Just picked up a 98 TF. It's done about 180k km's, but brought it at an awesome price. Only problem is that the previous owner got rear ended, and the rear bumper is a bit out of shape. No structural damage, only cosmetic. Anyway, I noticed there are metal brakets holding the bumber on, but these are bent. Am i right in thinking that the bumber may be straightend to some degree by bending those brakets back into shape, or am i going to have to source a new bumper?

Any help would be appriciated

http://www.geocities.com/strung_out_cast/1.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/strung_out_cast/2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/strung_out_cast/3.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/strung_out_cast/4.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/strung_out_cast/5.jpg

Remove the plastic cover & shoot some pix of the structural damage behind it.

Minor damage where the metal bar is bent but has not touched the metal shell can be bent back. If the metal bar has hit the car shell then the shell is possibly bent too... might get boot water leakage issues.


Rear end damage... 99% of the time should be other guy's fault - insurance cover??

Welcome to Aussie Magna :D

Nice car... I am pretty sure I remember seeing this car for sale. Was it advertised on CarSales.com?

Looks almost exactly the same as my car did after I was hit and unfortunately sometimes when the bar does not pop back out it is because the supports behind it have been pushed in and yeah the damages should have been covered by insurance unless the driver made a deal and took the money or something.

Open your boot and look down where the spare is and see if the panel has been pushed in... mine had been shunted so the panel was touching the spare tyre and not only needed new brackets but a new bumper skin and some boot panel work.

http://neilk.customer.netspace.net.au/HyperTF/bump4.jpg

nice pick up man... i just got my 98 tf a few weeks back only had 71000kms on it ;) but i was just lucky :P even tho im loving it!!... such a nice drive :) enjoy

Thanks for the help and the welcome ;) , I actually pick the car up tomorrow(hopefully), I took the pictures on sunday when i put the deposit down. I'll try to post some pics with the bumber off asap. Before I put the deposit down i had a look inside the boot and where the spare tyre is and there appeared to be no sign of bending or dinting, the extent of the damage seems to only be the plastic rear bar and the brakets. As for insurance, the previous owner decieded that the insurance excess cost didnt justify the damage done.

HyperTF: it may have been on carsales, but i found it through drive.com.au.

... As for insurance, the previous owner decieded that the insurance excess cost didnt justify the damage done.
If (1) its the rear guy's fault and (2) the guilty guy's insured, your PO shouldn't be paying anything.

You should be able to bang that out yourself. Give it a go and see what happens. I've banged out stuff that's worse than that and it looks like new. Otherwise you might just need to get a panel beater to fix it up.

I'm positive that the metal intrusion bar would be bent too. My rear ending didn't look that bad and still had it bent. Since I wasn't paying it was $600 to fix at inflated insurance prices. Involed getting new plastic bumper, metal intrusion bar, painting, fitting etc.

http://www.users.on.net/~driver/aussiemagna/dent2.jpg
http://www.users.on.net/~driver/aussiemagna/dent1.jpg

My rear bumper is also bent. Any idea on the cost of replacing the rear bumper?

The bumper itself is around ~170-180 i THINK. Metal bar bit was 130. + Paint

I'm not 100% sure, it's almost 2 months since I saw the quote.

If (1) its the rear guy's fault and (2) the guilty guy's insured, your PO shouldn't be paying anything.

perhaps they PO reversed into someone?

anyways, whats it matter, the car has been bought and its now the new owners problem