"Rear ended" is a little bit of an overstatement, I was hit in the back bumper by a tractor & trailer. Here's the short story:

Was sitting at a red light when the truck pulled up too close behind me.
The driver got a cell phone call after he stopped behind me, and forgot I was there (he lost sight of me because he stopped too close).

When the light changed, I started rolling forward, and the truck gunned it ... POW!
It was a fairly hard hit, terrible noise.
Now, since I was rolling forward, there really wasn't any "noticeable" damage.
Just a few scratches, a few scuffs of the bumper paint.
I was amazed! I couldn't believe my luck!
We still exchanged insurance info though, just in case.

Here's the rub ...
The next day I ran my car through the car wash, and guess what I noticed ...
Yep, you guessed it, water in the tail lights.
I had NEVER had that problem before.
I didn't even think about that being a result of the accident.

Here is my question for the group.
What else should I look for?
I'm having the car check out next week, and I would appriciate a list of things to have the body shop check for.
It's on the truck company's insurance, so I'm not worried about cost.

 

OMG! that sucks! man I hate that sound. So is it bad?

 

that sucks, hope it all gets taken care of.

 

Tell the shop what happened, and then tell them to check everything as if you were going to be buying the car. The tail lights are an easy fix, either the body shop can replace them or you can just replace the seals on them (there are several howto's on this)

Might want to take it to an alignment shop as well.

 

No other sound like it.
Like I mentioned there is no "apparent" damage, just a couple of scratches and chips in the bumper paint. It really is amazing!

I will probably ask the body shop to replace the bumper (never the same after they get hit), check the alignment, fix the lights seal.
Any other suggestions?

 

mazdaspeed rear bumper?

 

check the license plate light and the fitment of the lower plastic parts and fender liners, get under there and make sure the primary tabs that the plastic rivets go through are still intact, also depending on how much the bumper cover was flexed the heat shield above the muffle could've taken a tap - but from your description i doubt it.

ask me how i know~

 

man that really sucks!same thing happened to me but it was a pick-up truck and before the accident there was no problem with my tail lights but i had it fixed and belieave it or not wro paid for the tail lights and the body shop replaced the bumper and pad behind the bumper.just a note be sure you check both sides of your bumper where the quarter panels meet to be sure it did not crush anything and that there is no hidden damages that show up after the bumper is removed !also check and be sure your rear tail pipes are not bent in.

 

ahh that sucks, i just got rear ended by an old lady playing with her sat. radio!! I THINK THEY ARE AFTER US!! just make sure everything under the bumper will be ok, and possibly check the exhuast system out. it may have bumped it foward and damaged seals or sumthing..

 

Sorry to hear this.

 

Anyone have a side by side comparison of the OEM and mazdaspeed bumper?
I did a search, but can't find a good image of the bumper.