So, the chrome bumper on my '02 Suburban has seen better days. It’s all rusting out around the license plate lights. I need to get it replaced for it to pass inspection.
My repair guy quoted me at like $800.
I can find them on eBay for like $250. Is this one of those things where if you buy it off eBay, you’ll regret it? I’m planning on keeping the truck for a few more years.
Jamie
If you buy from an eBay dedicated auto parts seller with high numbers of positive feedback, a 30-day return policy, and free return shipping, you will have a reasonable amount of buyer protection and time to return the bumper if you decide it doesn’t meet your standards.
These guys offer free return shipping and a full refund if not satisfied, so I’d give them a try:
A rusty bumper will fail inspection? What kind of madness is that?
I would buy one at a salvage yard before I bought one from eBay. I also agree with @insightful that failing an inspection for a rusty bumper is just plain nuts.
That’s New Hampshire. I checked our local salvage yard - they don’t have any.
Got a more detailed quote from my guy - it’s $440 for the bumper, $210 for the labor. So I’d be saving about $190.
I’d like do a search on car-parts.com first to see if there is recycler within driving range that has one. I’m not sure what shipping would be for a bumper.
LMCTruck.com has a chrome bumper for $149.99 before shipping. They also have a primered bumper for $99.99.
You can get other estimates which may be cheaper but a simple chrome rear bumper for an 02 Sierra cost me $600 installed. I considered that to be a good price.
Insightful and missleman,
It’s not just a rusty bumper. “It’s all rusting out around the license plate lights.” Sounds like the bumper is weakening to the point where it cannot do its safety job.
Here in MD, about 8 years ago, I had to replace a side reflector on a 1987 Century to get thru safety inspection (for registering a used car). “All original safety-related items must be OK.” OTOH, in TX my son recently got a 1994 Volvo thru inspection, even with a broken tail light lens.
A rear bumper on a Suburban has a critical safety job?
My bet is that the license plate lights aren’t supported, so the plate won’t be visible at night.
Heck, just remount the license plate and its lights.
License plates in my state are reflective. Just a bit of nearby light makes them easy to read. My license plate lights have rusted sockets, so the bulbs don’t work. Been like this for years. But I’ve not been pulled over by any of the many police crusiers that have passed by me at night.
It could be a safety issue if it’s about to lose big chunks or fall off. I changed mine because it was so ugly.
Minnesota plates are reflective too but you still have to have a working plate light. I don’t know how often anyone is pulled over for it. A few weeks ago, south of us, the patrol pulled a car over for having one of those hanging jewels from the rear view mirror. It had Texas plates I believe and when they searched it, they found something like $400K in drugs. I suspect they profiled the guy with a tan and the out of state plates and found a reason to stop it and bingo. I got in a lot of trouble 50 years ago for having a flickering tail light on my motor bike, or so the guy said. At any rate, no plate light is a violation so you can be stopped at any time at night. Of course none of us ever has anything to hide so why not get stopped once in a while just for fun.
Minnesota plates are reflective too but you still have to have a working plate light.
I don’t think anyone is pulled over for here in NH either…but it will fail a safety inspection.
Well, and if the bumper is rusted out, it will just crumble on impact, threatening the safety of the rear frame, wouldn’t it?
"Well, and if the bumper is rusted out, it will just crumble on impact, threatening the safety of the rear frame, wouldn’t it? "
If it’s that rusty, go to a welding shop. The can make it as strong as you want.