Low-speed collision, need some info
 

Not the way I wanted to get involved in a Hyundai forum -- we were hoping to have the car for a while. But we took the new Elantra Touring on vacation yesterday (we're still on vacation in the boonies) and parking to get the baby changed, had a crash with curb.

I'm going to try to be as brief as possible, but hope someone will be able to look at their car and report back... because despite the low speed of the crash (3-10mph), I'm still worried there's real damage done. The curb on our parking spot was a little back from most spots, so I tried to park judging the guy next to us.... unfortunately, his big vehicle had a snub front and his tire was jammed into the curb, so it was a bad decision.

1) I`m curious if people have, standard, guards underneath their front bumpers -- you know, the type of plastic that would normally make that ugly scraping sound you hear if you get too close to a curb... we dont on ours. Underneath the cosmetic bumper, there is a black plasticky rim, but its not that guard that the average car would have.

2) The impact hit what looks to be a utility hook in the front. You can see it looking underneath the front and also looking down in the engine compartment. At first glance, it looks like there is only damage (scrape/impact) on the hook. At second glance, my wife suggested the piece the hook is attached to looks twisted up. This is obviously scary because it is potentially structural. None of the screws/etc. attached to it appear to have shifted or been damaged, but she is quite right -- it does look twisted.

3) So I guess the big question is if someone can take a look at is piece. If I was anywhere near a Hyundai dealer (nearest is two hours away), I would at least go and take a look at a new one, if not have them look at my car. I think the part just isnt built in a symmetrical manner. IIRC, the left side appears twisted slightly -- curved slightly more and even twisted slightly.

Ill try to post pictures later, but if someone is ever able to take a look, it would be greatly appreciated... the early advice Ive got is dont worry, but I dont want to shrug off a potentially big deal.

Anyhow, we are otherwise loving the car (for its first 500 miles -- 500 miles and this!) despite our huge stress yesterday.

Hope we can put this by us and eventually have a more entertaining experience in this forum.

Calm down now... The good news is you hit the tow hook. Doesn't sound like there's any damage. I wouldn't worry about it.

I once had an old Volvo for $200 that I bought to drive up to my mountain property. There was no road, just a bulldozer trail. I would jump that Volvo literally from rock to rock. After two years of that, the underneath looked like somebody used a sledgehammer on it and made a career out of it. It was unbelievable how bent up it was.

But that car still ran great, so I had it painted and drove it for a few more years.

So one little bent up tow hook is no big deal, not worth fixing, won't impact performance, etc.

I totally agree. Very minor issue. Don't worry you'll be fine.

When I had my Tiburon I has a slightly similar experience. I was waiting to turn left (across oncoming traffic) into a parking lot with an slight incline. Oncoming traffic was heavy, so when I saw a small opening I accelerated hard to get through. However I accelerated too hard. When I got to the incline the car bottomed out (the Tiburon is very low to begin with). After parking I looked under the car and I saw that it was the tow loop that hit. The only damage was scrapes on the hook.

Thanks for the reassurance... I'm alternating between distress and agreement with anyone who's told me it's no biggie.

I took a few bad pics of it. I'd prefer a wider lens, but no luck. The portion to the left of the hook is the piece that concerns me (the damage to the hook is no biggie to me.. if the piece it's connected to was perfectly symmetrical I wouldn't be worried at all). To me I just can't imagine that it's supposed to have that twist to it.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2a69p36.jpg

Holy Cow! Better have that towed right away!

All kidding aside, if that bar bent to the left of the hook like that then you more than likely would have had to hit it right where the bend is in the steel. I don't think that the steel would bend that that location with you hitting the hook.

What part to the left of the hook are you talking about?

I see zero damage to anything other than the hook. That curved piece doesn't look bent, it looks that it was formed that way from the factory?

Yeah, the curved piece is my concern. Looking at it today, I had the same feeling as CSI... that if impact on the hook were to bend that piece of metal, that would be an odd place for it to bend.

Still would love it if anyone was able to take a look at their car and confirm what I see on mine (that this piece is indeed formed this way), but I do appreciate the reassurances.

I'm also wondering if I'm the only Touring owner in the world without some sort of guard beneath the bumper. After my "omigod did I just ruin my wife's car?" moment yesterday, I wondered if there's any reason our car should be without what I thought was something of a standard car feature.

jamsandwich, Just took a look at my wife's touring. The bend in the front frame of her car(2009 touring)looks the same as yours. In fact it does'nt look like you bent the tow hook either. Would suggest that you double check the left and right welds on of the front frame to make sure that their are no cracks or breaks in the weld.

I just looked at mine and it looks the same as yours. Strange, but it looks normal. I would not worry about it. That hook and part of the frame was designed and built to tow the car, over rough roads (bumps and all), at highway speeds and to withstand far more shocks and forces in the towing process.

Your minor impact is nothing in comparison to what it was designed to handle. You would really have to try a lot harder to do any damage. And if you could damage it, the forces involved would probably wrinkle up the front end and twist other attached body metal.

I had the same problem with my old Elantra. I kept running into curbs, dips in roads and other road hazards. It never did any damage despite the forces it withstood. When I got my new Touring, my wife looked at how low the front was then smiled at me. She knows how rough I can be in parking the car. I park by feel and noise. I am glad that the underbody is so flexible and forgiving. As for the tow hook and frame, it is not much different from my old Elantra. So neither of us have any concerns of my parking episodes.

I give you credit for being so creative in posting this to get an immediate answer. I would have looked at it and ended up worrying the rest of the trip.

Enjoy your vacation and be glad that it is built as well as it is.

I just wanted to jump into the thread again and thank everyone, especially touringnm and NewOwner for checking theirs.

I'd be lying if I said I still wasn't slightly paranoid (that's in my nature), but your responses are the difference between me bringing it up a month or two from now when I bring the car in for its first service (and seeing if I can get a guard installed) and searching for somewhere to get it looked at when we hit the next leg on our trip.

As I said in my original post, we're otherwise loving the car. Our other vehicle is a Vibe and with a (relatively) new baby, there's considerably more room in this, which is great because we so overpacked for our trip. There's also more passenger room in front of the baby seat, which is excellent because the Vibe is slightly cramped there. We've been getting really good gas mileage too, although the area we've been staying for the better part of the last week (twisty and hilly) has done a pretty good job of chewing into the fantastic highway numbers we were getting.