Safe to Drive?

Earlier today I rear-ended the suv in front of me. There was a line of traffic and we weren't going faster than 15 mph. My Jetta's hood crumpled a little and the very center of the front grille area was pushed in. Wheels, wheel wells and lights are fine.

The hood is stuck shut and I can't move it when I pull on it. I need to drive until I get it repaired, but I don't want to die. Do you think it's safe (enough) to drive the car at higheay speeds?


Thank you.

If it's not losing coolant and holds boost pressure, you should be fine.

Sent from my mobile look-at device

My main concern would be having the hood fly up at speed. Have been in the back seat of a car at 75mph when this happened and it was sketchy to put it mildly. Sprayed glass across the whole front two seats and the driver was petrified while pulling over. Couldn't see anything and was covered in glass while balling her eyes out and trying to move across two lanes of traffic.

Try to be safe about it and stick to the right lane if you have to drive it. I'd probably ratchet strap the hood closed from underneath if you really have no other option just for reassurance. Fix it asap... you never know.

Ratchet strap sounds wise. Where exactly would I feed it through?

Having the hood fly up is also my main concern.

If I don't see any leaks a few hoirs after it happened, can I be confident that the coolant level is good?

Use a strap with a hook on both ends. Coil spring sounds like a likely place.

Since I would never trust myself to so it correctly, I'll see if my body shop guy can help. I'm taking the car in tomorrow for an estimate.