Car hit in rear; very little visible damage; should I have batteries checked?

[howardbc]

Well, my precious 2008 Prius was hit in the rear by an uninsured driver yesterday. I was sitting at a red light, looking at the traffic light, waiting for it to change, when “Blam!” this older Nissan Sentra runs into the back of me. I was shook up, but fortunately there seems to be only superficial scratches on the back of my car. The car was from California and had a license plate frame on the front of his car and that’s what scratched the back of my car. I have a $1000 deductible, so no way I’m going to file a claim. The police did come and make a report. The other guy’s car was towed because he had no insurance. My question is should I have my car checked out by the Toyota dealer? Could any damage have been done to the batteries from a fairly small impact? I’m thinking it would be unlikely, but I don’t want to fail to have everything checked out. What does everyone think? Thanks.

[Betelgeuse]

I seriously doubt there's any damage done to any batteries. If anything, I might be concerned about the 12V battery. The traction batteries (i.e. the main, expensive ones) are located under (and just behind) the rear seats, so they certainly wouldn't be impacted in a small rear-end collision. You'd have to destroy a lot of the rear of the car before you'd even get near these batteries. It's also highly unlikely that there's any damage to the 12V battery. It's in the back there, but if there's only superficial damage to the rear bumper, I think it's really unlikely that there's anything wrong with the battery.

That said, you should be aware that, even with just superficial damage to the bumper cover (i.e. what you're really seeing), there could be some small but significant damage to the shock absorber, which is between the bumper cover and the bumper. If that's the case, there's always the chance that it won't protect you in a future, more severe accident. Now, full disclosure: I backed into someone 3 years ago and had much more significant damage than what you had (i.e. the bumper cover has a crease in the top) and haven't bothered to get it replaced.

[HTMLSpinnr]

+1 on what's under the bumper cover. I was "lightly" rear ended in the 2004 Prius (guy was insured, fortunately) and they had to do some straightening. No battery worries though.

Does your policy have underinsured/uninsured motorist that waives deductible?

[howardbc]

Thank you for the responses. I had the car checked out by the Toyota dealership where I bought my last couple of Toyotas and where I have had them serviced for years. They reported no damage to the bumper. It really was a "slow speed" collision that fortunately didn't deploy the air bags. It was enough to really shake me up but fortunately appears to have done no more damage than a small dent (1/2 inch wide) and a scratch (1/2 inch long). Yes, I do have the uninsured driver's insurance. Since the incident, I have taken to giving the driver behind me the "evil eye" when they are approaching me at a red light, and so far it seems to have kept them at a respectful distance in back of me most of the time. At least I feel like I'm doing something.