My Prime was hit in the rear end last night while sitting at a light. The car behind me rolled into the bumper - probably 1-2 mph or less. Only obvious damage are marks from the license plate/plate screws on the lower black plastic fascia. Inspecting the car more closely this morning, the gap between the hatch and left rear quarter panel appears wider to me than the gap on the right. Putting a ruler on it, it is about 1/16” wider. I’m guessing this is not an unusual inconsisteny for body panel gap? Can’t say what it was before the accident, because I didn’t have a reason to look that closely. Anyway, just wondering if it’s reasonable to make an issue of it with the claims adjuster.
I posted the standard clearance measurements around the back door in another thread. The Repair Manual and Collision Repair Manual, available by subscription to techinfo.toyota.com, have similar information for the front and rear doors and for the hood. In Toyota’s terms, by the way, rear doors are on the sides, and the back door is the hatch, but it’s still the rear bumper. The Collision Repair Manual also has a Body Dimensions section with thirteen figures showing standard two-dimensional and three-dimensional distances between numerous reference points on the body. These can be compared to measurements made with a tracking gauge (Toyota 09034-00052 or equivalent), also called a tram gauge, to check if the body has been deformed. I’d definitely share your observations with the adjuster. The car should be inspected by a body shop, of course, before you agree on the extent of the damage; they may find more when they remove the rear bumper assembly to replace the rear bumper center guard. In Toyota’s parts catalog, see Figure 52-02, Rear Bumper & Bumper Stay, for the part names and list prices; painted parts, like the rear bumper cover, that are listed without a choice of colors typically come unfinished and must be painted by the body shop.
I just got mine back after having it in the shop for 2 months. I got hit in the right rear wheel. took out the bumper, quarter panel, wheel knuckle and associated parts, sonar sensor and about 6 pages of minor bits and parts. Total was $15K in damages and they had to take a quarter panel off the assembly line in japan and ship it to the US as there weren't any available locally. I was really hoping it would get totaled so I could get another $4500 tax deduction (I hadn't even made my first payment on the new car yet when it got hit). In any case, the point I'm getting at... based on the list of parts they replaced on my car, the rear bumper has a rather enormous list of fillers, shims, and various spacers that could easily have gotten moved out of place or broken. If you're going through insurance and already taking the hit on the Carfax you should absolutely have them rip of the bumper and make sure there wasn't any hidden damage, and misaligned body panels should be a red flag. BTW: my initial repair estimate the shop gave insurance was for 5K... then they added on to 10K then they added on to 15K. The insurance agent told me that if they knew it was 15K they would have totaled it right from the start as the parts are rare enough to be worth money to a salvage guy.
