Yesterday I rammed a curb in my 2004 A4 3.0 with my front bumper. The bumper corner got shattered, the rest of the bumper still looks fine. All the plastic around my fog light got demolished, the fog light has no damage. My washer fluid tank leaked most of the fluid out (there is still about an inch on the bottom). The washer tank got jammed against the wheel fender, which in turn got jammed into the wheel. I can't force it back to the original position, my car still drives and reports no issues aside from empty washer tank (I have tried to minimize car usage since there is a lot of friction between the wheel and the fender and I don't want to damage my car more). Opening the hood I see no issues aside from cracked and partially shattered bumper, the car insides seem fine. But the washer tank does not directly come in contact with the bumper, which means that something else must be displaced if it's forcing it into unnatural position. I'm not familiar with which mechanics are good in the area, so I'm thinking of just going to the stealership since I need this done this week. What kind of cost should I expect? And what kind of cost would I expect if I did find a mechanic? Since this was my fault I don't think it's a good idea to involve my insurance, wouldn't want to pay double the cost of fixing this in the next few years.

 

the fluid is prob leaking bc of something to do with the headlight washers. other than that there is no way to guess a price without seeing what is actually damaged.

 

make sure ur IC didn't get dislocated, other than that theres nothing to obstruct the reservoirs original location

 

What does IC stand for? Also, I've taken some pictures (I'll upload them when I get home), and looked at the damage. It seems that the bumper on 2004 A4 is made of two parts, and only the bottom part is damaged. The driver-side fog-light grill is smashed, the bottom shield/cover (under the hood) that was attached to the plastic wheel arc thing (I apologize for not knowing the actual part names) using 2 screws is hanging off on both sides (1 side was hanging off when I got the car, now the 2nd side is hanging off too). Judging by the fact that front light now has a about 1/4 inch clearance from the fender, I'm guessing the fender might be slightly bent (although I can't notice it by looking at it). Additionally, I can see that the washer tank has what looks like a broken plastic connector about an inch from the bottom, I'm guessing that's what broke, and the tank is probably fine. I tried looking for some parts on ebay, they have tons of older fog-light grills but none for 2002-2004 models. They also seem to have all sorts of bumpers but none for my year/model. So it looks like I will need a new bumper, side-grill, bottom-shield, wheel arc shield thing, and possibly a new washer tank or connector. Still no idea how much I should expect to pay since I can't even find these items online.

 

intercooler

 

It looks like you do have a two piece bumper but both pieces appear to be damaged. Not sure if it was a 2004, but the last B6 A4 that we did at our shop the front bumper came in one piece. I wrote an estimate to replace both pieces but if the bumper comes as one piece that will save you some $. Audi parts are expensive and without looking at the car in person this may not be a 100% accurate estimate.

I'm not sure what the insurance rules are in NY but in MA if the insurance company pays out more than $500 on top of your deductible you get surcharged $1500 over the next 4-6 years + points on your license. It basically makes putting a claim between $1000-2000 pointless assuming you have a 500 dollar deductible.

 

Thanks so much for the detailed information. Really sucks to see the prices to add up so fast, it's as if the parts cost more than the whole car. By the way, is there something obvious about the upper bumper that makes it look like it's damaged because I can't tell just from looking at it?

 

I can't really tell for sure but it looks like where the lower cover mounts to the upper cover it is all torn up. It's possible it could be repaired but I can't tell from the just the pictures, would have to see it in person.

Coincidentally last night i parked over a snowbank and when i backed up I yanked my lower cover partially off. Ooops. I'll be taking my bumper off today for a timing belt replacement and i'll be able to see how it goes together a little better.

 

I was reading a road and track magazine yesterday and found that bumper damage on a luxury car was cheapest to fix on an Audi (versus beemer, mercs, crysler 300C, etc).

Should be semi reassuring... It was a relief to me anyways.