Pop into a body shop and ask them. They will have seen this type of damage before. Regards Peter

Edited by Peter D on 09/08/2016 at 10:21

Tried that today, Wackyracer, but I'm afraid it didn't work.

So, I paid a visit to my local Ford Main Dealer to ask for some idea as to what had happened to my car and an estimate for it's repair. They told me it was £10 for an estimate, refundable if I had the work done by them. You can't get very much done at a main dealer's for £10 these days so I went ahead.

They took some details then asked me to sit in their waiting area. A couple of minutes later their estimator came out and spoke to me, so I told him the story. We then walked over to my car.

First thing he said was that someone has definitely gone into the back of it! It didn't happen due to the heat where it was parked on Sunday. He took a few photos then examined the damage carefully with his eyes.

What he did next absolutely amazed me!

He grabbed the edge of the bumper really hard, pulled it out further still, then, as if by magic, he managed to push the whole edge back into the plastic bracket that's mounted on the rear! I just looked on; I didn't think you'd get things like that done at a main dealers! I actually thought he was going to tear the bumper in half, he was pulling on it so hard, but I guess that if you work in a bodyshop you know how far you can go with these things.

He did point out that it's not 100% perfect and he's right. The plastic edge of the bumper is very slightly out of line and the estimator told me there's a very slight dent in the metal rear wing, but I can barely see it.

So, I asked him how much that was going to cost. He replied that the £10 estimate fee would cover it! I was well pleased.

I only wish, now, that I'd asked him to continue with the originally requested estimate, but I rather think I'll probably live with how it is now. I actually looked at the other side and, to be perfectly honest, that's not perfectly in line, either. Plastic parts, don't you just love them!

I would say the repair I had done in the Ford Main Dealer's car park this morning is about 95%; on a nine year old car I would probably say that's OK.

New photo: tinypic.com/r/2cyjr45/9

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and advice.

Edited by Galaxy on 10/08/2016 at 20:52