Baleno Bumper Issue

shuvc · 29th January 2007, 16:13

Ok .. it's not really an issue. An incident today morning left me dumbfounded.

Picture this oft-repeated scene in office hour bumper to bumper Indian city traffic.

1. Waiting at a signal
2. Light changes everyone starts inching.
3. The car in front suddenly stops for apparently no reason (a taxi here)
4. You stand on your brakes to avoid hitting the bu***r
5. The car behind you, oblivious to whats happening upfront, kisses your rear - the intensity obviously differs from case to case.

I was the middle car today.

I stop by the side of the road. So does the spanking new Wagon R behind me. He has no damage to speak of. I don't waste time speaking to him as there was nothing he could do anyway.

Prelim damage assessment - My bumper had been pushed in slightly, one of the anchor points of the right rear wheel mudflaps had come loose AND there was a 6 inch dia 'depression' in the bumper. The depth was abt 1 cm. Both wifey and I inspect it. I mention to wifey that that's strange , since I thought the Baleno bumper is made of some plastic .. in which case it should have cracked. But there was no crack and minimal scratches (the Wagon R bumper had rubber protectors).

Now comes the funny part. I come to office in a foul mood, doing mental arithmetic of the repair costs. Park the car , walk around to the rear and check the bumper - then double check - triple check .....
LO - The depression had VANISHED - without a trace !!!

The bumper had almost behaved like a full mineral water bottle - you depress it and it comes back to shape.

I'll still need to get the bumper anchors straightened out a bit and the mudflap fixed to the body....

Does anyone have any explanation for this ??

narayan · 29th January 2007, 17:31

bumpers normally dont crack so easily unless u have a sharp object creating a pointed impact...

im presuming depression would have vanished bcos of heat generated while driving which could have got the bump unfold....( thats how service centers fix the bumps )

himanshugoswami · 29th January 2007, 17:38

so the Baleno has self correcting bumpers !

Someone please tell Mauti

kiranpashtakar · 7th February 2007, 15:51

Quote:

bcos of heat generated while driving

Narayan how do you think the heat generated during driving gets transmitted to the bumper.

kiran1103 · 7th February 2007, 16:19

Hi,

I also faced the same with my Esteem, the cop was towing my vehcile, he roped it with chain in the front bumper, I got furious and shouted like mad to the traffic cop and thretened him with consequences as I am an Advocate by profession. He later got the car down and the bumber was bent inside. Later when I came home and look at it, It vanished. Strange.

Akshay1234 · 7th February 2007, 16:23

the bump was on the right side.. the exhaust in the baleno is on the right side. the exhaust pipe would be hot. i guess taht could have heated the bumper a little bit.

shrivz · 7th February 2007, 23:45

@akshay: its not due to heating because of the exhaust or anything..

bumpers are usually fibre... they do take back their original shape if they're pushed back.. only a trained eye will be able to detect such minor damage..
there will be minor deviations in the contour of the bumper.. sometimes not noticable at all..

if the bumper fibre is depressed badly and cannot be corrected by applying pressure.. the solution is heating it and correcting it (as akshay said).. but heating will cause damage to your paint (you need to heat it a lot).. so after heating the bumper will haveto be repainted..

My stationary baleno was rammed by an accent at a signal..
The accent had hit me hard.. I guess the speed of impact mustve been around 40kmph.. the accent's front bonnet, bumper and headlamp were damaged badly..
the driver wasnt wearing his seatbelt so he hit the windshield and cracked it.. so you can imagine the force of impact..
anyways.. got down.. assesed the damage..
my bumper was completely bent inside..
all the bumper mounts had come off and some had broken except for the ones on the top..
my dickky bent a bit inside and so did the body of the car around it..
took the car to the nearest authorised maruti service center..
the mechanic came out with a rod..
he pushed the bumper from inside and it regained its original shape... I initially couldnt believe it.. since it was a major impact...
but it happened..

its strange but true.. they dont crack up easily...

cheers
Shrivz...

Zappo · 8th February 2007, 00:41

wah! now seriously... himanshu's jocular remark is looking serious to me. Someone please tell Maruti... they have an advertisement gimmick sitting with them... self correcting bumpers!

