Just wrecked my Insight

wendell · 10-14-2011, 03:12 PM

Not to bore you with the details but I just rear ended a guy in an Accord with my Insight. I almost completely submarined his bumper as his tow hook poked a hole in the top of my bumper. Other than that, the bumper is in ok shape with scratches and scrapes and one mounting point in front of the radiator broke off.

The hood took most of the impact and is now folded up in about 20-30% degree angle. Neither front fender has any damage.

At first glance, it almost looks like all of the damage is cosmetic and I could just slap on a new hood and bumper (if I want it to be perfect again) but with the angle of the hood and the fact that is still latched, something needs to be bent.

I am leaving on a long trip next Friday morning so just wondering what my options are and what you experts would suggest I do. Anyone know of a place to get a red hood and possible bumper in a hurry and at a good price?

TopFuelTim · 10-14-2011, 03:28 PM

My first thought was Flamboyant Auto Parts in Ohio. Not sure how far away they are from Wisconsin.

Tim

Eli · 10-14-2011, 03:32 PM

Oh no, so sorry to hear!

Yes, I second Flamboyant.

boogetyboogety · 10-14-2011, 03:36 PM

I remember reading here, not so long ago, that replacement hoods were virtually non-existent outside of a wrecking yard... I hope I am mistaken, or that supply has improved...

wendell · 10-14-2011, 04:01 PM

I searched for Flamboyant and just found their eBay store and no hoods were listed. Plus, if they are in Ohio, I'm not going to be able to get it in time to make my trip next week.

I know most on here are anti-dealer but would their body shop have a source for used parts?

Eli · 10-14-2011, 04:05 PM

Contact him directly, he doesn't list everything on eBay.

Brent @ Flamboyant Auto Parts

pgthexenon@gmail.com

614 949 0529

bluesunbeam · 10-14-2011, 05:14 PM

Have you got any pictures of the damage you could post ?
It sounds like it may be possibe to remove the hood and roughly straighten it out . If you are rushed into a repair it will inevitabely work out more expensive so if you can bodge the hood up and secure it with whatever until you have sorted out the best approach to the problem you will probably save yourself a lot of stress and money.

Eli · 10-14-2011, 05:18 PM

You could always just remove the hood too.

Terrible for aerodynamics obviously, but it could be worse.

bluesunbeam · 10-14-2011, 05:44 PM

Eli
Re hood removal ; i did that once when one of my Imps suffered front end damage . I got nicked within a couple of days for driving an unroadworthy vehicle . The copper pointed out that if i ran a pedestrian over the injuries would be far worse than they would be if the hood was in place .I imagine that the USA has similar laws.
Just a footnote; i put the hood back on and roughly straightened the front end out but the latch did not quite line up properly so i secured it with two bungee cords. That was okay until i was doing 70mph on the motorway late at night (fortunately) when there was a very loud bang and i realised that the hood was gone -it happened so fast that i didn,t even see it go. There was virtually no gap between hood and car body but the air pressure still exploited what was there so if going down this route use plenty of gaffer (speed?) tape.

Eli · 10-14-2011, 05:49 PM

Interesting, I've never heard of that. I think we perhaps don't have a law like that here; it's trendy for the ricer folks to drive around with no hood, I guess to show off their engines. May vary from state to state. Was just a thought. A crumpled hood likely wouldn't stop me from driving my Insight, one way or another.