Rear bumper damage in rear collision

[KLee]

Right, last Monday a 76 year old skidded straight into my C220 rear in the rain. Traffic was slowing down and for the last metre I think it was < 40 kph to an abrupt stop. My ABS kicked in and I stopped. And sure as I predicted the car behind struggled to do the same. From the inside of the car the impact was quite big but upon inspection from the exterior the bumper and chrome bits arent dented, only the paint work is completely scratched. No doubt internally brackets could be a different story.

Question for those in the know: for a bang like this, what should I expect the repairers to perform apart from my at minimum expectation of brand spanking new bumper resprayed to my body colour? Visually things look to be still aligned, gaps consistent, would the boot lid have been pushed up by the bumper? The part of the rear bumper that wraps around the car and forms part of the rear wheel arch seems to be still aligned with the rest of the body panels - does this mean structurally all is ok or should I demand a full rework? Can this simple job be botched up?

I had a prior insurance repair what I consider appaling workmanship which is a subject of a different post.

 

[grober]

No way to tell really without dismantling the lot- the bumper components. A substantial impact requires that degree of investigation I'm afraid. Things to check.
1. Does the boot still open and close freely and central locking work.
2.Open the boot and check the boot floor carefully for any signs of distortion in the spare wheel well and the fore and aft members for kinks or buckling.
3.Check none of the seams in the wheelarch/rear wells have sprung.
4. check your exhaust isnt damaged.
5.check all your electrics-lights/indicators work. bulb filaments often go on impact.
The rear bumper brackets will have taken the brunt of the impact as they are designed to, and will almost cetainly have to be replaced.
If the impact speed was below a certain level then only minor damage will have occured but you must get it checked out by a good bodyshop. In the UK INSURANCE COMPANIES like you to use their accredited companies in order to keep costs down but most policies have a clause which lets you specify where the car should be repaired. In some cases it is necessary for the warranty to get the car repaired at a MB approved bodyshop. You are fortunate in that your car is driveable so you can chose where to take it to be assessed.

 

[KLee]

Thanks so much grober for the checklist. Here in oz this insurer AAMI provides either the valet repair (leave it with them to sort out completely) or get 1 quote of my own and 1 from their approved repairer (ie I do the running around). Both options get their 'lifetime warranty' which having asked again and again what it means apparently means as long as I am not happy with the repair they will relook at it. I was hoping this kind of bang could perhaps get away with the valet option for less hassle. Perhaps I should take it to a MB body shop and get a quote first to get a list of to dos. With the car's age I have no such new car warranties to honour, what would you do? ( Thing is late last year another incident was repaired by a different national insurer and their repairer really did a pants job, the alignment was shite, there were like lacquer sprayed over my other panels, on window corners, and on chrome parts. I am in the midst of lodging a complaint )

 

[grober]

Try to get a few quotes first.

I would certainly try a few body shops including some merc approved ones. The MB ones could probably give you a reasonably accurate estimate from experience without dismantling. The others may refuse to quote without a partial dismantle to see the extent of damage. Get a few detailed written quotes to get a feel for what would be required. Remember the cheapest will not necessarily be the best!

 

[KLee]

Oh some exciting developments going my way ( at last ). I contacted the only authorised MB Paint and Body Repairs dealership in Sydney (Perfect Auto Body) and fortunately their advise concurred with another repairer's - to contact the offender's insurance (Allianz) directly and claim from the offender's Third Party Cover, bypassing my own insurer who would just be passing the claim onwards to Allianz at the end of the day anyway. That way I can insist on the repair shop of choice since it is my right as I am not in the wrong. I did this and it worked! In fact the MB shop knew it would work because MB have their own Comprehensive Insurance underwritten by insurer Allianz, they have dealt with that insurer before. Some fortune its the very same one insuring the offender! So the process should be smooth.

Before I left the MB body shop, I asked his professional opinion regarding the botched job from late last year. At once he said that as he walked up to the car he already noticed the driver's panels were badly finished. He even managed to show me defects I didn't pick up, behind doors etc! It all made me so mad. One could see places the repairer didn't even cover up properly before beginning the paint job. The panels were indeed matte compared to say the bonnet and roof. Arrrgh... my complaint process will start tomorrow! Found out I have to have it relooked at an assessment centre first.

Any industry power words I should use to impress on the insurer's assessor that I know what I'm talking about?

 

[grober]

Just ask them to rectify the defective repair.

Difficult one because if you try to pass yourself off as an expert, you may get found out. The main faults in any paint job would be the following.

1. Poor initial surface preparation leading to imperfections coming through in the paint surface.
2. Poor colour matching of the new paint to the old.
3.Poor spray technique leading to orange peel, (self explanatory) runs, or uneven colour and other finish defects.
4.Poor top clear coat on metalic finish leading to a matte surface finish .
5. Overspray- painting parts that have a different finish. Tyres window frames door handles bumpers etc usually down to poor masking off.
6.Poor final finishing-polishing etc.

