Miata was rear-ended - light damage.
 

My wife was rear-ended while on the Miata waiting at a stop sign behind 3 other cars. Apparently it was one of those slow-motion, "can't believe this person is not stopping" events. My wife had enough time to see it, pull forward to give more room, and still she got hit. It was a minivan with the wife at the wheel and husband and kids in the car.

My wife seems completely fine, and surprisingly, despite her saying it felt like a big impact, the bumper looks fine (no dents) other than deep scratch/imprints of the head of the front plate screws. The minivan (pretty well used) showed no signs of damage, so I suspect that while it felt like a big hit, it probably wasn't.

I'd be inclined to try to live with it or repair/buff out what I can and pocket the cash or use it to fix other areas of the car, but I am concerned that there may be internal damage to the car's ability to take a future hit. It is already a small car and I don't need its safety compromised any more than it should be. There is the potentially (but unlikely) bigger issue of my wife developing aches and pains down the road. Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this.

How hard is it to pull the bumper cover to see what it looks like underneath? I'd guess if the damage is that light cosmetically then it shouldn't be a big deal going forward

It's possible for there to be some damage to the bumper support... You don't have to go crazy over something that sounds like NBD but why not have a shop provide an estimate, (You'll need that to be paid regardless) and then see if that estimate provides some light on to what might be going underneath. I guess they technically won't know until they dismantle, but they may have some idea...

That's exactly what we are doing tomorrow.

Sorry to hear that, it is a pretty scary experience, most important is your wife is ok.

Literally, the exact same thing happened in my NC, minivan and all. Felt like a big impact but no lasting effects. I took the $1,000(?) from her insurance and lived with the screw imprints.

That's weird!

My car, as you probably know, is cosmetically marginal at best. In the midst of several dents, a sand-blasted front end and a good color for hiding issues (grayish silver), I'me sure I could live with the damage after a good polishing.

They money would be better spent popping out the few dents if at all. Otherwise, I can buy my wife a very nice present with the money. She'd probably add it to a vacation budget.

$1,000 would go towards a a very nice vacuum cleaner

:lol:

We have a good Dyson already.

Glad your wife is okay and hope nothing crops up.

Beyond that...

I was going to use my "My Miata got rear ended, but I'm not gonna fix it" money for some option packages on a Mustang. :lol:

The similarities are amusing.