[gb33]

Earlier today was in bumper-to-bumper traffic, was standing with my foot lightly on the brake when I got hit by a woman in an older Ford Focus from behind. Wasn't that hard a hit so I'm guessing she was moving at a slow walking speed or so when it happened. I think it lurched my car forward about 15cm.

She volunteered her info and I told her that I would assess any possible damage soon. I pulled later into a car park and took a look at things, and cannot find any evidence of damage (her Focus looked ok to me after it happened too). The Corsa's rear doors and boot all have the same gaps as before and open/close smoothly without any odd noises, and there's no cracks or scuff marks in the plastic bumper cover. Also peered under back of car and can't see any sign of bent sheetmetal, and the car's suspension/driving dynamics seem fine.

I'm inclined to let her know that all is well, but I just wanted to make sure first that there's nothing that I'm overlooking.

Do Corsa Bs have any unusual fragility issues in light impacts that are out of the ordinary (like a Lotus Elise) that I should be aware of? Usually cars are built to handle car park bumps pretty well and I'm assuming that the Corsa is no different.

 

[Hardcore]

If the boot opens and closes ok you should be ok.
Check under the carpet inside for any buckled or crumpled metal.

 

[RenRenRen]

There's a crash bar behind the rear bumper that may have taken the impact, if you can't see anything from underneath and the inside of the boot looks fine under the carpet I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[Lee]

I'd agree with both of the above statements.

 

[Vegas]

Under boot carpet, other than that I wouldn't be bothered about structural

 

[gb33]

Thanks Hardcore, RenRenRen, Lee and Vegas.

I checked under the carpet and there's no sign of any damage, fortunately. :thumbs_up:

 

[dannyboy17]

Might be worth taking the bumper off if the crash bar is bent next time something like that happens could do worse damege but if the boot floor isnt damaged doubt there is any bad damage

 

[gb33]

Might be worth taking the bumper off if the crash bar is bent next time something like that happens could do worse damege but if the boot floor isnt damaged doubt there is any bad damage

I was actually thinking of doing that tomorrow morning before work, to check if the crash bar is buckled -- as you and RenRenRen pointed out it can take away from the 'cushion' of any future accident (if would suck to have another minor impact next week and have the frame damaged because the crash bar was already a pancake).

I'm holding off on ringing the driver at fault until I can be sure that its ok.

 

[gb33]

I removed the plastic bumper cover today to inspect the crash bar, which turned out to be fine.

So let the record show (for future reference on allcorsa) that if you get hit from behind at walking speeds (~3 mph) whilst your car is stationary, that the plastic bumper and crash bar can absorb the impact without deforming.

 

[dannyboy17]

Good to hear