Best approach would be to say that the car has been assessed by an independant expert and then list/point out the faults the MB bodyshop guy told you about. Dont get involved in a detailed discussion about how bad the defects are. Just ask how they intend to rectify it!! It also helps to give out the firm impression that the situation is not going to go away unless you get some action!

 

[KLee]

Thanks for your list and terms grober. I can see I will already need to quote "Poor top clear coat on metalic finish ", "Overspray", "poor masking off", "Poor final finishing-polishing ". Yes won't be getting involved in detailed discussions, just to rectify it! Will start getting contact details for their 'final' complaint point should the assessor not own up to keep the pressure on.

I have written a letter to get clarity on the subject and gather facts. But havent sent it, instead I called the insurer that paid for the botched job to get their process on complains/reinspections. First I have to drive to the assessment centre for the reinspection and take it from there.

In your opinion given I have booked the car into MB body shop on coming Monday would it be better to wait until the pending MB repair job is finished? before going into the assessment centre for the reinspection? I'm just thinking I don't want the pending repairs clouding any decisions the assessor might make and when the car is looking good all round then the botched panels would stand out like a sore thumb. What do you think? (the MB job might take up to 2 weeks)

 

[grober]

Difficult call

Very difficult call this.Are the 2 areas- poor side repair and painting ??----rear bumper damage physically separated on the car? It might confuse the issue if some repair / paintwork was done before re-asssessment because the insurer's assessment centre will find it difficult to know what was the original repair and what was new. You should get the original poor work asssessed ASAP and a suitable solution agreed before starting on the rear bumper repair. Tell them you need a decision quickly. If they agree to rectify the original poor work then they may just take the chance to get it sorted at the same time as the bumper since it would probably cost them less in the long run. This would be the best solution provided they are prepared to use your MB body shop.

edit :- the situation is complicated because there are 2 claims involved.The first from your own insurance?? and the second from ALLIANZ via a third party. You might end up paying what the insurance companies call "betterment" This is when the DAMAGED CAR after repair ends up in a BETTER CONDITION than it was before the accident. In the insurance companies eyes the car is now"better" than it was before the accident hence the term. You are asked to pay for that improvement in value. Hope it wont come to that. BUT you must get that assessment done before starting repairs.

 

[Vips]

Klee, sorry to hear about the accident. Hope you get this sorted out properly this time.

I'm still in shock, I just can't believe that it was raining in Australia

 

[KLee]

Very difficult call this.Are the 2 areas- poor side repair and painting ??----rear bumper damage physically separated on the car? It might confuse the issue if some repair / paintwork was done before re-asssessment because the insurer's assessment centre will find it difficult to know what was the original repair and what was new. You should get the original poor work asssessed ASAP and a suitable solution agreed before starting on the rear bumper repair. Tell them you need a decision quickly. If they agree to rectify the original poor work then they may just take the chance to get it sorted at the same time as the bumper since it would probably cost them less in the long run. This would be the best solution provided they are prepared to use your MB body shop.

edit :- the situation is complicated because there are 2 claims involved.The first from your own insurance?? and the second from ALLIANZ via a third party. You might end up paying what the insurance companies call "betterment" This is when the DAMAGED CAR after repair ends up in a BETTER CONDITION than it was before the accident. In the insurance companies eyes the car is now"better" than it was before the accident hence the term. You are asked to pay for that improvement in value. Hope it wont come to that. BUT you must get that assessment done before starting repairs.

Physically the "botched job" panel areas and the pending MB repairs (rear bumper) are separate. The botched job was actually supposed to repair the front driver side wheel arch panel. However the result ended up affecting all the panels on the driver side - driver door, driver window, rear passger door, and rear wheel arch, and even the 1/3 section of roof panel above the door.

The pending MB rear dumper repair booked for Monday I imagine involves replacing the rear bumper and brackets.

Hence why I was confident it might be better to wait till the rear bumper job is all shining new.

 

[grober]

Your call.

If they are distinctly apart then thats good. I cant remember the colour of your car but when painting metalics it is often good practice to blend the colour of the painted panel into adjacent panels. This means that painting/repairing the front wing involves painting the front door,rear door and rear wing to properly blend the colour of the vertical panels on that side. It sounds as if this is what was done in your case, but badly. Personally I would still get it assessed first but its your call.

 

[glojo]

What a very informative thread,
Top marks go to grober for all the detail in his replies which will benefit anyone involved in an incident :bannana: :bannana:

John

 

[grober]

Thank you for your kind words John. I don't profess to be an expert in panelbeating/ painting but unfortunately over the years you tend to learn these things from bitter experience!