Rear bumper fascia

A little light reading while you wait.

 

Seen that before. But when I saw it last time, there was a response which I can't find. But it firstly pointed out that there actually is a bumper behind the plastic. 2ndly it wouldn't be safer in a REAL crash - the whole structure works together to make it safe. Also that, a big fat steel bumper might help with a very low speed crash - but make it worse for anything else.

Also - I doubt that the JEEP in the article would really cost less to fix after the latest crash test fail (EURO NCAP).



It's also far cheaper to throw away a $30,000 car than to repair a $5million human.

The Dummy in the Malibu walked away from this one - the one in the Bel Air got carried away in a box.

 

There must be some middle ground though: crash worthy AND somewhat resiliant, durable??

 

At the time, my 244 VOLVO did quite well in crash tests due to the way the structure at the front absorbed energy - didn't make them any more repairable.



That was a full frontal hit, and I believe the doors opened (and the dummy walked away). But these days, they have the iihs Small Offset Test - I doubt a 244 VOLVO would do well in that.

BUT - they did have 5km/hr bumpers - which were useful if the other car's bumper was at the same height - I know, I saw it happen once in a carpark.

 

Same here: we recently had a back corner clipped in a parking lot; another driver turning too tight. It was a minor brush, but of course very expensive. Can't find the bill, but somewhere around $1500?? The other driver owned up, so we were not out-of-pocket, which was nice.

A flimsily mounted, black plastic painted fairing is so vulnerable, and the cosmetic repair expensive as heck.

 

Why even bother trying to fix it yourself? Let the other guy's insurance take care of it.

 

I think it's this piece:

Lower Cover - Toyota (52453-47020) | Toyota Parts

$178 plus shipping?

 

If compensation falls through, maybe try taking it off yourself, get a can of mat-black PlastiDip, and give it a few coats. It can come out surprisingly good.

Hmm: it's not black though is it. A dark grey? Maybe "gunmetal grey" would be close?

https://plastidip.com/our-products/plasti-dip/

 

The Repair Manual (more info), under Vehicle Exterior: Exterior Panels/Trim: Rear Bumper: Disassembly, gives separate instructions for the “Type A” and “Type B” (Touring) center rear bumper guard, but the differences are minor: Type B has two clips not used with Type A and 16 claws rather than 14. There are also some extra steps for the ultrasonic sensors if the car has the optional Intuitive Parking Assist System, which is also supposed to be recalibrated if the rear bumper assembly is removed and reinstalled.

Yes; see parts catalog Figure 52-02, Rear Bumper & Bumper Stay. Part number 52453-47010 is the plain version (Type A), and 52453-47020 is the “Unique rear bumper treatment” (Type B) for touring models, mentioned in the sales brochure (PDF). I don’t know if they’re interchangeable.

The list price in Japan for either part is ¥10,700 (about $99), and it’s very lightweight (0.4 kg), so it may be cheaper to buy one from an exporter, assuming it’s not too large to send by EMS.