Repair or replace

I have a '98 Camry with 160K miles. I just shattered the bottom of my front bumper. All else is working within a tolerable level and it has year old tires. No rust, and good mileage. Should I repair the bumper; use duct tape temporarily, or replace the car? What is your opinion?

I vote repair, a camry is a very nice, reliable car and with only 160k and no rust i’d say it has a lot of life left in it.

I agree with nfs480. The car is not a beater, I’d recommend not turning it into one.

You may be able to get a replacement bumper cover (it’s just a plastic cover, the REAL bumper is underneath) at a junk yard for a fraction of the cost of new one. Or there’s duct tape, but that’s not permanent. If the car is running well, there is no reason to replace it.

They made a zillion of these cars, therefor there are plenty of new after market body parts available for low prices. Rockauto.com list new front bumper covers for less then $30.00. Of coarse it will need taken to a body shop to be painted. Instillation is usually very simple as well.

If it’s just the bumper fascia, you definitely should repair it. Where else can you find a car in the same condition for a few hundred bucks?

Most salvage yards do not sell a bumper cover by itself, only as an assembly. Although once in a while they do have a stray cover by itself.

if the timing belt was replaced a while ago, it may be time. but with the timing belt replaced this should really be good for another 60 or 100k or so. seems a shame to let it go, for the cost of a bumper cover?!

it has been a while since i actually looked at a camry, but did you break up the lower ‘louver’ type area which hangs down lower than the real bumper up high? the place where the fog lights typically are located.

if so, you could talk to a mechanically inclined individual to see if it is possible to just cut off the lower part of the cowling. the lower part is just for looks anyway. if you can get a clean cut along the bottom that may solve the problem.

on the other hand, you should probably have this checked out, to make sure you didn’t hit the actual bumper under the plastic cover.