easy fix...just a pain in the butt

[markmdz89hatch]

lol at the subject title. love it.

talk about getting poked in the eye huh? Sucks, but good luck on the new paint.

[Ayeobe]

That sucks.. thankfully your sportin' 88/89 lights though, the 86/87 ones need a bit more work to find..

Ill have the whole front end of an 88/89 in parts soon, so if you wana pay shipping i can send ya the broken bit.

[Hazwan]

Ouch that sucks.

[charliekuney]

I never noticed how your bumper hangs exactly how mine did, unless that's new.

Did the person leave a note or anything? Or were they like, "Psh, it's just a Honda..."?

[AccordB20A]

$65 USD shipped for a set of JDM corner lights ... lol /advertisement

took me a while to actually see what was wrong in that pic.

[2ndGenGuy]

That's super shitty man. No note? No offer to fix it?

Good reason to park away from everybody else, with a curb on at least one side of your car. :( It's really sad you have to resort to shit like this because people are so fucking dishonest.

[Joay]

Oh he stopped, it wasn't a hit and run or anything. We were at a three-lane intersection (left-turning lane, straight lane, and right-turning). I was behind him in the straight lane, and we had been stopped for about 30 seconds when he decided he had to be in the right lane. So he threw it in reverse and backed up without looking. He was in a company truck, and the company is going to pay for it.

Incidentally, he used to have a four-door 3G.

[2ndGenGuy]

Oh that's good. A little bit of my faith in humanity has been restored. :) Glad it's at least getting worked out and wasn't a parking-related incident.

[Civic Accord Honda]

that sucks man... a tow hitch pwned the civics hood as well

[Ayeobe]

Incedentally, You'll find the nicest people on a Honda. lol

[Joay]

Updatesauce:

Got an estimate of $487.41. I understand that collision places are generally expensive, and it's not a big deal since I'm not paying for it, but does that not sound kind of high? I talked to the owner of the place (it's a reputable shop), and he seemed to overreact a little. He said the bumper may need 'reinforcement' because it was hanging so low, and that he wanted to straighten and paint the headlight cover (which is super-bent, no idea why he'd want to save that) and, subsequently, the hood and fender. To me, that means he doesn't think he can get the right color, but I'd rather have the headlight be slightly mismatched than have the whole front clip painted differently than the rest of the car.

I'm going to yank the bumper off tonight and see what's actually broken. The headlight is canted slightly, but not to such an extent that it hits anything when it opens. If I can get those aligned properly myself, I'll gladly find a Misty beige headlight cover, pay $50 to get the bumper resprayed and call it a day. Anyone with front-end collision experience have any suggestions? Am I going to find something I can't fix under there?

[w261w261]

That sounds cheap to me, but the difference between WV and Fairfield County, CT probably means we are 50% higher. For example, a couple of months ago the guy in back of me in the car wash didn't put it in neutral. There we were, minding our own business as the car was pulled through, covered with soap when BUMP from the rear, this fellow's license plate surround had marked the back of the VW's bumper. Just a couple of tiny marks, which I didn't care if I fixed them or not, so it was a claim and collect kind of thing. $408. There couldn't have been any damage that was cheaper to fix.

I would insist on a Honda OEM bumper (the aftermarket ones aren't all that good, supposedly, at least that's what the body shops that have replaced mine twice said). If the hood needs work, it needs to be taken off and probably replaced. Straighten the headlight door? NO WAY. Get a new one.

So you need a new bumper (maybe hidden damage $$), a new headlight cover, hood, and respray everything. It's still a small claim from their point of view, but I see it as more like $1200. You don't work with the body shop, but the insurance adjuster, unless you think the body shop is in your corner.

Go for it.

[charliekuney]

My mom had her '02 Intrepid backed into by a lifted F-150, and since her car is about as low as ours, the hitch hit the license plate. Want to know how much the F-150's insurance had to pay for a new license plate and holder? $800+


Am I going to find something I can't fix under there?

Nah, I wouldn't worry if I were you. I've seen all of them internals :) and I can't recall anything there that could be damaged.

[Civic Accord Honda]

thats a pretty low price... when my step dad had an 89 sei coupe back in 03 a truck hit it and dented the fender in and broke the marker light... all it needed was the fender and marker light and we got a $2600 check for that...