Surprise · 8th February 2007, 18:31

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/new-in...a-1-6-a-2.html

A relevant thread here. Wish swift too had this sort of bumpers. Once a wagon-R hit my car's rear resulting in huge dent in bumper (before 8 months), still I have not attended to it with a hope that it will regain its position

elf · 9th February 2007, 01:26

@Surprise: Wait. It'll happen someday...

shrivz · 9th February 2007, 10:21

@Surprise: as per my observations, the swift's got thinner bumpers compared to the Baleno.

Also the swift's bumper is relatively straight, so the contour of the bumper doesnt really help in re straightning...

theMAG · 9th February 2007, 10:33

Modern bumpers are designed to not only absorb low speed impacts, but also reform to the original shape from a minor dent. Its been in the US for a long time. Its in India these days.

Surprise and Shrivz-the Swift already has these bumpers. They made of softer FRP than those on other Maruti models.

benbsb29 · 9th February 2007, 12:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by theMAG

Surprise and Shrivz-the Swift already has these bumpers. They made of softer FRP than those on other Maruti models.

Surprise wud be in for a surprise when one fine day his bumper actually straightens out...

gigy · 18th February 2007, 19:22

This just happened to me also yesterday. i had infact opened another thread regarding after market bumpers for baleno. After the accident (where bumper hit a low compound wall and got a big dent inwards and broke one of the fog lamps), i had almost been driving in the evenings and night. Two days back had to park the car in sun for the whole day and today i see there exist no dent in my car bumper. i would not have had a explanation had i not seen this thread, and even spent a fortune in buying a designer bumper. now ui will just have to get it repainted which i hope the insurance guy will take care of.

BlackPearl · 17th April 2008, 12:54

The same thing happened to my baleno in Delhi where a moron in an Indica could not stop in time and hit an esteem which in turn hit me deforming the bumper. But it was straightened when pushed from the inside by a service centre guy.

29th January 2007, 16:13	#1
shuvc Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2005 Location: Kolkata Posts: 2,911 Thanked: 359 Times View My Garage	Baleno Bumper Issue Ok .. it's not really an issue. An incident today morning left me dumbfounded. Picture this oft-repeated scene in office hour bumper to bumper Indian city traffic. 1. Waiting at a signal 2. Light changes everyone starts inching. 3. The car in front suddenly stops for apparently no reason (a taxi here) 4. You stand on your brakes to avoid hitting the bu***r 5. The car behind you, oblivious to whats happening upfront, kisses your rear - the intensity obviously differs from case to case. I was the middle car today. I stop by the side of the road. So does the spanking new Wagon R behind me. He has no damage to speak of. I don't waste time speaking to him as there was nothing he could do anyway. Prelim damage assessment - My bumper had been pushed in slightly, one of the anchor points of the right rear wheel mudflaps had come loose AND there was a 6 inch dia 'depression' in the bumper. The depth was abt 1 cm. Both wifey and I inspect it. I mention to wifey that that's strange , since I thought the Baleno bumper is made of some plastic .. in which case it should have cracked. But there was no crack and minimal scratches (the Wagon R bumper had rubber protectors). Now comes the funny part. I come to office in a foul mood, doing mental arithmetic of the repair costs. Park the car , walk around to the rear and check the bumper - then double check - triple check ..... LO - The depression had VANISHED - without a trace !!! The bumper had almost behaved like a full mineral water bottle - you depress it and it comes back to shape. I'll still need to get the bumper anchors straightened out a bit and the mudflap fixed to the body.... Does anyone have any explanation for this ??
	() Thanks

29th January 2007, 17:31	#2
narayan Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Singapore Posts: 3,132 Thanked: 2,488 Times View My Garage	bumpers normally dont crack so easily unless u have a sharp object creating a pointed impact... im presuming depression would have vanished bcos of heat generated while driving which could have got the bump unfold....( thats how service centers fix the bumps )
	() Thanks

29th January 2007, 17:38	#3
himanshugoswami Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: !!!! Posts: 2,325 Thanked: 2,693 Times	so the Baleno has self correcting bumpers ! Someone please tell Mauti
	() Thanks

7th February 2007, 16:19	#5
kiran1103 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangalore/London Posts: 126 Thanked: Once	Hi, I also faced the same with my Esteem, the cop was towing my vehcile, he roped it with chain in the front bumper, I got furious and shouted like mad to the traffic cop and thretened him with consequences as I am an Advocate by profession. He later got the car down and the bumber was bent inside. Later when I came home and look at it, It vanished. Strange.
	() Thanks

