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Backed my Prius into a brick wall

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by Bruce Nyhlen, May 19, 2008.

  1. Bruce Nyhlen

    Bruce Nyhlen Junior Member

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    This last weekend we took our 2005 on a road trip. 50 plus MPG. while trying to get out of a small parking lot at the hotel, backed it into a wall. I was not going that fast but i heard a loud noise and our heads were wiped around a little.

    Got out of the car expecting to see major damage. The rear bumper seem to slip down a little on the driver side. I pushed it back up and it looks fine now. The bumper has a few real small scratches and little dents here and there, but you really have to look to find them.

    Needless to say, I am unhappy about hitting the wall, but boy I am impressed with the car that more damage didn't happen.
     
    #1 Bruce Nyhlen, May 19, 2008
  2. lfwintx

    lfwintx New Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    I'm glad to hear that you didn't have any major damage!
     
    #2 lfwintx, May 19, 2008
  3. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    the plastic bumper shells seems to hold up well. what you may want to have looked at in the future is the underlayment. most likely, you crushed the foam that's under there and you may have bent the rear bumper plate (although unlikely at such a low speed)

    I'm impressed by all the abuse i serve to my prius too....
     
    #3 V8Cobrakid, May 19, 2008
  4. NaptownPrius

    NaptownPrius Getting Greener....

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    Just curious...any backup camera on your car?
     
    #4 NaptownPrius, May 19, 2008
  5. Keri

    Keri New Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    Glad to know that the Prius withstood the impact so well. How did the wall fare?
     
    #5 Keri, May 19, 2008
  6. Bruce Nyhlen

    Bruce Nyhlen Junior Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    The wall is fine, and I do not have a backup camera. I test drove one with a backup camera and was not really impressed. I may be helpful to make sure no kids were behind the car, but I don't think it would have helped this time.

    The lesson learned from this is when your in a real tight area and someone (my wife) is available, use a spotter.

    I sure plan to be more careful
     
    #6 Bruce Nyhlen, May 19, 2008
  7. Qlara

    Qlara New Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    Most cars can withstand 5mph impact, that's the Fed standard.
    Besides you're hitting a flat wall, so the impact force are evenly distributed across the bumper. It's not like you're hitting the back at an angle or back into a Pole.

    But when you heard the loud pop sound, this indicate some of the rear bumper cover's fasteners/retaining clips maybe dislodged or popped off during the impact. Try looking at the bottom side of the bumper and see if itis missing any clips.
     
    #7 Qlara, May 19, 2008
  8. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    If the backup camera wouldn't help in this situation, you are too blind to drive! :D

    Seriously, I have the backup camera on my 2006, and I can use it to back up to within an inch of the bumper. The only reason it wouldn't work is if you choose not to look at it.

    Tom
     
    #8 qbee42, May 19, 2008
  9. tasker109

    tasker109 New Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    this isnt about our prius, but about our lesabre...i was parked at the at&t mini mall, standing at the cashiers counter when i actually saw a toyota sequoia back into my car. being a woman, i squealed............got everyones attention for sure... and then hollered he just ran into my car!!!!!!!!!!! i threw my stuff down and ran out to make sure the guy stopped. he hit the left rear corner of the lesabre and the whole corner was caved in, probably about a foot across and a little less top to bottom....cracked the tail light lens too. the guy apologized and parked and started digging for his insurance card. while we were standing there, i heard this loud "POP". turned to my car and the dent was magically gone!! i couldnt believe it. there were some good size scratches but the dent was gone.hehe.....after i got done with the guy, i went back in at&t and the clerk said......ummmm....wasnt there a dent in your bumper???? yeah there was....the autobody guy said the vinyl bumpers are made out of memory material and he sees cars all the time that the dents just pop out all by themselves.. it was still 800 dollars damage though.....the guy that hit me had a cow because he didnt think it was that bad..he just paid me under the table and my hubby put some rtv on the taillight lens........looks fine...
     
    #9 tasker109, May 19, 2008
  10. briansabeans

    briansabeans New Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    Definitely. I love it when people in their cars in front or behind me give me dirty looks for coming so close to their car while parking. Little do they know, there's no chance I'm going to hit them.
     
    #10 briansabeans, May 19, 2008
  11. Bruce Nyhlen

    Bruce Nyhlen Junior Member

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    Re: Backed my Prius into a brick walll

    I had a oil change done yesterday and asked the Service Manager to check under the rear bumper for damage. They said that they did not not see any damage. It seems that I luck out and came out of this with only real minor bumber scratches.

    Thanks for the advice to check under the bumber and also to the folks who gave me a rough time, I did learn from this and will be more careful in the future. Our goal is to keep this car for many many years and backing it into walls is not going to help.
     
    #11 Bruce Nyhlen, May 22, 2008
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