Oh... what a Bumper Bummer...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 6 2007, 04:31 AM) [snapback]473890[/snapback]</div>

What is with the Prius you have? It sounds like mine! Two stones to the windshield and bumper tag to my door at the store. I noticed scratches to my bumper on top, it seems that taken things in and out of the trunk cause's scratch's! I had a rubber strip place there on the top, works great! You might go to a repair shop, they carry strips about two inches wide and they use a heat lamp to cure it to the bumper. I am tempted to have them do the whole bumper with two strips from one side the the other. Something that I think Toyota should have done in the first place.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 6 2007, 08:40 PM) [snapback]474354[/snapback]</div>

Ahhhh ... mmm... the profits come from the $800 bumpers. Who would mess with that?

 

I personally like 2" bumper protector strips which will protect your bumpers from most parallel parking scrapes (chipped paint on your rear bumper from another car's front license plate bolts; corner scrapes to your rear bumper from another car pulling out of a parallel park; and corner scrapes to your front bumpers from your backing into a parallel park), but will not protect your bumpers from a heavier collision.

bumperdefender.com has nice color matched strips for a good price (about $80 for front and rear). You can get 4 free samples from them to try to match your car's color. I like their bumper protector strips because the color is impregnated - it goes all the way through. Compare, for example, the popular side moldings sold on this site where the color is painted on and can scratch and chip off to expose the white or other color undercoating.

I have a Magnetic Grey Prius, and found a pretty close match with bumperdefender.com's Dark Grey. It looks fine. And if I cared enough for an absolute color match, I could have spray painted the bumper strips with Toyota Magnetic Grey paint, which if it chipped, would expose the pretty close match of the bumper strip with its impregnated color.

Also, nobump.com has these small (about 1") round bumpers that get screwed into the top screw holes of your front license plate. These give you some protection, but probably protect the rear bumper of the car in front of you more from getting dinged by your front license plate screws when you parallel park.

If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post pictures later of both the bumper strips and license plate screw hole round bumpers. PHOTOS ARE NOW ATTACHED:

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SUPPLEMENT RE FRONT BUMPER STRIP:

When I installed the front bumper strip I elected to locate it on a line that ends up covering up the bottom 1/3 of the tow access hole - see picture below:

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I figured (perhaps mistakenly) that this wouldn't be a problem in the event I ever have to get towed. I figured that either the tow driver can still go through the exposed top 2/3 of the tow access hole, or we could pry back or cut/punch through the bumper strip as necessary.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 14 2007, 01:01 PM) [snapback]478677[/snapback]</div>

Zang and All:

Please see my supplementary post about my partial covering up of the tow hole in the front bumper.

Please note that one member has replied that if I ever have to get towed by a flat bed truck, a tow hook that is supplied with our Prius needs to get screwed into that hole which is threaded.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boo @ Jul 18 2007, 03:30 PM) [snapback]481122[/snapback]</div>

FOLLOW UP:

I went back to the owner's manual. It suggests that you only need that hole and hook in the odd emergency situation where you have to get towed with a rope/chain through the hook (e.g., if you're stuck in a deep ditch or underwater).

I also went back to my car and tried prying back the bumperstrip to remove the plug and access the hole, and found that it was easy to do --- notwithstanding the 3M super-duper glue, I was able to pry back the bumperstrip with my fingers.

So all in all, I'm not worried any longer. The bumperstrip stays where it is. Although if I could have a do-over ....

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 14 2007, 01:01 PM) [snapback]478677[/snapback]</div>

Zang and All:

I also just finished installing the PriusChat Shop body side moldings this weekend. Thought you may be interested in seeing how my Prius looks with both the BumperDefender.com 2" wide, full width, color matched, front and rear bumper guard strips, and the PriusChat Shop body side moldings:

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Beautiful work, Boo!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChristoB @ Jul 23 2007, 10:17 AM) [snapback]483560[/snapback]</div>

AHA! Fooled you! I only showed you my good side! On my driver's side, I messed up one of the door's side molding by, I think, only one degree --- but I notice it every time I go to my car (but I'm guessing that this self-consciousness will soon pass). It would have helped if I had another set of eyes standing far back to check the alignment while I was pressing the moldings into place.

