[Leomania]

Hello, all. My first GM-Volt post.

I bought a 2013 Volt two months ago as a lease return; 35K miles and really in very good condition. Really enjoying driving it.

A couple of days ago while driving home from work, I was rear-ended by a Honda Civic. It was between 5-10 MPH, and the only visible damage is two round punctures where the Civic's license plate bolt heads hit the bumper. No obvious damage to the Civic.

It's going to be examined by an adjuster tomorrow, but ahead of that I would like to know if there's anything in the rear section of the car that could have been damaged besides the poly bumper and the impact structures underneath.

One thing that gives me pause is that I went out the night of the accident to plug the car in, and I heard it making a steady noise like a tiny air compressor. From the back of the car it sounded muffled, and I think it was closer to the rear than the front. Now I'm accustomed to cars making noises after being shut off, but this was three hours after I had parked it and it had just been sitting, and I've never detected this before. I got in the car and powered it on and the noise stopped, and I haven't heard it again. Concerned it could be related, but no insurance adjuster is going to be able to make heads or tails of this.

You can see the damage in this photo:

Thanks for any insights you can provide!

- Leo

 

[saghost]

There's nothing of import for a good foot forward of the bumper. Eventually, there's the fuel tank, the APM (DC-DC converter that fill the role of the alternator,) and the 12V battery. What you probably heard was the fuel tank pressurization pump, which does run periodically even with the car off.

 

[Steverino]

There's nothing of import for a good foot forward of the bumper. Eventually, there's the fuel tank, the APM (DC-DC converter that fill the role of the alternator,) and the 12V battery. What you probably heard was the fuel tank pressurization pump, which does run periodically even with the car off.

Agreed on all points.

 

[emartin00]

The only thing that saghost didn't mention is if you have the rear parking sensors. Those would probably have to be replaced with the bumper. No idea on what they cost though.

 

[Leomania]

The only thing that saghost didn't mention is if you have the rear parking sensors. Those would probably have to be replaced with the bumper. No idea on what they cost though.

Ah, good point - I do indeed have that feature. Not that I think it helps much, it's pretty slow and variably sensitive. Maybe a good spank might have whipped it into shape! ;-)

Thanks to all for the info, really appreciate it.

- Leo

 

[Dalebert]

I was rear-ended square on in August by a Volvo XC90 going about 20. All it did to mine was crack the paint on the bumper and cause the lower part of the bumper to separate from the upper. The paint is black so the cracks don't show really and I put it back together myself and it is almost as good as new so I just kept the check. The backup sensors still work just fine. However, I did notice that my license plate lights and reverse light have lost electrical connection and aren't working so I need to either try to figure out how to take the bumper off myself and fix it or pay someone to do it (more likely).

If you got hit that slowly, I would not think that your damage would be anything beyond cosmetic.