Hey guys. This is my first post, after a considerable time of lurking around. This place has been a very valuable repository of information, and I hope someone can help me out.
Yesterday I was driving down a small alley, and there was a sudden drop in the road. I couldn't brake in time because as soon as I saw the drop it was too late. It felt like the front suspension just bottomed out, but when I got home I saw that my front bumper was not flush with the hood.
I took the front bumper off, and saw that there's a metal bar in front of the bottom of the A/C condenser and it's bent inwards. The bar is also the mounting point for the two airbag sensors. Looking at it from the side, the bar has bent inwards to the point that it almost touches the air compressor. The right side seems to have bent inwards much more than the left side. I'm not so sure if I can make this easy to understand.
It seems as though this bar that I've bent holds the front bumper upwards from the bottom of the bottom grille.
Have I done major damage to the front subframe? Has anyone done this same thing and simply banged the bar back into place?

tl;dr: I bottomed the front end out, and now the front bumper sits lower and more to the right side. What do I do?

 

Hit up a local body shop and ask'em for an estimate on what it'd cost to straighten 'er out.

 

sucks.. good luck

 

Jeez.... sounds like one heck of a drop in the road!

 

Pics or it didn't happen!

Kidding, but if you post a picture, people may have a better understanding of the damage to help you.

 

Common sense, but just in case : DON'T try to bang it out until AFTER you disarm the airbag system!!!!! Disconnect the battery will work, but be sure to let the airbag controller discharge too (takes roughly 10 minutes after batt disconnect).

 

Collision coverage on your insurance policy applies if you carry it.

 

you should POST some pic's...

 

It's the FRAGILE Radiator Support probably... changed mine twice because of similar accidents! Damn, even a Fox damaged it the first time! Very fragile on a Fit!

It should look like this...


That was a 3000$ job including Rad Support replacement, Radiator, bumper cover, impact absorber, grilles, paint.....

Marko!

 

The problem is if it riped like mine did the second time it hapened, rust will take it's tool in no time! The Rad support is just too thin and fragile... Hell a nice kick well placed will probably kink it!! Could be a temporary repair though... Attach it with a rope on something secure and go backward a bit with somebody watching, then put a shidload of rust protectant on it!!

Marko!!

 

this happened to me. the crack between the bumper and the hood seemed extraordinarly large. so i took off the front bumper - and it was the lower radiator support - bent it back into place and then took off the hood latch and played around with that until i liked how it looked. i know what you mean it ruins the front end of the car when stuff isn't aligned. good luck!

 

I say u jack up the car
Put some wood or bricks under radiator support
Then drop the car on it
Stupid but might work
Since the frame is fragile anyways

 

Sorry to hear your story.
It is upsetting and pain to deal with an acci.

Call insurance company assuming you have it covered.
Take check from them to bank deposit.. Money market fund better. Emerging mutual fund might be best.
Get muscular friend from gym to bend metal back in place (or if need be replace radiator support).
Save/invest money for hard finacial times that (IMO) are almost unavoidable given America's many escalating finacial problems.

Sorry for your loss, but make sure to make it into a net gain for the long run.

Best Regards.