Damage on mondeo

[Lancashire Lad]

My dear mother has just returned from her weekly trip to the supermarket, and has managed to drive her 97 Mondeo into a trolley park.

Earlier in the year someone skidded into her in the snow and did similar damage, but to her rear bumper. The bodyshop quoted about £400 to mend. It wasn't a problem then as it was on the other persons insurance, however they were close to writing the car off. I'm concerned that as the bumper has had a fair wack it may have bent something underneath, so it may cost more so may be written off.

I'd like to know if people think it will have bent something underneath? Also, as it happened in a supermarket car park, what's the situation on insurance?



Thanks,
Andy

[GreenV8S]

The only thing I'd expect to find in the front corner of the bumper is crumple zone. There won't be any chassis, suspension etc in the immediate area to be damaged and it doesn't look like a big enough impact to have distorted the shell beyond the bumper. If that were me I'd fold the remains of the bumper back into place and cover it with duct tape coloured to match the bumper. If the thought of driving around with duct tape on offends you, you could replace the bumper and repaint but that would probably cost more than the car's worth. If that was me I'd have a grovel around under the car and under the bonnet to make sure the bodywork hasn't been pushed back into anything fragile just to be on the safe side but I wouldn't expect to find anything.

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks for the reply.

I had a look under the bonnet and couldn't see anything. Will have a look under the car. I expect we'll probably go down the duct tape route.

Cheers.

[GreenV8S]

Another inch there and you could have been looking at a new headlamp unit, don't know what there go for but I doubt they're cheap. Lucky escape from the look of it.

[Lancashire Lad]

I thought exactly the same! If it gets written off it'll be an excuse for a new car though

[deevlash]

WRT to insurance private car parks which are open to the public are just classed the same way as a public highway IIRC.

[Lancashire Lad]

Great, thanks

[Zad]

I know it is no guarantee, but the panel gap between the bumper and the wing looks smooth and even, and the headlamp unit seems to be sitting squarely in relation to the bumper, grille and body. I can't believe they would write a (fairly recent) car off just because it needs a new bumper. If push came to shove you could probably source one ready painted from a scrappers.

[Lancashire Lad]

I have found a few companies on ebay who will supply the bumper, paint it and deliver it for about £120. This sounds quite tempting, does anyone know how easy it would be to change the bumper? The car isn't worth much and bodyshops charge quite a lot for this job so it's very easy to write it off.

[Zad]

The best place to look will be the forum at www.fordmondeo.org (or a Haynes manual).

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks

[TPS]

Lancashire Lad said:

I have found a few companies on ebay who will supply the bumper, paint it and deliver it for about £120. This sounds quite tempting, does anyone know how easy it would be to change the bumper? The car isn't worth much and bodyshops charge quite a lot for this job so it's very easy to write it off.

I have heard some of these bumpers are not insurance approved and could cause problems in the future in the event of another crash.This may however not be the case with the ones you are looking at but make sure you ask.
If it were me i would go to a breakers and get a second hand bumper which should cost you no more than £50 and a local paint shop would re spray it for around £100.So for £150 odd you would have it fixed.They are a simple bolt on item so you could fit it yourself in 20 minutes.
How much is your excess,is it worth it for putting a claim on your insurance history.As has been said above it looks to be all ok as the panel gaps etc look good.

[TPS]

Lancashire Lad said:

does anyone know how easy it would be to change the bumper?

Just to put in detail how to change it.

Im not 100% sure as i have never done a mondeo but if its like most fords it should be like this.
Lay under the front or open the bonnet and look down the front panel near the radiator etc.Most bumpers will have two bolts either side holding the bumper on (4 in total)
Check the edge of the bumper by the front wheels and undo any screws you can see that maybe holding it in place.
You may have to jack the car up remove the wheels and then the inner plastic wheel arch to get at some bolts or screws
It should slide forward and off once all bolts etc have been undone.

[Lancashire Lad]

Thanks for the help all.

I've passed all the info on to my mum, and told her if she gets a bumper from somewhere dad and I will fit it, or alternatively she can take it to the body shop and she can pay for it or her insurance can pay for it.

For now we've done a proper bodge job. We took a saw to the bumper to cut off the sharp edges, then covered it in a pink charity bag that was conveniently pushed through our door yesterday.



The only concern I have is (as you can see in the following pic) there is a bit of metal under the bumper that has been touched my whatever my mum hit as there is blue paint on it. I'm worried that it may have been bent? Does anyone know if this is likely, if it's a problem, and how hard it would be to fix?



Thanks again for all the advice, this is the first time I've used pistonheads from proper advice rather than just car related chat, and it's proven to be an excellent source of information.

[GreenV8S]

Doesn't look as if it is doing anything interesting. I'd be more interested in that wire dangling loose. Is it connected to anything? Did it use to be?

[Lancashire Lad]

Yeah, I meant to ask about that but forgot.

Anyone know what it might be?

[Lancashire Lad]

Just a thought, don't some Mondeos have fog lights there? Ours doesn't but is the wire there so they could be easily fitted...

[GreenV8S]

Could be. What state are the contacts in? If they're shiny and clean it has probably been connected to something until recently. If the whole thing looks dirty, it's probably unused. It looks like a minitimer connector as commonly used to connect sensors, not sure what that coloured component is on the front of it though. I would guess a frost sensor or something liker that, fog/spot lights would usually require a connector with a higher current rating but not impossible.

[Zad]

Yep, I suspect it is the loom for the fog lights. I *think* the temperature sensor is above the wheel arch.