Hey everyone.
Despite hearing it at the end of every episode, I drove like his brother. I backed into another car and crushed the corner of my bumper. Their car was fine, but my Rear bumper is toast.
I found a video of a 2012 corolla rear bumper being removed, and it seemed simple. I’m curious how difficult it would be if I bought a new painted bumper to attach it myself. Is it fairly simple? Or are there concerns that I should know about, or just avoid doing it myself altogether.
Thanks!
If your damage is limited to bumper cover (i.e. other internal elements are not crushed), it’s “easy” on DIY scale.
If you have a screwdriver and few other tools and know by what side you hold it in your hands, after checking similar model/year cover releted videos on YouTuber you should be able to do it in under an hour.
You might even try removing your bumper cover first. If it only has the corner pushed in, you might use s hairdryer to warm it up and push it back out.
Here’s a photo of what’s up. Probably more than a hair dryer can fix, but it does seem like a good spot to hit where there’s probably not a lot of internal damage.
Thoughts?
My daughter got rear ended with a bump much less than that, we told her to go get an estimate as she did not really care too much and was hardly noticeable, ended up a $1600 repair as underlying stuff needed repair also. It was covered by the rear ender insurance.
Tester
Most likely this is a hollow spot and internal styrofoam insert is not damaged.
If you do not mind driving around with “kinda ok” shape and few scratches, hot water fix is most likely applicable.
Get a flashlight and some bathroom rug and take a look from underneath, at that point you will see if you’ve got lucky or would need some parts replaced.
Most likely few plastic clips may be half-broken, and your local dealer will most likely be less expensive place to get them than general parts store, at least that was my experience with Nissan.
You have a Camry Corner on your Corolla… google Camry Corners and you’ll be amazed how many Camrys have exactly that dent.
Try hot water, try the hairdryer. You may just get it to an acceptable condition.
If you can figure out a way to repair the existing bumper you’ll probably end up with a better color match.
It’s not hard to do but you do need to have a little aptitude. Do you do things yourself? Can you follow directions, use a few tools. My BIL (rest his soul) could never do it, but my other BIL could no problem.
I expect either of them could have done it, but your first BIL just wouldn’t have wanted to, for whatever reason, who knows. Years ago a neighbor and I agreed to share the expense of a fence, to be contructed by a licensed fence builder, with all the permits etc. I suggested that at the same we build a French drain along the fence line. A French drain is just a trench filled w/ some rocks and drain pipe, so not overly technical job. And it was only 30 feet. Plus he had 3 teenage boys who could help, another bonus. Further, I’d pay for the rocks and pipes and have them delivered.
The neighbor’s reply: We left our native country b/c the communists (controlling the gov’t there apparently) forced us to dig trenches. If I had wanted my boys to dig trenches we’d have stayed there! … lol …
I have a Camry corner? I bought the car new from Toyota - are you saying it has the wrong bumper? Or is that a colloquialism I’m just not familiar with?
Just a colloquialism…
I had similar damage on my Buick’s rear bumper when my wife backed into it with her backup camera equipped SUV (I know, right?). I was able to push the dent back out by getting behind the panel with a block of wood. It’s barely noticeable now, although the paint did crack a little. I’d try repairing the existing panel first with the advice that others provided (heat). If it doesn’t look good, that bumper cover should be fairly easy to replace. My vote is for trying it yourself if you’ve done any other work on your cars in the past beyond an oil change.
… and the earlier this “push back” repair is done, the less noticeable it is, as plastic assumes new form over time
I pushed it out immediately. I wasn’t aware of the hot water trick. That heat might help, especially if the dent has been left in place for a while.
given current time of year, @Jeremy_Wilcox_Wilcox would need to use hot water or hair dryer, and this is good as it will make it less likely that paint will crack
Well I am in Florida, so less of a weather concern.
Thanks for the advice everyone! I’ll give the hot water trick a whirl.
Google it… it is a meme.
Apparently Camry owners knock in the corners of their bumpers exactly like you’ve done far more than any similar car from Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Chevy ect. So much so that it has become sort of a “car spotting” game. How many Camry Corners can you find in the WalMart parking lot?
You own the smaller Toyota that apparently has caught a case of “Camry Corners”
Please let us know how you make out!