[w261w261]

Also, speaking of being backed into, it's good to remember that we, in own low little cars, are invisible if close behind a big SUV, or close in to a truck. Their mirrors or view out the tail window show nothing. I had a woman almost back right into my driver's door as she was pulling out of a head-in slot, and I was stuck behind her waiting for a car ahead. OH SHIT, I said as her backup lights came on. Luckily, the car in front of me pulled away, and I scooted the fuck outathere. I pulled over and walked back to her, she was very embarrassed, and said she didn't see anything behind her. I personally feel she didn't look, but at least she apologized.

[Joay]

I would insist on a Honda OEM bumper (the aftermarket ones aren't all that good, supposedly, at least that's what the body shops that have replaced mine twice said). If the hood needs work, it needs to be taken off and probably replaced. Straighten the headlight door? NO WAY. Get a new one.

So you need a new bumper (maybe hidden damage $$), a new headlight cover, hood, and respray everything. It's still a small claim from their point of view, but I see it as more like $1200. You don't work with the body shop, but the insurance adjuster, unless you think the body shop is in your corner.

Go for it.
I wonder if, since the shop guy knows I'm not paying out of pocket for anything, he's milking the claim a little. He figures I don't care what it costs since it isn't my money, and he's making whatever he asks for. Just a thought.

If the picture doesn't make it plain, the hood / fender are 100% untouched. He backed straight into the headlight, and kind of grazed the top of the bumper on the way. The plastic is barely scuffed, and some paint came off. If I was going to have it replaced, though, it'd be an OE bumper. I've worked with aftermarket bumpers, fenders and hoods before and they don't fit at all.


Nah, I wouldn't worry if I were you. I've seen all of them internals :) and I can't recall anything there that could be damaged.
Hope you're right, I'm about to crawl under it.


Also, speaking of being backed into, it's good to remember that we, in own low little cars, are invisible if close behind a big SUV, or close in to a truck. Their mirrors or view out the tail window show nothing. I had a woman almost back right into my driver's door as she was pulling out of a head-in slot, and I was stuck behind her waiting for a car ahead. OH SHIT, I said as her backup lights came on. Luckily, the car in front of me pulled away, and I scooted the fuck outathere. I pulled over and walked back to her, she was very embarrassed, and said she didn't see anything behind her. I personally feel she didn't look, but at least she apologized.
I knew as soon as I saw the guy coming that he couldn't see me if he wanted to. He hit my passenger side (so, far right) with his hitch (middle of the truck), ergo I was actually positioned closer to his mirror than I needed to be. But this thing was huge, and my car's lowered about two inches, so I'm not surprised he couldn't see me. Still shouldn't have backed up in traffic, but it's an understandable mistake.

[w261w261]

I saw the dent over the corner light and thought that was part of the damage. Definitely though, get a new light cover. I'd say a new bumper too. Was that too-big gap by the right fender there before? In any case, $500+ sounds like less than it should be.

<< I knew as soon as I saw the guy coming that he couldn't see me if he wanted to. He hit my passenger side (so, far right) with his hitch (middle of the truck), ergo I was actually positioned closer to his mirror than I needed to be. But this thing was huge, and my car's lowered about two inches, so I'm not surprised he couldn't see me. Still shouldn't have backed up in traffic, but it's an understandable mistake >>

Compared to SUV's and even panel trucks, we are a real small target. I'm lowered 1", and when I was eyeballing that Tahoe's back up lights a couple of feet away, I felt *very* vulnerable.

[Joay]

I saw the dent over the corner light and thought that was part of the damage. Definitely though, get a new light cover. I'd say a new bumper too. Was that too-big gap by the right fender there before? In any case, $500+ sounds like less than it should be.
That gap was a result of the impact, but I already had some 3G Bumper Sag™ in the front. I just got out from under the car, and I managed to fix the gap on that side as well as tighten up the sag in the front. The bracket that the side of the bumper slides onto has a tab that fits in a hole on the fender; that hole was a little stretched out. Threw some JB in there and it's tight.

The light cover, actually, isn't dented as badly as I thought. The dent stops before the visible part of the cover (below the plastic), so I can kind of see why he thought about saving it. I still have to straighten the headlight bracket(s?) out, although I couldn't see exactly where / what was bent. It's a very minor tweak either way.