Bugger!

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

Spent the last few weeks getting the Prado ready for a camping trip up north starting next week. Going to work yesterday sitting in traffic I got absolutely cleaned up from behind by a young lad in a Yaris. No skids or apparent braking, just full impact so not sure what was going on there.

Got out to have a look at the damage, his car was an absolute mess but the Prado didn't look too bad. On later inspection it looks like the towbar took the brunt of the hit. I found that the rear wheel carrier surround was damaged and the wheel cover had been pushed into the door causing some minor damage to the door. The bumper had a few scratches but had returned to its original shape and the towbar anti rattle bolt took a big hit.

When I went to the crash repairer today while the guy was looking at the Prado I mentioned that the other car was a Yaris. He immediately knew who it was, "Yeah we just recently fixed his car and he was in again yesterday", looks like some people are very slow learners.

I'm not too worried about the cosmetic damage as that can wait but pretty keen to replace the towbar. Is there anything else I should look out for?

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

Yes. Look out for that twat!

More seriously. From an amature perspective I would do the following:
1. Get under and look for kinks in the exhaust anywhere including marks where it may have pushed against the body
2. make sure all rear lights including the interior work
3. If its a cast iron tow bar ask that it be replace as it may be stress fractured bearing the brunt of the hit.

NOTE: looking for transfered pressurepoints is not so much for damage to the exhaust, but damage to other more expensive bits that will be easier to claim now rather than in 12 months when hey fail.

Good luck.

mlc

[Guest Close Guest]

Check the chassis to make sure that it is OK. No point bolting a new towbar to a crook chassis only to have it fail during your trip. but I guess you can't bolt on the towbar if the chassis is stuffed anyway.

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Check all door gaps and panel gaps as well it doesn't take much to twist a new car.

[prh Member Find all posts View Profile Close prh]

Going to work yesterday sitting in traffic I got absolutely cleaned up from behind by a young lad in a Yaris. No skids or apparent braking, just full impact so not sure what was going on there.

Very likely the lad was engaged in something far more important than exercising due care and attention: Texting, dialing, facebooking... Some years ago, I nearly got rear-ended by a bloke who was shaving.

[Tazdevil Moderated member Find all posts View Profile Close Tazdevil]

Sorry, I have to say it.

"It was a close shave'

[KAKADAZ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close KAKADAZ]

Sorry, I have to say it.

"It was a close shave'

I'll pay that....

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

Nothing like a pain shared

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Yep, insurance companies are pretty good with swapping out the towbar. I got mine swapped out to the HR when I was rear ended.

Make sure the rear door lines up, if it has moved the spare and subsequently moved the door that is big dollars if it has moved the rear door mounts.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

I am not an engineer or mechanic, but what is needed is a bar that fits across the back of the Prado (does not need to be all the way across) and slots into the tow bar mount, and is mounted with an inbuilt crumple zone, so that if some f@#kwit runs into the back, the bar absorbs most of the impact to avoid damage to the rest of the chassis, bumper, door, etc.

That's the best I can explain it, and if someone made/sold one, I'm sure a few people would buy one, including me.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

Very likely the lad was engaged in something far more important than exercising due care and attention: Texting, dialing, facebooking... Some years ago, I nearly got rear-ended by a bloke who was shaving.

I have seen a girl eating a bowl of cereal, holding the bowl with one hand, and I assume steering with the knees while using the other hand to feed her face!

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

I am not an engineer or mechanic, but what is needed is a bar that fits across the back of the Prado (does not need to be all the way across) and slots into the tow bar mount, and is mounted with an inbuilt crumple zone, so that if some f@#kwit runs into the back, the bar absorbs most of the impact to avoid damage to the rest of the chassis, bumper, door, etc.

That's the best I can explain it, and if someone made/sold one, I'm sure a few people would buy one, including me.

I have the next best thing, a steel twin wheel carrier and HR Towbar.

From a side impact perspective I have rock sliders. A member on this forum was hit at around 100kph into his rock sliders. Protected him but moved the chassis a foot or so. I employee the same though on the rear. Much better they get swallowed upo in their crumple zones.

[wastegate Member Find all posts View Profile Close wastegate]

A couple of years ago and not by choice I was on the giving end. Honda rice burner with the mandatory 6" cannon exhaust driven by a young bloke cuts across two lanes of city traffic to turn right and upon deciding he ain't gunna make the turn, slams on the brakes right in front of me and wham, I rear ended him.

He's uninsured but my insurance decides to pay what seemed to me to be just a pushed in tailgate. Turns out to be $5k damage and so they wrote his car off. I repaired my own damage, a small smudge on the bullbar sorted with a gentle rub of bug'n'tar.

I have a Kaymar steel bar on the rear but perhaps bullbar like protection out back isn't such a bad idea in city traffic! Nah, probably end up looking like a Shingledback lizard.

[krypto Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close krypto]

The crash repairer was saying that bull bars and rigid rear bars often transfer the damage and cause major problems.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

The crash repairer was saying that bull bars and rigid rear bars often transfer the damage and cause major problems.

You are correct, however, something that takes the sting out of the rear ender is what is needed, and may be invented some day. I know what is needed, but I am not an inventor, and don't have the money to crash test prototypes.