7th February 2007, 16:23	#6
Akshay1234 Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 10,327 Thanked: 12,914 Times	the bump was on the right side.. the exhaust in the baleno is on the right side. the exhaust pipe would be hot. i guess taht could have heated the bumper a little bit.
	() Thanks

7th February 2007, 23:45	#7
shrivz BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Pune, MH12 Posts: 602 Thanked: 96 Times View My Garage	@akshay: its not due to heating because of the exhaust or anything.. bumpers are usually fibre... they do take back their original shape if they're pushed back.. only a trained eye will be able to detect such minor damage.. there will be minor deviations in the contour of the bumper.. sometimes not noticable at all.. if the bumper fibre is depressed badly and cannot be corrected by applying pressure.. the solution is heating it and correcting it (as akshay said).. but heating will cause damage to your paint (you need to heat it a lot).. so after heating the bumper will haveto be repainted.. My stationary baleno was rammed by an accent at a signal.. The accent had hit me hard.. I guess the speed of impact mustve been around 40kmph.. the accent's front bonnet, bumper and headlamp were damaged badly.. the driver wasnt wearing his seatbelt so he hit the windshield and cracked it.. so you can imagine the force of impact.. anyways.. got down.. assesed the damage.. my bumper was completely bent inside.. all the bumper mounts had come off and some had broken except for the ones on the top.. my dickky bent a bit inside and so did the body of the car around it.. took the car to the nearest authorised maruti service center.. the mechanic came out with a rod.. he pushed the bumper from inside and it regained its original shape... I initially couldnt believe it.. since it was a major impact... but it happened.. its strange but true.. they dont crack up easily... cheers Shrivz...
	() Thanks

8th February 2007, 00:41	#8
Zappo Team-BHP Support Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 5,915 Thanked: 2,746 Times	wah! now seriously... himanshu's jocular remark is looking serious to me. Someone please tell Maruti... they have an advertisement gimmick sitting with them... self correcting bumpers!
	() Thanks

8th February 2007, 18:31	#9
Surprise Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Chennai Posts: 2,529 Thanked: 463 Times	http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/new-in...a-1-6-a-2.html A relevant thread here. Wish swift too had this sort of bumpers. Once a wagon-R hit my car's rear resulting in huge dent in bumper (before 8 months), still I have not attended to it with a hope that it will regain its position
	() Thanks

9th February 2007, 01:26	#10
elf BANNED Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,035 Thanked: 16 Times View My Garage	@Surprise: Wait. It'll happen someday...
	() Thanks

9th February 2007, 10:21	#11
shrivz BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Pune, MH12 Posts: 602 Thanked: 96 Times View My Garage	@Surprise: as per my observations, the swift's got thinner bumpers compared to the Baleno. Also the swift's bumper is relatively straight, so the contour of the bumper doesnt really help in re straightning...
	() Thanks

9th February 2007, 10:33	#12
theMAG Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Avon, CT Posts: 7,196 Thanked: 1,821 Times View My Garage	Modern bumpers are designed to not only absorb low speed impacts, but also reform to the original shape from a minor dent. Its been in the US for a long time. Its in India these days. Surprise and Shrivz-the Swift already has these bumpers. They made of softer FRP than those on other Maruti models. Last edited by theMAG : 9th February 2007 at 10:35.
	() Thanks

18th February 2007, 19:22	#14
gigy Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: mumbai Posts: 1,321 Thanked: 47 Times	This just happened to me also yesterday. i had infact opened another thread regarding after market bumpers for baleno. After the accident (where bumper hit a low compound wall and got a big dent inwards and broke one of the fog lamps), i had almost been driving in the evenings and night. Two days back had to park the car in sun for the whole day and today i see there exist no dent in my car bumper. i would not have had a explanation had i not seen this thread, and even spent a fortune in buying a designer bumper. now ui will just have to get it repainted which i hope the insurance guy will take care of.
	() Thanks

17th April 2008, 12:54	#15
BlackPearl Team-BHP Support Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Calcutta/London Posts: 3,662 Thanked: 17,377 Times View My Garage	The same thing happened to my baleno in Delhi where a moron in an Indica could not stop in time and hit an esteem which in turn hit me deforming the bumper. But it was straightened when pushed from the inside by a service centre guy.
	() Thanks