Rear-ended.

[roblobstuhh]

Hello all,

I'm a first-time driver today, and of all days, I also got rear-ended whilst driving my Yaris while stopped at an intersection--three times (the lady's explanation was that she had a foot spasm and so her foot let go three times). My car moved each time and that's when I stepped out of the car to check and there wasn't any dent at all on my rear bumper and there's only a slight scratch mark on the very bottom by the license plate. At home, I checked the bumper and it seemed to be good, not about to fall out, although I start to move it up and down and seemed to be very slightly loose (I dunno if that's normal). Anyway, I let it go, seeing as her car didn't have any dent either and she must have been going at ~5 miles. Still, I'm shaken since this is technically my first "accident." My question to you all here is, since I'm paranoid, should I check anything in my car that would compromise safety after the incident? I've read that internal damages could happen very often with these kinds of incidents. Also, would this kind of incident damage the motor? Like I said, I'm lowlier than a noob right now and I just want some enlightenment and assurance.

Thanks to you all in advance.

[TPA5]

I would be confident in saying the engine is fine; your bumper may or may not have had some things go loose. Even small, slow crunches can shake things up. Personally, I would still have collected her info, even if it seemed small. Always be on the safe side (also a 'foot spasm'? More like foolish driver) Three times is ridiculous, I would have grabbed her info for the sake of it. If you're truly concerned, a body shop could tell you for sure if anythings wrong. Though in this case I think you're safe.

[Amdkt7]

Chances are pretty good that there is no damage if the bumper has no marks on it.
I discovered my new Yaris had the bumper coming detached on the one side, no marks at all on the car. Suspect someone tapped it. I snapped it back in place and everything was fine.

Someone slammed into the back of my Honda when it was brand new too. Not a mark on the bumper, I was expecting it to be smashed, she hit me so hard.

It's best to collect all the information you can from the other driver when things like that happen. Insurance information most important, then DL, registration, tags, make/model of car...

I got pretty much screwed over by thinking the cops would get the information and put it in the police report.... not!

[brg88tx]

I backed up into a big concrete pole the other day and hit pretty hard. I had no dent either, just scratches.

[cali yaris]

You might have increased rattles and noises in the car after an accident like that, but it's pretty hard to prove the accident caused them. Glad you are ok and she didn't accidentally spasm the gas pedal instead. :wink:

[justjesus]

^heck yeah! good thing.

if these were small bumps, you should be okay. I've seen countless estimates (work as a claims adjuster). You wont know for sure until the bumper cover comes off. You can try this yourself, or have a shop do it. Shop will probably charge a "tear down" fee.

The internals underneath the bumper cover were designed to absorb. Small bumps into them and they're fine. Stronger impacts will potentially damage them.

[Hamster]

The bumper is indeed normally slightly "loose" (i.e. you can very slightly wiggle it around). However, it might be that yours got a little looser? Also, without seeing pictures, how bad is that "slight" scratch? If it's highly noticible, than the other person's insurance company will pay to have your bumper refinished.

Foot spams? Yeah, that's a new one!

[bairjo]

I get rear ended everyday at work. But if I was you I would take your car to the Toyota dealer and have it checked out and walk away with a piece of paper telling me what is wrong, if anything, and then go from there.

[Astroman]

I get rear ended everyday at work.

:bellyroll:
Work in porn?

[Sir A.Y. Atoyot]

When our Yaris was rear ended the bumper was only slightly scuffed, but since this kind of accident is generally assessed as 100% the other driver's fault, we made an insurance claim anyway. Turned out that one of the shock struts was bent - the total bill with paint etc. came to a couple thousand bucks.