my brakes are better than a pontiac

Just got rear ended (less then 5mph when impacted) while picking up my son from school. Car was tailgating me while I braked when I noticed the person in front of me quickly decided to make a left hand turn! The rain really brings out the most fabulous drivers. The child who got out of the car had the audacity to say to me, "What happened?" I laughed and said that I was just rear ended. His reply was "Oh $hit, my dad is going to kill me!" I must say, the bumper held up. Just two small nicks in the rear bumper. Pics to follow after I crack open a Westmalle trappist. Not even worth filing a claim IMO. Maybe Karma will pay me back and I will hit the lotto tonight (my birthday) so that I can now trade in my beater 335 for an M3. LOL. The most important lesson I learned from this is that a) thank goodness no one was hurt and b) the brakes on the 335 are amazing! No real point to this thread, just a little venting and thankfully, my idealistic view of my car is the only thing tarnished here.

Ha, I always have to pay attention to the cars behind me when I'm braking hard in traffic on the commute--I know I can out-brake the majority of cars (and all SUVs) on the road.

And c) Happy Birthday!

Since you got rear-ended, why not file a claim and get he car professionally checked? Sometimes a little bump can cause damage that down the road might have to cost you out of pocket. Case in point with both bumpers, the screws holding them in are often easily damaged by small impacts and might eventually fail, requiring replacement of the entire bumper.

Since you are not at fault, why risk it?

Glad no one was hurt. I really hate those that think they are NASCAR drivers and can tailgate you and have the reaction time to miss...but they don't. On the highway I will either (a) turn on taillights, so they think I am braking; or (b) just take my foot of the gas and force them to go around. I resist the temptation to tailgate them back, but I might flick the headlights at them, to make myself feel vindicated (that's a word, right?).

And happy birthday to you.

Angie

I thank you for not claiming Keep my rates down and I am sure the kid got a nice lesson...

The week I got my car my buddy warned me about the brakes. Said my concern wasn't going to be how well they worked, but how well the guy's behind me would. I've found that to be true a couple of times. I'm very pleased with my brakes.

Glad nobody was hurt. That "government motors" brakes don't work as well as BMW brakes may be the understatement of the year in here.

Originally Posted by cwinter

Since you got rear-ended, why not file a claim and get he car professionally checked? Sometimes a little bump can cause damage that down the road might have to cost you out of pocket. Case in point with both bumpers, the screws holding them in are often easily damaged by small impacts and might eventually fail, requiring replacement of the entire bumper.

Since you are not at fault, why risk it?

maybe because.... A. He doesn't want to screw over the kid for no REAL reason or B. Doesn't see a point in causing the kids (or his) insurance to "potentially" go up because of a "non-incident" that was reported.

Why do SO MANY people think that they HAVE to be opportunistic at EVERY chance. The OP did the RIGHT thing. Why would you try to encourage him otherwise? It's not likely that he has any damage for a 5MPH accident. The bumpers are DESIGNED to handle it. Please tell me that you are not one of these people that would go run up a $12,000 chiropractic bill on a poor kid who barely hit him.

Originally Posted by zeeway

Glad no one was hurt. I really hate those that think they are NASCAR drivers and can tailgate you and have the reaction time to miss...but they don't. On the highway I will either (a) turn on taillights, so they think I am braking; or (b) just take my foot of the gas and force them to go around. I resist the temptation to tailgate them back, but I might flick the headlights at them, to make myself feel vindicated (that's a word, right?).

And happy birthday to you.

Angie

Do you drive in the passing lane?

Originally Posted by ndabunka

maybe because.... A. He doesn't want to screw over the kid for no REAL reason or B. Doesn't see a point in causing the kids (or his) insurance to "potentially" go up because of a "non-incident" that was reported.

Why do SO MANY people think that they HAVE to be opportunistic at EVERY chance. The OP did the RIGHT thing. Why would you try to encourage him otherwise? It's not likely that he has any damage for a 5MPH accident. The bumpers are DESIGNED to handle it. Please tell me that you are not one of these people that would go run up a $12,000 chiropractic bill on a poor kid who barely hit him.

You're putting words into my mouth. This is not screwing anybody over, this is asking someone that damaged your property to own up to it and have his/her insurance pay for the damages. Why would the OP have to deal with even a slight scratch in his car because someone tailgated him and consequently hit him? I didn't suggest the OP go out and make up fake claims about injuries and have his FRONT bumper replaced or something silly. I'm not sure where you get the idea here that anyone is poor either. The OP has a BMW and the kid was driving a car. That must mean both parties have some income.

Case and point, my wife was rear-ended at low speed with her car after we had just gotten it. Car had less than 100 miles on it, was a lease, and yes, there was hardly a scratch on the bumper, but clearly, it was visible damage. Of course we filed a claim and got it fixed. For one thing, the car was practically new, so we felt quite bummed someone had damaged it already. Beyond that, it was a lease and eventually, we'd probably have to pay for the damage when turning the vehicle in. More importantly though, you never know what got knocked loose under there, even at low speeds.

Bumper was repainted and car inspected and that was the end of it. That is how insurance works; that is not screwing someone over. If I rear ended someone at low speed I would not feel screwed if they got their car inspected and fixed. Vice versa, I'd do the same if it was my car being rear-ended.

Since when is holding someone responsible for damages they caused screwing them over?

Originally Posted by cwinter

You're putting words into my mouth. This is not screwing anybody over, this is asking someone that damaged your property to own up to it and have his/her insurance pay for the damages. Why would the OP have to deal with even a slight scratch in his car because someone tailgated him and consequently hit him? I didn't suggest the OP go out and make up fake claims about injuries and have his FRONT bumper replaced or something silly. I'm not sure where you get the idea here that anyone is poor either. The OP has a BMW and the kid was driving a car. That must mean both parties have some income.

Case and point, my wife was rear-ended at low speed with her car after we had just gotten it. Car had less than 100 miles on it, was a lease, and yes, there was hardly a scratch on the bumper, but clearly, it was visible damage. Of course we filed a claim and got it fixed. For one thing, the car was practically new, so we felt quite bummed someone had damaged it already. Beyond that, it was a lease and eventually, we'd probably have to pay for the damage when turning the vehicle in. More importantly though, you never know what got knocked loose under there, even at low speeds.

Bumper was repainted and car inspected and that was the end of it. That is how insurance works; that is not screwing someone over. If I rear ended someone at low speed I would not feel screwed if they got their car inspected and fixed. Vice versa, I'd do the same if it was my car being rear-ended.

Since when is holding someone responsible for damages they caused screwing them over?

Amen!!!