What you reckon on the effectiveness of the bumper bar on TJ Magnas? Are they there just for look? They are very shallow and I doubt they can resist <5km bump like my old 86 Subaru does.

the bumper is for looks coz no one wants to see the reo hiding behind it

What you reckon on the effectiveness of the bumper bar on TJ Magnas? Are they there just for look? They are very shallow and I doubt they can resist <5km bump like my old 86 Subaru does.
Front or rear? How much 'damage' were you not expecting? :badgrin:

Bought a nice TH (same bumpers as TJ) week before and 7 days into ownership,
a stupid Furd-driving lady decides to reverse into it HARD whilst touchparking. :rant:
Probably be about 5-10km/h... we were feeding the meter when it happened.

Bumper bar & support look ok, but plastic cover has a crease, paint is crazed. :cry:

the bumper bar is definitely not just for looks. Yes an '86 subie (and most other early 80's and older) would be built tough and small accidents won't see too much of a damage.

But wait until you have a high speed accident, one will safely absorb the energy from the impact with its crumple properties, and the other won't.

That is why I will not ever buy a pre-90's car as a daily driver.

Front or rear? How much 'damage' were you not expecting? :badgrin:

Bought a nice TH (same bumpers as TJ) week before and 7 days into ownership,
a stupid Furd-driving lady decides to reverse into it HARD whilst touchparking. :rant:
Probably be about 5-10km/h... we were feeding the meter when it happened.

Bumper bar & support look ok, but plastic cover has a crease, paint is crazed. :cry:

Well, a low speed bump from behind, bumper plastic seem to break at 2 attached points. Didn't deformed to absorb some impact. Instead, the car body behind the bumper took the impact and cause the car to be unlockable. Comparing this to my previous Subaru 86' wagon, the bumper would of deformed and absorb some if not all the impact.

Anyway, this NRMA crap is driving me crazy. A small impact damage is going to take 2 weeks wait...

Ah, the great thing about the Verada bumpers is they withstand 5 mph impacts for US standards. My wife tapped a late model Commodore a few weeks ago and the only damage on the wagon is the number plate is now flat, I don't have the bracket. The Commodore's "diffuser" trim fell off! Shame the wagon rear bumper is just a plastic fascia.

the actual bumper bar cover is for looks

the instrusion bar , reinforcement bar behind the cover is wqhat takes the impact

the actual bumper bar cover is for looks

the instrusion bar , reinforcement bar behind the cover is wqhat takes the impact

I understand that. I mean the bumper bar as a whole unit (i.e. plastic cover + the metal bits behind it). It doesn't seem the magna have the metal bits behind the plastic to withstand low speed bumps.

that bar will do alot for low speeds, if the magna or any car didnt have it then your rad support would be mush whenever u hit something at low speed

yeah your old subie probably would withstand more impact at low speeds, but cars these days have more hi speed crashes in mind, hence why they crumble alot easier than older cars

It doesn't seem the magna have the metal bits behind the plastic to withstand low speed bumps.
it does.
If you've got the car, just lie on the ground and stick your head under the front lip
and you'll easily see the metal bar behind it at the front. Rear is harder to see.

But the bar doesn't go all the way to the corners, its about 6" short so
if you klonk the bumper's corners it'll just cave in - very ugly.