MIDIMan

Hi all -

So, my new, pristine phantom-black-pearl A4 got fender-bent by a (clearly jealous) Bimmer. It's relatively minor damage in the scheme of things. He accelerated into my stopped car at a stoplight. So, maybe @ 5-8MPH.

Anyway, the rear bumper has a few dings and scratches in a very specific area. The damage seems quite minor overall, but it's easy to see when the car is newly cleaned and you can see the sun reflect imperfectly where the dings are.

The offending Bimmer owner didn't want to go through insurance, so I got a repair estimate from a local body shop that focuses on high end cars. The estimate was about $550, which would include removing the bumper, sanding it down, re-painting the offending area, and then applying clear-coat over the entire bumper so that it's 'like new.' So, the Bimmer dude freaked out over the price, but the body shop said they'd back up the estimate, so I got the check for $550.

So, is doing this through a body shop that has a "long-as-you-own-the-car guarantee" on their work the right move? I was quite hesitant to go to Audi with this because a) I don't think my dealer even has a body shop, and b) what I didn't want them to see was me having even a minor fender bender and then giving me crap for any warranty work that I might need in the future.

So, is this the right way to go? Am I missing anything? What I don't want is to take this minor damage and end up with a bumper that doesn't match the rest of my car or some crap like that. In other words, I don't want to make a molehill into a mountain, but I would like my car to be back in "like new" condition.

Any advice appreciated.
Thx.

PS - I *think* I'm now having some creeks/pop sounds when going over bumps since the Bimmer Bump (I have the sport suspension, so it's a tight ride to begin with) -- though I'm not sure if they were always there or they're new since. Who would I go to get those resolved? Audi? Again, if I tie these sounds to being bumped by a Bimmer, Audi is never going to consider that warranty work.

SCJ

Get thee to a proper Audi damage estimator!

I touched the back bumper of a Honda CRV with my front left bumper (much less than 5 MPH), and my damage was $1800. His was $700.

MIDIMan

Where would I find one of those?

SCJ

Call your insurance company.

snagitseven

I just went through the same scenario last month. Back bumper dinged and dented in from a driver jumping the gun when the light turned green.

I went to three shops and received estimates with the dealer's large body shop seemingly the most experienced (they do these all the time just as you described). Their estimate was in the middle range at the same $550 you were quoted. One said the bumper needed replacing ($1500) and the other two, including the dealer's shop, said that was not necessary or even desireable. A bumper replacement requires a lot more paint extending to the fenders. I was told that clearcoat needs to go to next seam (the fenders) due to feathering the paint into the fenders would be needed to not have the bumper color look different. Painting the bumper only is much easier to match the paint and do the clearcoat.

It takes quite a hit to damage the underpinnings of the bumper causing a need for replacement. You are probably ok if it was a minor hit. They will know or sure when they remove the bumper for the repair.

Ask the body shop to show you some of their work. If what they show you looks good, have them do the job. My dealer's shop showed me lots of luxury cars in process including many bumpers. On those that were finished, I couldn't tell that they had been repaired. All of this is a pain in the butt. Good luck.

MIDIMan

Thanks for the info. Very reassuring and quite helpful. Any issues/concerns with the dealer knowing about the damage? I mean, the concern I have is that I also have these creaks over bumps that may (or may not) be related to the bump. In your opinion, any chance that having this fender bender on the record at the dealer could cause warranty-related service issues in the future?

This is primarily why I want to an independent body shop vs. Audi (oh, and the price).

Any additional info/insight appreciated!

Jon

snagitseven

It's not going to really matter one way or the other. If there is mechanical or structural damage as a result of a collision, the dealer's service shop will be able to tell regardless. You won't be likely to slide it through under warranty. If the hit was minor, I doubt you have any mechanical damage. If there is, as I stated in my message, the repair shop will be able to detect it when the bumper cover is removed and you (or the offending party) will be responsible for the repair in any case. A low speed hit as you described might more than likely cause damage to the bumper structure rather than any other structural components of the car. That's what they're designed to do - absorb up to 10(?) mph hits. There's quite bit of absorbing foam material and steel under the bumper cover.

If the hit was minor and you're getting noises from the suspension, it is likely something else. For example, I had a motor mount bolt that was not torqued properly and was causing a "gronking" noise during low speed turns. Dealer fixed and all is well.

Hope this helps.

markinarch

$550 Sounds right. I was rear ended a month ago and it cost $490 with similar damage to what you had. The shop recommended by GEICO sucked though so i will have to take it back for them to fix the SCRATCHES they put in my bumper and the wet sanding they forgot to buff to shine.

good luck. I don't think you will have any structural problems at that low speed. A tahoe hit me the at the same speed and everything seems OK with the suspension- Audi even OK'd it and agreed that I did not need a new bumper..

sly1

I would take pictures of the damage before the repair. If the repair shop reports the damage, it will show up in Carfax and it could hurt your resale value. The damage is so minor that it shouldn't affect resale, but why take the chance.

MIDIMan

Hi Mark,

Did you first bring it to Audi for advice as to where to take the car?