Rear-End Collision

I got hit last night (in my '03 Eddie Bauer V8) from behind by an '04 Crown Vic Police Interceptor (not a cop...but a pretty heavy car) going about 40 mph as he skidded into me. My initial assessment was that it was purely cosmetic...but in the light of day today, I can see that the EB wheel trim on both sides is not aligning with the back doors and that the tailgate door looks just a bit out of alignment. It also looks like the exhaust pipe is bruised from when he went under the car.
Anyone ever go through this? Can a seemingly cosmetic fender-bender cause the ins. co. to total the vehicle?
My fear is that they only offer to fix the bumper and then within 6 months or 10K miles, I start having a bunch of mechanical problems. I know this sounds crazy...but I'm closing in on 40 and this is my first experience with a wreck (my fault or not...which this obviously was not).
Thanks!

 

[BWilliams]

Could you get a picture or two and post it up? One really can't say much without seeing it.

My '05 got in a pretty rough rear-end accident a while back (Honda Element at 40-45MPH). Our ass-end is mostly plastic, so I got some pretty messy damage (destroyed bumper, smashed tailgate, bent tailpipe), but it was all superficial, other then the end of the tailpipe.

I obviously cannot say with any verity, but I would guess that you're fine -- the structure seems pretty tough under the plastic, and you've got your hitch there to take a lot of the impact force. Seeing some pictures would help to get a better idea, however.

Good luck, and sorry to hear about the accident... I've been there, it sucks!

 

[MONMIX]

take it to a decent collision repair shop.
They know all the little places damage can hide.
Pick a cood shop with I-CAR trained techs and you will be fine.

 

[Burns]

If he has insurance and the police report says its his fault your truck will be fixed at his expense. (well his ins exp.)

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

do u got pics of the damage

 

[Joe Dirt]

If he has insurance and the police report says its his fault your truck will be fixed at his expense. (well his ins exp.)

Or you should live in Michigan where we have the wonderful no-fault law and sky-high insurance rates...

 

[dynamite196]

+1 on what monmix said, the good news is rear end damage isn't nearly as expensive as front end damage since you don't have all the engine and electrical components to deal with. Still, it sounds like somethings got bent pretty badly and if the frame needs pulling that raises the labor bill quite a bit.