Minor collision, bumper/grill/headlight/hood don't align

[CosmosMpower]

Wife bumped into someone at a light, low speed 10 mph or less, no paint damage to any panels, no airbags deployed, truly a low speed bump. The impact cracked the front upper grille right at the VW badge and seemed to push the hood back towards the windshield a bit. Took it to a shop and they were able to adjust the hood mostly back into position but on the driver side they can't get the grill to sit down into the top of the bumper because the headlight too tight up against the edge of the grill. There is also a gap between the bottom edge of the headlight and the bumper.

They are guessing the radiator/core support is cracked and must have buckled in a bit somewhere on the driver side (even though the impact was dead center). They want a good bit of money for mechanical labor to replace the radiator support so I wanted to get some opinions from the board to see if it's likely that would cause a misalignment of all the parts. Right now when the hood is closed it overhangs the headlight and center grill a bit like that corner is sunken in a little.

Is there any adjustability in how far the headlight or core support sits?

They also replaced the radiator support air deflector that the bumper clips into but there's still a gap between the bumper and headlight.

Pics: https://photos.app.goo.gl/tbuoaVU7dHp7v3859

 

[jimlloyd40]

Yes it could cause that damage. If the car is driveable get a second opinion from another body shop.

 

[777-300ER]

The radiator support can move forwards and backwards. There are two t30's on each side of the frame horns that have plenty of movement in them. There will be a mark if they slid backwards, and in my last intercooler install it was aligned quite far forward. I will take pictures for you tomorrow when I do another.

Please fix your pictures though, can't see them. I don't think your issue is the headlamp height adjustment even though it is adjustable. There are clips that the bumper slides into on the bottom front of the headlight that prevents the bumper from sagging. It's very easy to accidentally miss them when installing the bumper cover improperly. Grille fitment could also be an improper installation problem, they can be a real pain in the butt to clip in properly.

 

[CosmosMpower]

The radiator support can move forwards and backwards. There are two t30's on each side of the frame horns that have plenty of movement in them. There will be a mark if they slid backwards, and in my last intercooler install it was aligned quite far forward. I will take pictures for you tomorrow when I do another.

Please fix your pictures though, can't see them. I don't think your issue is the headlamp height adjustment even though it is adjustable. There are clips that the bumper slides into on the bottom front of the headlight that prevents the bumper from sagging. It's very easy to accidentally miss them when installing the bumper cover improperly. Grille fitment could also be an improper installation problem, they can be a real pain in the butt to clip in properly.

thanks! I didn’t know that there is adjustment capability for the core support where it bolts to the frame. Hopefully the bolt just slide a bit and pushed one side a little further in and the core support didn’t break.
Whats the mechanism to adjust how far forward/back the core support sits, is it slotted?

How far do you have to take the car down to access those torx bolts to adjust them? Can you get to them just by removing the front bumper cover?

Is the adjustment in how far forward/back the core support sits using the t30's the top and bottom left bolt in this pic in the slotted rail?

 

[joesid]

You can also adjust the headlight quite a bit. I had a similar accident and wasn’t satisfied with the alignment but was able to fix it by playing with the headlight bolts.