Damage to radiator
Damage to radiator
Hey all, this my first post (sorry if its in wrong thread) and my first honda! its a blue 2003 Honda Civic LX 1.7l with 83,000 miles on it purchased for $8000 and I love it.
Great on gas, great ride and great quality.
Unfortunately, Last night at around 8:30 pm it was dark, its winter time in NY so it gets abnormally dark. Im driving down a main road, going maybe 35-40 mph. And out of no where. Please, call me a horrible person..
A dog runs full speed across the street and I didnt see it until it was literally 6 feet in front of my left headlight, so I slapped on the brakes but no use, I hit it. It went under my car and literally got back up and started running away.
I pulled over, my passenger and I tried finding the dog but it was gone, I didnt see it limping but wait till you hear this:
My plastic bumper is shattered, the frame underneath the radiator is bent upwards maybe 1 1/2" and the whole bottom half of the radiator was pushed inwards.
How it survived, Idk..i feel terrible
My question is, the car runs fine, i havent noticed any leaks yet, AC/Heat work fine..no abnormal noises.
Should I get this repaired? how much does it generally cost?
Im assuming the bumper, radiator and the frame underneath need to be replaced..
Thanks for any help
Great on gas, great ride and great quality.
Unfortunately, Last night at around 8:30 pm it was dark, its winter time in NY so it gets abnormally dark. Im driving down a main road, going maybe 35-40 mph. And out of no where. Please, call me a horrible person..
A dog runs full speed across the street and I didnt see it until it was literally 6 feet in front of my left headlight, so I slapped on the brakes but no use, I hit it. It went under my car and literally got back up and started running away.
I pulled over, my passenger and I tried finding the dog but it was gone, I didnt see it limping but wait till you hear this:
My plastic bumper is shattered, the frame underneath the radiator is bent upwards maybe 1 1/2" and the whole bottom half of the radiator was pushed inwards.
How it survived, Idk..i feel terrible

My question is, the car runs fine, i havent noticed any leaks yet, AC/Heat work fine..no abnormal noises.
Should I get this repaired? how much does it generally cost?
Im assuming the bumper, radiator and the frame underneath need to be replaced..
Thanks for any help
Last edited by tonyd927; Nov 2, 2011 at 10:53 PM.
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Re: Damage to radiator
frame could be bent back depending on the damage, and i would say a new radiator is a good idea. these things are fragile (part plastic) and who knows what may have happened. i would get the frame and radiator done first, then the bumper you can do later. ive seen some aftermarket oem style bumpers on ebay new and painted for around $250. or you could look around ebay for oem ones from wrecked cars.
Re: Damage to radiator
okay so i took it to be inspected by my insurance provider and theres ALOT of work to be done. I cant believe a freaking dog could cause so much damage..
So far this is what Im getting, we have yet to see what the undercarriage looks like, i think im leaking oil or antifreeze, hard to tell but its a small wetspot maybe 4 inches in diameter usually underneath the radiator support bar. Any ideas?
Replacement bumper: $200
Bumper clips, deflectors, and license plate frames over $60
Lower tie bar $130
New condenser: $140
and some fluids, screws, yada yada
The parts and fluids all total $520
Its gonna be a 4 day job, so labor is almost $1000 alone.
Wow. I really dont like dogs.

So far this is what Im getting, we have yet to see what the undercarriage looks like, i think im leaking oil or antifreeze, hard to tell but its a small wetspot maybe 4 inches in diameter usually underneath the radiator support bar. Any ideas?
Replacement bumper: $200
Bumper clips, deflectors, and license plate frames over $60
Lower tie bar $130
New condenser: $140
and some fluids, screws, yada yada
The parts and fluids all total $520
Its gonna be a 4 day job, so labor is almost $1000 alone.
Wow. I really dont like dogs.
Re: Damage to radiator
Ouch! All these modern cars are at least half plastic and are designed to fall apart in a wreck. Just be thankful you didn't lose the engine. Ran over a dog once in my Pontiac. Everything seemed fine but, the next day I blew my engine from coolant loss. Turns out the "wreck" caused my radiator hose to come off and I lost all my coolant.
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