BTW, if I had to choose between the BumperDefender.com bumper guard strips and the PriusChat Shop body side moldings, I'd choose the bumper guard strips. I think that the bumper guard strips:

(1) generally protect against many more scrapes and dings than the side moldings --- especially for those of us who parallel park a lot,

(2) look better than the side moldings,

(3) will probably still look good years from now --- they're rubbery with the color impregnated in them, while the side moldings are stiff and plasticky with the color spray painted on, and have been known to chip.

Nonetheless, I'm glad that I now have both.

Good luck. And many thanks for your prior advice about that tow hole plug!

--- Boo

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 26 2007, 01:09 AM) [snapback]485287[/snapback]</div>

Hey Zang,

Nice! Your shop did a good job. The contrasting black strip (as opposed to my color matched strip), plus the installation of the strip all the way to the edge of the wheel opening (as opposed to my ending it at the crease that's 3" away from the edge), is retro. I like it. I like my way more, but I still like it.

Are you going to go with body side moldings as well? If so, will you be going with black or color matched moldings?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zang @ Jul 6 2007, 05:31 AM) [snapback]473890[/snapback]</div>

Hi Zang,

I think car makers stopped making durable bumpers as soon as Congress repealed the legislation that required bumpers and the car to survive a 5 mph crash w/o significant damage. Some car makers then came out with near useless bumpers --- see, e.g., Mercedes where the front bumper was almost flush with that famous grille. BMW reduced the size and crashability of its bumpers (compare your 1997 318ti's bumpers with any of its predecessors --- especially the generation of BMWs that had bumpers with shock absorber like springs on them), but they were still better than most. You were actually relatively lucky with your new Prius --- there are some new cars out there that will incur $8,000 - $9,000 in damage from a typical 5 mph parking lot crash. Boy that must hurt!

 

Nice photos. How hard was it to put them on...or did you have it done? As for the color match, a contrasting color wouldn't look bad as long as the strips were absolutely straight and not wavy like some do-it-yourself glue on installations I've seen. I couldn't get the website to display actual colors; only textual names for them, so it was a guess when picking samples to look at.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Angel Flight Pilot @ Jul 26 2007, 04:29 PM) [snapback]485655[/snapback]</div>

Hi Bob,

I'm going to assume that you are talking to me, and not Zang; and that you're referring to the BumperDefender.com bumper strips, and not the PriusChat body side moldings.

It took me about 20 minutes to install my front and rear bumper strips. It would have been useful to have another set of eyes stand back 10 - 15 feet away to double check the alignment as I slowly removed the adhesive backing and pressed down on the bumper strip. The bumper strips are rubbery/vinyley and can deform into the wavy installation you've seen. BTW, the PriusChat side moldings, which are stiff and plasticky, can do the same thing. If the earth's gravity alone can deform a straight, hard steel rod (albeit, imperceptibly to the naked eye), then it and the 3M super duper adhesive can easily deform the softer bumper strips or side moldings.

Regarding the color match, yes it would be useful if BumperDefender.com showed the colors on its website. Otherwise, you're guessing. What color Prius do you have?

Finally, you may want to check out my other posts on the subject (search "bumper guards", or my exact name "Boo"). Or feel free to email me directly at [email protected] if I can be of any other assistance.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boo @ Jul 26 2007, 11:31 AM) [snapback]485432[/snapback]</div>

I agree! I had a 1977 Porsche 911S. One day, I cranked the engine thinking that the car was in neutral but it was in 1st gear. The car jumped forward and slammed hard against the garage's concrete wall. The bumper retracted and a few minutes later returned to its normal position, with absolutely no damage to the bumper or its thick rubber guard.

I am not sure that the strips are going to protect the Prius "bumpers" against anything other than perhaps a shopping cart.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jamarimutt @ Jul 26 2007, 06:51 PM) [snapback]485760[/snapback]</div>

Yes, I think the bumper strips will protect against a shopping car (assuming the contact point is the right height!). But they will also protect against, I think, at least 90% of the scratches, scrapes and gouges that bumpers routinely get from normal parking --- especially from parallel parking. And this is even more true for NYC and other city dwellers who frequently have to spend a half hour or more searching for a parallel parking space that's only 12 inches longer than our car! In such a situation, "tapping" bumpers in front of and behind you is an absolute requirement (unless you have a helicopter handy to gently drop your car into the space). And then you have to face a similar, though easier, situation when you move out of that parallel parking space.

I long for the return of the 5 mph bumpers of our youth. Not only did they protect more, but I think they looked better too. I'm going to have to raise the issue in the next YouTube Presidential Debate.