2001 xc70 rear ended, lightly

[ajf10]

My wife was rear ended while at a stop sign by a teenager in an impreza. There is some scuffing to the bumper cover and a little ding in it, but no dent, and no other visible body damage.

Based on this description, is there any likely structural damage that can't be seen, and should I have it looked at by a body shop, or should I forget about it?

I am afraid that no matter what the damage, a body shop is going to recommend a bumper replacement to the tune of $2000 or so.

[JAGMAN]

Not sure about the XC, but R rear bumpers come painted from Volvo ready to install for ~$450, you might want to check it out. Easy to install too, and far cheaper than it would cost to have a body shop fix.

[JRL]

My wife was rear ended while at a stop sign by a teenager in an impreza. There is some scuffing to the bumper cover and a little ding in it, but no dent, and no other visible body damage.

Based on this description, is there any likely structural damage that can't be seen, and should I have it looked at by a body shop, or should I forget about it?

I am afraid that no matter what the damage, a body shop is going to recommend a bumper replacement to the tune of $2000 or so.
If you were hit at low speeds you won't have any structural damage.
Replacement is in the 5-$600 range plus about 45 minutes to install

[skibo]

Is there any soft of 'energy absorbing' material or structures in there? For instance, my old cars have hydraulic-shock-damper things between the frame and the big steel bumper, and I'm told newer cars often have foam behind the plastic facing.

[littlewaywelt]

My wife was rear ended while at a stop sign by a teenager in an impreza. There is some scuffing to the bumper cover and a little ding in it, but no dent, and no other visible body damage.

Based on this description, is there any likely structural damage that can't be seen, and should I have it looked at by a body shop, or should I forget about it?

I am afraid that no matter what the damage, a body shop is going to recommend a bumper replacement to the tune of $2000 or so.

Same thing happened to me. We had the dealer pull the bumper cover after reading a similar story here, or on Swedespeed where there was no visible damage, but several months later when summer came, the sun heated up the bumper and the sub bumper damage became visible as the bumper molded in the hot sun.

[07xc70]

We just got this repair done on our 07 XC70.

Replacing rear bumper, including skid plate, was close to $1000. This is at an "Volvo authorized" body shop in the Bay Area. If it had been only the skidplate and the frame around it, the price would have been about half (less than $500).

Our insurance insisted that the bumper should be replaced too, even though it had only very minor cosmetic damage. Since it was all covered, we had no objections [happy].

[jmoser]

I removed the rear bumper when I installed the OEM hitch on my 2001 XC.
The bumper is merely the outer black cladding over a styrene foam [ie white coffee cup material] core. You could bend it in half over your knee - very flimsy.

The design is based on the foam crushing to adsorb impact energy. The black cladding is just a hard shell with minimal impact performance. Since the foam crushes under impact it is a 'sacrificial' component - ie you can't use it twice.

There is no way to know how much it crushed in your case without removing the bumper. If it looks OK you may just want to let it go - the bumper is not going to do much anyway in a strong collision. If you get tapped again in the same spot it may push in to the sheet metal but that's what insurance is for!

Modern car bumpers are designed to protect the sheet metal in 2 -3 mph impacts max. Backing up and bumping a light pole - that sort of stuff. Vehicle to vehicle collisions at any speed are way way beyond the bumper's threshold.

FYI labor to replace is about 45 - 60 minutes actual time.