Bumper repair

[sliiice]

I bought a 2007 Yaris with 14,000 miles on it last Saturday. I am pleased with everything in this wondrous auto, except for all the dings and scratches on front and rear bumpers. Wow, the previous owner must have been one awesomely bad driver.

I priced repairing and repainting the bumpers - $1162! Is it worth it? It's not that much more to just get new ones. I need some opinions from you guys before I approach the spousal unit with my next request for money. Would you repair or get new ones or live with all the little annoying dents and scratches?

[mrbond]

Well, are you planning on modifying your car or just keeping it as a fuel-efficient, reliable daily driver? If you fall under the latter category, I'd try to source used bumper with no scratches, pay for a simple paint job and let tha be that.
However, if you plan on modifying it, I would hold off on fixing the front bumpers until you have enough to get aftermarket bumpers, like the C-One bumpers that Garm (Cali-Yaris) sells on here. Just my two cents.

[b00sted4fun]

i got my yaris new and over the winter a ice chunk took out gouge out of my bumper... to me it was a selling point to a body kit to the wife ;).

[supmet]

You can fix your bumper for 20 bucks.

Get a space heater or a heat gun. Heat up any dings/dents and push them back to flat. Cut out anything that can't be fixed that way, and get a fiberglass patch kit for 10 bucks at autozone. Patch up your holes, sand, 5 dollar spraypaint, and you're done. :D

Or - Front bumper is 170 on TRDSparks.com (it says its for the sedan - I don't see one for the LB - I think they might be the same??? Definitely check before you buy)

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214631&chapter=ARM8327&appSectionid=53501&groupid=51817&subgroupid=2278&componentid=0&make=34&model=Yaris&year=2007&graphicID=8327490&callout=1&catalogid=2

Or - as others have said, you can always use it as an excuse to go aftermarket :D

[marcus]

$1162!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for that amount you can paint the whole car...well atleast in canada ..actually maaco can do it for under $600 for the whole car. canadian ofcourse.. but still??

[supmet]

$1162!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for that amount you can paint the whole car...

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in solid gold?

But ya seriously, unless its a brand new engine or transmission, I'm not paying 10% of what I paid for the car for any ONE part.

[nemelek]

You can fix your bumper for 20 bucks.

Get a space heater or a heat gun. Heat up any dings/dents and push them back to flat. Cut out anything that can't be fixed that way, and get a fiberglass patch kit for 10 bucks at autozone. Patch up your holes, sand, 5 dollar spraypaint, and you're done. :D

Or - Front bumper is 170 on TRDSparks.com (it says its for the sedan - I don't see one for the LB - I think they might be the same??? Definitely check before you buy)

http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/index.cfm?action=getLocator&siteid=214631&chapter=ARM8327&appSectionid=53501&groupid=51817&subgroupid=2278&componentid=0&make=34&model=Yaris&year=2007&graphicID=8327490&callout=1&catalogid=2

Or - as others have said, you can always use it as an excuse to go aftermarket :D

I like it. Fast cheap and doing it yourself.

[sliiice]

Thanks for all your replies! I like diy as well, except that I'm not good at it. Maaco has a deal for $129 to repaint bumpers, so I'm going to check that out today.

[yaris prime]

I have a few cracks in the crossmembers of the lower grille on my front bumper. I have tried a few expensive glues with no luck. Yesterday I decided to hot glue it and it seems to be holding up so far. :iono:

[sliiice]

Hot glue guns are awesome. Never thought to use them on my car, but I'd be interested in knowing how well the repair holds.

I got my bumpers repaired. They're all shiny and smooth and I think I'm in love. A lot poorer, but it was so worth it!

[talnlnky]

A 3 foot snowdrift on a highway at 1:30 in the morning last year put a good dent in my front bumper.... once the car was towed out and picked up the next day I just pressed the dent out with my hand... went POP! like so, and you can't tell there was ever a dent.

It's plastic... if there are dents, and they don't pop out easily... i'd say you're fucked. You could try to use fiberglass filler like RAGE GOLD.... but why even try... you'd then have to paint it which would mean professional job. spendy venture even if you do half the work yourself.

[yaris prime]

Update.....
Hot melt glue held for a while, but finally failed. Not a permanent fix... Go figure :biggrin: