Hampton Roads Club Mini

Schultze came home Tuesday afternoon...YAY!!! 

I've taken him on a few shakedown cruises since then and have noticed a few things which are being handled by the collision center.

However, one issue that persists & possibly requires a visit to CF is the fact that both the tire & DSC warning lights remain lit!  Those are the same two warning lights that immediately lit up after the accident happened. 

Does anyone know if it's possible to reset those warning lights without needing a trip to CF?  (Yes, I've pressed the button that's next to the e-brake, but the light stays lit no matter what!)

I have to limit the amount of time I drive Schultze because when I went off the road and hit the ditch, it bent the exhaust hangers and the exhaust tip is starting to melt/bubble the new rear bumper.     The collision center is making arrangements with arrangements with a muffler shop to have it fixed.  The initial solution is to have the muffler shop cut the muffler & a short length of pipe leading to the muffler and weld into place a downward-angled pipe leading to the muffler.  The end result...as they've described it...will lower the exhaust tip approx 1/2"-3/4" below the curved opening on the rear bumper.  Does this sound like the proper solution to the problem?  Oh...and they plan on removing the damaged bumper, repairing it & repainting it.  However, since the bumper cover itself is plastic, I'm concerned that it won't look right...what is used to repair melted plastic?  Is there such a thing as "bondo for plastic"?

Does anyone have (or can recommend) a heatshield product that I can tuck between the exhaust tip & the bumper until the repair is done by the muffler shop? 

I'm doing my best to make sure all these repairs are completed as soon as possible...I really want to go to Kilmarnock next weekend!!!

It saddens me to hear that the exhaust wasn't correctly repaired along with all the other related damage. Typically, what is done in your case, would be to remove and replace the exhaust from the bent area back to what is undamaged. Then replace it with as close to factory exhaust tips or aftermarket tips that you may have installed yourself to return it to pre-accident specs. Leaving the exhaust tips that close to he bumper cove is simply put, stupid.

As for repairing the replaced new bumper cover, yes it can be done with the proper plastic repair process, and most body shops have this available. However, you "had" a new cove put on, and a new cover is what you should get. I would have it replaced bythose who screwed it up in the first place and let them worry about the loss of profit.

Repainting the cover at this point shouldn't cause any color match problems either, assuming of course that the very same shop does it again. If you like, that is if you still have my number, give me a call and I'll see if I can give you some quicker responses to any problems you may encounter.

As for those lights coming on again, that will require a trip to CF, as I'm certain it will need to be reset.