So I'm parked in bumper to bumper traffic 0mph. I'm scanning all over and even see this older lady stopped behind me. Suddenly i'm rear ended in the number 1 lane by the civic probably 5-10mph. The surprise hit me soo quickly that I thought someone might have smacked into me from the right lane or the guy in front of me suddenly went in reverse.

I collect myself and realize what had happened. I could even see her holding her face and pointing to the left towards the shoulder. Luckily I'm on the break and didn't domino into the guy in front of me.

I pull over and she steps out immediately yelling at me that she thinks there's no damage to her car or that she can't see anything on mine.

I step out examine the damage on both sides (totally expecting an inverted bump in my freshly cleaned and waxed rear bumper or a good dent and maybe a broken lense somewhere). To my surprise there's a little hole from where her license plate hit me and a slight bend in just above the top right corner of the license plate surround.

To add insult to injury she's ewwing and awwing... "how about I just give you $20 to get it fixed...." I get that hint in her voice that tells me I'm going to turn around and expect that stupid smile as if she's holding a lollipop and I'm supposed to be that 3-year old who's dumbfounded by the sound of cold hard cash!

I try to get pass the fact that most people are oblivious to the cost of paint, bondo, sanding down, primers, clear coats, new bumpers, fixing HOLES in urethane, plastic or the labor costs of such an endeavoror any combination thereof. Or maybe its the fact that she might think I'm some punk kid who must be on the way to short-bus school or my job flipping burgers at mc donalds (after all I was wearing a suit and tie!)

I just want to get on with my bloody day and get my errands done before work and before my weekend.

I give her a nod and just tell her that everything seems fine.

I step into my car to start it up and be on my way and the bloody airbag light comes on and stays ON! F"""! Is it going to go off? Will it not go off when its supposed to? Is there a way to fix it? Will it be an astronomical cost when labor and a crushed sensor is taken into account?

So I give her the bad news and swap info with her. My dilema now is do I just call my insurance and have them work on it or is there a simple fix? Has this happen to anyone and if it has what possible hazards does anyone really know of that are possible?

Is there anyway to diagnos or check? How the hell do you disassemble the rear bumper?

 

your insurance will look over the damage, determine the amount to fix, and then cut you a check for that amount. This includes the airbag sensor and the slight damage to the bumper.

As far as checking the condition of the sensor, I don't know. However, I do know that if the light is on there is something wrong with the sensor and I wouldn't trust it to a quick fix....definitely not something to skimp on.

 

Your airbag system is most likely disabled. Like Mbasile said take it to a shop and have your insurance company look over it.

 

should it matter to the dealer that my car has engine mods (exhaust: turboback) suspension mods etc? in your experiences?

Thanks for the input. Its much appreciated!