2011 Leaf corner area of front bumper: Is it just a cavity or there's an impact absorber?

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mxp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Messages
767
Location
Fremont, CA
Hi,

For a 2011 Leaf, are the corner area front bumper just a cavity, or there's an impact absorber?

I literally watched the impact as the other vehicle reversed and hit into my front corner bumper (passenger side).

My car was hit (at very slow speed) while it was parked. I saw the bumper "squish-in" and popped back out again. The other driver heard the impact and immediately pulled away in the opposite direction. From what I saw, I don't think the bumper squished-in more than a foot tops. Or else, the headlight housing would have cracked and there will be metal/panel damage where the bumper edge meets the metal.

Amazingly, as I have said, there's no damage to the headlights/no cracks or any other metal/panel body damage. The bumper also looks like it is currently in proper shape. The only visible damage are the many paint scrapes in quite a few areas. Even the fog-light glass/housing below the bumper is intact. Quite amazing actually....

I cannot tell if there is some kind of impact absorber metal bar or piston or similar behind the bumper. Does anyone know?

PS: Long story short, the other person's insurance evaluator wrote up an estimate for me for $740 (Wow!) and told me that I can take money and get my own repairs if I ever wanted to do it.

Thanks for any info...
 
I had a rear bumper impact with similar absence of any significant damage other than a small area of fractured plastic and of course paint.

But in my case there was a delay of several seconds before the impact absorbers did their thing and popped everything back into its original place.

Good that the insurance worked out well for you. Suggest you get a quote from an outfit that specializes in small paint matching jobs - they often are to be seen doing work on dealer lots. Might be only a couple hundred or so.
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

macnut said:
I had a rear bumper impact with similar absence of any significant damage other than a small area of fractured plastic and of course paint.

But in my case there was a delay of several seconds before the impact absorbers did their thing and popped everything back into its original place.

Good that the insurance worked out well for you. Suggest you get a quote from an outfit that specializes in small paint matching jobs - they often are to be seen doing work on dealer lots. Might be only a couple hundred or so.
 
Here are some pics of damaged Leafs with the front bumper off:

5dc46ea6-6929-45e7-b6b1-e20cf2b427ac.JPG


7eac771b-d677-4227-af77-68a49306c762.JPG


It appears that the corners have no reinforcement bar or absorbent material of any kind. If it was hit on the passenger side, you're lucky it didn't damage the washer fluid bottle (and that's a common placement for them in other cars today, due to lack of room in the engine bay).
 
Thank you for the photos Ron. They were super helpful.
I immediately double checked my washer operation and if the washer fluid bottle had any leaks. Luckily, all's good.

RonDawg said:
Here are some pics of damaged Leafs with the front bumper off:

5dc46ea6-6929-45e7-b6b1-e20cf2b427ac.JPG


7eac771b-d677-4227-af77-68a49306c762.JPG


It appears that the corners have no reinforcement bar or absorbent material of any kind. If it was hit on the passenger side, you're lucky it didn't damage the washer fluid bottle (and that's a common placement for them in other cars today, due to lack of room in the engine bay).
 
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