koda2000
Explorer Addict
- Joined
- September 2, 2011
- Messages
- 13,874
- Reaction score
- 1,579
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My daughter's 2000 Mountaineer (2WD 5.0L 245,000+ miles) got rear-ended for the second time in as many months. This is the 3rd time this truck has been rear-ended in the 8 years we've owned it. The first time was about a month after I bought it in 2012 with my wife driving. That bend the rear bumper brackets. I replaced them with a used pair of brackets for $20 (IIRC) and didn't bother with insurance.
The second time (last month) bent the passenger's side bumper bracket. I haven't bothered fixing it.
Last week's accident:
- Popped the plastic trim/step on the top of bumper up on the driver's side.
- Smashed the crap out of the d/s tail light.
- Put a small dent in the d/s quarter panel where the tail light housing hit it.
- Put a tiny dent in the left edge of lift-gate and scuffed the paint slightly.
- Scraped a small amount of paint off the small piece of trim below the d/s tail light.
I figured the insurance company would total the truck and then I'd buy it back and fix it myself. I bought a used tail light assembly off eBay for $20 and new long-life 3157 and 3156 bulbs for around $10 from Amazon (bulbs cost me .82 cents using some Amazon points).
- Removed the broken tail light, straightened the bend pieces of metal where the tail light mounts.
- Snapped the plastic trim piece back into the holes on top of the rear bumper.
- Test-fit the replacement tail light until I was happy with it.
- Installed the 3 new bulbs (signal, stop/tail and backup)..
- Reinstalled the tail light assembly and tested it (everything works fine). You can barely tell anything happened.
Total money spent on repairs - $20.82 (plus $20 more if I decide want to replace the bumper brackets).
My total time spent replacing/fixing the tail light assembly and popping the bumper trim back on - 1.5 hours.
I just got off the phone with the other driver's insurance company. We settled with them sending us a check for $1,900 to do as we please with no total/buy-back hassle. I'd call that a big win and the old Mountaineer gets to live on. It still runs like a top and is the best riding of all the Gen II Expl's/Mountaineer's I've owned. Now that we recovered the driver's seat this past spring the interior is descent. The worst things about it is that the clear-coat is peeling off the hood, tops of the front fenders and the wheels.
The second time (last month) bent the passenger's side bumper bracket. I haven't bothered fixing it.
Last week's accident:
- Popped the plastic trim/step on the top of bumper up on the driver's side.
- Smashed the crap out of the d/s tail light.
- Put a small dent in the d/s quarter panel where the tail light housing hit it.
- Put a tiny dent in the left edge of lift-gate and scuffed the paint slightly.
- Scraped a small amount of paint off the small piece of trim below the d/s tail light.
I figured the insurance company would total the truck and then I'd buy it back and fix it myself. I bought a used tail light assembly off eBay for $20 and new long-life 3157 and 3156 bulbs for around $10 from Amazon (bulbs cost me .82 cents using some Amazon points).
- Removed the broken tail light, straightened the bend pieces of metal where the tail light mounts.
- Snapped the plastic trim piece back into the holes on top of the rear bumper.
- Test-fit the replacement tail light until I was happy with it.
- Installed the 3 new bulbs (signal, stop/tail and backup)..
- Reinstalled the tail light assembly and tested it (everything works fine). You can barely tell anything happened.
Total money spent on repairs - $20.82 (plus $20 more if I decide want to replace the bumper brackets).
My total time spent replacing/fixing the tail light assembly and popping the bumper trim back on - 1.5 hours.
I just got off the phone with the other driver's insurance company. We settled with them sending us a check for $1,900 to do as we please with no total/buy-back hassle. I'd call that a big win and the old Mountaineer gets to live on. It still runs like a top and is the best riding of all the Gen II Expl's/Mountaineer's I've owned. Now that we recovered the driver's seat this past spring the interior is descent. The worst things about it is that the clear-coat is peeling off the hood, tops of the front fenders and the wheels.