Backed into a telephone pole.

[melvimbe]

Before I say anything else, yes, I'm an idiot. The pole is located at the end of a friend's driveway, a house I'd never been at before. The driveway is mostly straight, except for a slight curve to the right at the street...because of the pole. So if you back straight out, you hit the pole. Yes, the collision sensor went off. The rear view camera was useless since it was raining. Did a quick visual check and didn't see anything. Since I've gotten false positives from the sensor before, and saw no reason for there to be any obstructions, I proceeded to back out.

Damage appears to be minimal. The driver's side of the rear bumper was pushed in slightly, maybe a half inch. No visible marks on the bumper. Not sure if the bumper was damaged or a bracket behind the bumper. About a week or two later, I noticed in crack in the driver's side tail light. Very small, even hard to find when you're looking for it. But yesterday, I noticed that there's moisture in the tail light.

So my questions are...do I need to be worried about the tail light? Will the moisture cause a short or additional damage, or should I just leave it alone until the light goes out? I'd obviously rather not replace the light if I don't have to.

Although I'm less worried on the bumper, and realize I get a complete answer here, but what's the likely damage? I tend to think the mounting bracket ($50) would need to be replaced, but could it be the bumper ($390) or reinforcement ($500)? I suppose I just need to take it to a body shop to get an actual estimate.

https://www.tascaparts.com/auto-par...gine/body-cat/bumper-and-components-rear-scat

 

[Terry]

Well, most of have done it or very nearly done it, so we feel you pain. To answer your question, I think having a body shop look at it would be the best option for dollar amount of damage. Guesses you get here on the forum won't be the most reliable. Good luck with it.

 

[Raptor911]

See if anyone here has a gen2 rear bumper that they have removed as it will be significantly cheaper than getting a new one.

 

[melvimbe]

See if anyone here has a gen2 rear bumper that they have removed as it will be significantly cheaper than getting a new one.

Good point, although the bumper may be fine as there is no visual damage. I suspect the bracket behind the bumper is the issue. Does an aftermarket bumper retain the brackets?

 

[Joe12345]

That’s just the badasses way of reducing the departure angle! Tell folks you did it on purpose, ‘cuz that’s how you roll. Don’t feel bad, I backed a brand new 2014 Rubicon into a tree and smashed the corner in. We all screw it up.

I can’t speak to Ford’s product specifically, but my father smacked a deer a few years ago in his Genesis, which caused the headlights to accumulate moisture even though they looked fine from the outside. Within a month they were dead. Factory refurbished replacements did the exact same thing. Moisture inside and dead within a month. The only fix was to manage to source factory new old stock parts.

I’m not saying this will be your experience, but moisture kills electronics that aren’t prepped for it. At the very least, keep an eye on it. If it were me, I’d rip that thing apart, dry it out, coat everything with dielectric grease, and seal that puppy up.

 

[smurfslayer]

Pretty sure another / aftermarket bumper will use the same supports. you may be right about the support being compromised.

We had someone post about having to replace a light that the stealership wouldn’t warranty and it was -shockingly- expensive. High 3 digits as I recall. Yes, I’d be concerned about it.

 

[Donovan]

Pretty sure we also need pics...

 

[melvimbe]

Found the tail light on Tasca parts. $700

https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-part...1MCZ5PTIwMTcmdD1yYXB0b3ImZT0zLTVsLXY2LWdhcw==

That's the same price for aftermarket tail lights from what I can tell. I'd guess BLIS is driving the price up.

I have a service appt at the dealership this Friday afternoon (minor molding issue/recalls). I'll see if I can take it to a body shop before then and get their opinion. Come Friday, I'll mention noticing moisture in the light while at the dealership and see what they say. It's still under warranty so perhaps I'll get lucky.

I can look into tearing it open this weekend if the dealership is no help.

 

[SilverBolt]

Superglue the cracked tail light. A replacement is $650. https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-part...1MCZ5PTIwMTgmdD1yYXB0b3ImZT0zLTVsLXY2LWdhcw==

 

[Donovan]

yeah fk that..700.

or junk yard..