Whether you’ve just been in an accident or bought a used car with some damage, car body repairs are a part of vehicle ownership. When car accidents or minor scrapes happen, there are several body parts which usually absorb the brunt of the incident.car auto body parts
At Sturtevant Auto, we help people find used, undamaged body parts to fix up their ride. Our junkyard near Milwaukee provides parts from most auto manufacturers - and our inventory is constantly changing!
The seven most commonly damaged body parts in car accidents are:
Front Bumper
It makes a lot of sense the front bumper tops our list. Most accidents involve at least one traveling forward and the front bumper is the first thing to receive the impact. Collisions are not the only cause of bumper damage, though. Inattentive driving can result in scraping the sides of a bumper, leaving ugly marks many owners would rather be without.
Fender
Although sometimes confused, bumpers and fenders are different and easy to tell apart. Bumpers are on the front and rear of the car and are designed to protect it from impacts. Fenders are, essentially, the frame of the wheel well. Their main purpose is to catch “road spray” and prevent tires from throwing dirt and debris at other vehicles and pedestrians. Just like bumpers, though, fenders often absorb a lot of the force of any impact. Side collisions, in particular, tend to damage fenders.
Rear Bumper
Nobody likes being rear-ended, but rear bumpers sure get damaged a lot. Whether it’s from backing into a post, dumpster or another vehicle or from a minor crash, rear bumpers get cracked, dented and destroyed fairly often.
Be careful when assessing bumper damage. What many people consider the bumper is actually just a plastic cover for the functional part of the bumper. There is a thick foam pad underneath the plastic cover. This layer of foam is actually what protects you in an accident. If you have been in a crash or bought a car with a cracked bumper, you should get the bumper checked. If the foam is still intact, then you can just replace the plastic cover. Otherwise, you should replace the foam too, or the bumper may not function as designed if you are ever in another accident.
Grille
After the front bumper, the next part of your car to be hit from the front is the grille. Designed to let air flow into the engine compartment, grilles are tough, but they do get destroyed in accidents. Fortunately, most drivers swerve to avoid accidents, sparing grilles from more damage than they would otherwise receive. When a grille is damaged, though, it should be replaced for two reasons. First, it may restrict airflow, causing engine problems. Second, it looks bad. People notice grilles right away and a damaged grille can make an otherwise perfect car look awful.
Hood
silver car with damaged front hood
Our junkyard, located near Milwaukee, provides used auto body parts for great prices!
Hood damage happens for all kinds of reasons. While car accidents are the obvious cause of crumpled hoods, hail and other falling objects can put serious dents in a car’s hood. Instead of writing off these imperfections as cosmetic, owners should be careful lest the hood not latch closed properly. If warping or other problems with the hood are preventing the latch from fully engaging, the hood may pop open unexpectedly and could cause an accident or result in serious damage to the rest of the car. Worse, if you are involved in a second accident and haven't replaced your hood, there's a chance it cannot crumple any more and will instead be pushed back into the passenger compartment of the vehicle.