Rear Ended, how much damage can a towbar take?

[Skylarking]

I was rear ended at a relatively low 20km/h or less around 9 months ago..... The total bill for the repairs came in at around $6500 plus the cost of a hire car for 9 weeks while they waited on certain parts. The guy that hit me was in a old corolla and only had third party insurance. Then his wife picked him up in a brand new Porsche Caymen.

Yeah costs can quickly add up for what initially looks like a very minor bump that one could fix with a dunny plunger.

Odd that he obviously can afford a much safer car but chooses to drive around in an old corolla. Maybe he's a nostalgic kind of guy but sometimes there is a fine line between nostalgic and tightwad

At least he was decent enough to have 3rd party insurance as other tightwads aren't so considerate to their fellow road users. Which is why i always get what i think is quality comprehensive insurance from a reputable company. And if in an unfortunate crash, i alway claim through my policy. Bugger the other guy with his hard luck stories as @figjam posted.

 

[Skylarking]

Agree with Skylark - transfer of energy (or momentum) by the towbar to the car body and your body will be significant. The cracks in the paint show the amount of movement that has been experienced by the hitch as a result of the impact.
The hitch should be discarded, the towbar is suspect and the car may be slightly shorter....

The hitch should be discarded as should the lock pin and any tow bar to chassis bolts that have been placed in shear stress by the impact itself. But that's too much work and thinking by the insurance company so if anything looks like it has bent, they simply replace the lot due to future liability concerns.

When i used to get parts from wreckers in my younger days, i preferred going to ones that allow you to pick used parts off crumpled cars yourself. That way I could assess how an impact occured and whether the part i'm after was stressed in some way that I think could compromise the parts itself.

 

[KING46Calais V]

@iamandrew tow bars are very strong but in an impact they will transfers considerable more force to the vehicle rails that it attaches to. Without a tow bar, the forces are distributed a little differently and the foam does an amazing job to spread and absorb the impact - tow bars not so much.

I’ve seen rear endings on vehicles with tow bars and the rear doesn’t look very bad at all. But when you look at the gap of the rear doors they can be a little closer than they were before the crash. Opening the doors may also highlight that that the 1/4 panel has moved forward a little. So it can be a little more involved to return the car to pre accident condition than one initially suspects.

As mentioned, get your car assessed as a first step but also check the 1/4’s and mention your concern with the tow bar. I would want the tow bar replaced as a matter of safety.

Insurance companies may be cheap with some things but in this day of lifetime guarantee they won’t want to compromise vehicle safety so I don’t think you’d have too much hassle. But do stay involved with the repair process as the panel shop is working for the insurance company so you may need to politely nudge them (panel shop and/or insurance company) to do a top job.

Oh, and in a crash ever again, if un-injured, take a photo of the other driver (some don’t like it) and write down their license details (name, address, licence number), their rego and a vehicle description (make, body type, colour, etc), details about the crash and its location. I also take photos of visible damage of both car and their placement if they haven’t been moved. Doing so makes it much simpler if the other driver is in a dodgy car with dodgy rego.

I do this as I’ve been in a situation where the at fault guy wasn’t answering my sms’s or the insurances companies calls or letters and my insurance company was trying to push me to pay excess which would be refunded when they recovered their costs - no way did I pay excess as I’d done exactly what was required of me by the insurance company to identify the at fault party and other vehicle as specified in the policy manual.

This is where front and rear facing dash cams are worth every cent.

 

[mwb235]

This is where front and rear facing dash cams are worth every cent.

I second this. I wouldn't drive without both front and rear cams now.

 

[White Swan]

All the damage you can't see would be worrying me.

 

[KING46Calais V]

All the damage you can't see would be worrying me.

All that force has to be absorbed somewhere. And I bet it wasn't in the tow bar.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Yeah costs can quickly add up for what initially looks like a very minor bump that one could fix with a dunny plunger.

Odd that he obviously can afford a much safer car but chooses to drive around in an old corolla. Maybe he's a nostalgic kind of guy but sometimes there is a fine line between nostalgic and tightwad

At least he was decent enough to have 3rd party insurance as other tightwads aren't so considerate to their fellow road users. Which is why i always get what i think is quality comprehensive insurance from a reputable company. And if in an unfortunate crash, i alway claim through my policy. Bugger the other guy with his hard luck stories as @figjam posted.

i just had a look at the invoice and the final cost was $6140. Plus the hire car on top of that.

after the guy hit me, he tried to arrange comprehensive insurance through his Porsche insurance while we were exchanging details as he also got hit up the back after he hit me.

The third car driver then blamed me for the accident. 'it's your (my) fault as you stopped!'. No sh*t, I stopped because the truck in front of me stopped at the traffic lights...

And yes, I also have front and rear dash cams.

As someone said above, there is often more damage than the eye can see. Go through your insurance and get a damn good repairer.

 

[Skylarking]

...after the guy hit me, he tried to arrange comprehensive insurance through his Porsche insurance while we were exchanging details as he also got hit up the back after he hit me...

Arrange comprehensive insurance after a crash and then making a claim; that’s a great way to get charged for fraud. Seems he’s not nostalgic but a tightwad of low morals

...The third car driver then blamed me for the accident. 'it's your (my) fault as you stopped!'. No sh*t, I stopped because the truck in front of me stopped at the traffic lights...

Peoples stupidity has no bounds.

Wish police were always involved in crash analysis and were required to find fault and take licenses from these poorly skilled drivers who simply don’t understand their obligations in law. May be such a system would force these morons to finally comprehend and drive to the prevailing conditions and keep safe distance from the car in front.

 

[KING46Calais V]

The hitch should be discarded as should the lock pin and any tow bar to chassis bolts that have been placed in shear stress by the impact itself. But that's too much work and thinking by the insurance company so if anything looks like it has bent, they simply replace the lot due to future liability concerns.

When i used to get parts from wreckers in my younger days, i preferred going to ones that allow you to pick used parts off crumpled cars yourself. That way I could assess how an impact occured and whether the part i'm after was stressed in some way that I think could compromise the parts itself.

I remember those days.
Was a Saturday morning ritual with the old man.
To think I bought a driveable windowless EK panel van for $100. If I only had that now..... q

 

[Skylarking]

All that force has to be absorbed somewhere. And I bet it wasn't in the tow bar.

usually it’s absorbed by the wallet in one way or another