Ask an Expert: Why is it important to fix your car’s bumper?
by John and Theresa Kightlinger
Bumpers are built to take a lot of abuse, which leads to dings and dents over time. For many car owners, these seem like small things and not something that should warrant a visit to your local auto body shop. While that may be true for a small ding, you’d actually do yourself a service to get these fixed. Your car’s bumper plays a number of roles which, if not taken care of, can lead to other major problems. Here, we share why you should take care of that bumper problem.
Bumpers reduce impact on your car: When you hit something, chances are good that your bumper is the first thing that comes in contact with whatever it is. Bumpers are built using material that can take a lot of force on impact, before any other part of the car makes contact. This is especially true in cases where you have fender benders or other incidents involving smaller impacts. When your bumper is not in good shape, the damage to your car’s body and other vital areas, like the lights, are easily affected.
Dinged bumpers can lower a car’s value: You may think nothing of it but when you go to sell your car or trade it in for another model, but one important factor that affects the price of your car is the shape the bumper is in. If your car has a number of dings and dents, you may have a hard time fetching top dollar for it because sometimes people think a car’s condition reflects the owner’s driving style. Whether justified or not, a bumper with too many dings can signify poor driving and more wear and tear on the car.
Damaged bumpers can hide internal problems: While it may look like just damage to your bumper, there may be more to the story. Bumpers are built to withstand shock energy from a collision, but this sometimes leads to internal auto-body issues. A few bumper accidents can cause misalignment and put more pressure on other parts of the car, causing even more wear and tear. By fixing the bumper, you keep yourself safe on the road.
Insurance claims: Sometimes, insurance claims have determined the cause of collision to be a damaged bumper from a previous collision, and this complicates those claims. When you fix a damaged bumper in time, you ensure that future claims will not be complicated by a past problem.
John and Theresa Kightlinger own My Body Shop at 401 N. Clinton St., Stockbridge. The couple has lived in the area and raised their children here over the past 20 years. John has been in the auto body business since 1985, and Theresa began work at General Motors after high school. Between the two, they have been working on cars for more than 75 years.
