Low Speed Front End Damage
 

I'm rather embarrassed to share this. In twenty years of driving I've never had an accident, so of course I saved my first one for a car less than six months old! :mad: Still, I thought others might find this interesting.

I rear-ended an SUV in a low-speed fender bender (no faster than ~25 km/h or 15 mph). No airbag deployed and everyone was uninjured, but you can see the damage in the attached photo. The front grill, headlights and hood have obvious damage, but underneath they also had to replace the rad (it was bent) and A/C unit, along with various miscellaneous parts.

The SUV I hit had no visible damage. I went under the tire carrier on its hatch (you can see the indent).

Total cost for this repair? $8500 CAD. Thankfully the car feels and looks great, so hopefully no lasting damage that they missed. The trade-in value is now toast, so we'll likely be keeping this car for a long time!

I've posted before that I love this car - I haven't had any of the issues others have been having, and I think it is a great commuter. Still, this accident certainly doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in the Fit's ability to handle a more serious crash. I'm working on the hope that the cabin cage would stand up in a harder crash, and that this is what is supposed to happen in an accident (i.e. this type of damage helps diffuse the crash energy away from the cabin).

Hopefully this is my first and last accident. It was a long line of slow-moving traffic, and something out my side window caught my attention for a second, but long enough that I didn't notice the traffic stopped ahead. I stood on the brakes but not fast enough. Stupid me!

Man, that picture is a sad sight. But it's good that you're not hurt. And having to keeping the Fit for a while may also be a blessing in disguise.

Glad you are OK! I just had a minor fender bender that is going to set me back USD$500 and my insurance company $900! So I feel your pain.

Your damage looks very similar to the front end of our old '90 Civic hatch:

http://www.peachtreeprairie.com/road...rilldriver.jpg

We had sold it to my younger brother (with 165K miles on it) and he rear-ended a Ford Expedition. A junkyard radiator and headlights off an S-10 pickup (plus a come-a-long and a big pine tree) set things to rights, and he drove it to 220K miles before selling again. My two sons (then around 5 & 7 years old) had fun stomping the hood back flat!

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Good you are ok. And yes the car it is suppost to absort all the impact so you will not suffer. Why did you hit it? Where you busy in the cellphone of just distracted?

I will suggest buying a gps >Garmin nuviCam < it has front collision alert and it is a dash cam. So cool next time you can prevent that accident.

Anyways hope you are ok again

Life happens. Yes, it is expensive but you are human, with human foibles. Hopefully an early detection warning system will be implemented in the future to prevent such small incidents.

It is sad to see your Fit frowning.

Thanks for the replies about being okay.

No cellphone was involved, no. I have no idea how people manage to drive and text at the same time. If I tried to do this, it definitely wouldn't be my first accident. Bluetooth does what I need it to do for music and phone.

Stembridge, do you think these Fits are built like that old Civic? That's a classic!

The 2015 and 2016 Honda FITs have a 5 star safety rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The car is designed to take the hit so you don't.

Vehicle details

Yes, and no. ;) When I test drove the Fit, I thought to myself, "this feels like coming home." The red Civic was the last Honda I'd owned!

The Civic was the base model (1.5L) with a 4MT. It was light and quite tossable. Got 40+ on the highway with ease. While it wasn't quite as flexible as the Fit from the standpoint of hauling stuff, it served us well even for long road trips with lots of luggage for the four of us, really up until our sons legs got too long for the back seat. If I could buy another one brand new today, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I'd say the Fit is its spiritual successor, but the Fit isn't quite as engaging to drive. Part of that is simply because of the way all cars have changed in the past 25 years (heavier, more regulatory-required junk, drive-by-wire, etc.). Not so say I don't enjoy my Fit, though!

At any rate, glad you're okay. Sheet metal can be stomped back flat - flesh and bone, not so much!

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My wife's friend hit an 80's model F150 in here new Patriot. The F150 had no damage but she had thousands of dollars in damage. These new vehicles are designed just to crumple in an accident. Also they're using thinner steel and lightweight plastics to get better gas mileage. They're definitely not built like older vehicles.

Here are a couple vids showing how the cabin stays in tact during crashes:





The side impact ones have me more concerned, but I'm glad there are side and curtain airbags.

Glad you're OK otherwise.

sorry to hear and see macdon :( hope u get that car fixed soon. :D

.. if i was you, i would sell it and get another fit before the damage report shows up on carfax.

be glad you aren't killed. I drifted into a car in my Buick Lesabre at maybe 5 mpg and my entire front end was destroyed....the good news....the car drove for I think something like 7 years with a destroyed front end lol

Classic case of bumper mismatch. The low Fit bumper, probably lowered by braking, pretty much goes under the bumper of any road tank. The Fit gets major body damage, the SUV owner has to polish our paint off of their bumper.

Thats why my Jeep has a 150lb rear steal plate bumper. Got rear ended 3 times in it sitting at traffic lights.. Now I take no prisoners..

that stinks man, I had mine only a couple of weeks when it was rear-ended causing $2600 USD in damage and the body shop didn't get my rear bumper right and put a large scuff/scratch on one of my tail lights. I hadn't even made my first payment on it!