Should the front bumper (valance) piece feel kinda plastic?

I got a 2018 SR a week ago. I am loving the truck, but I tend to get a little anal retentive about small, niggly cosmetic issues. For example, this weekend I used the truck bed for the first time to make a dump run. It resulted in a few small scratches in an otherwise pristine truck bed. It's taken some mental energy to not let that gnaw at me. (I know, I know, it's a truck, it's meant to be used ).

Well, I noticed something else tonight. The black plastic on my front bumper (the valance?) has some small scuffs along the front of it. I am a little suspicious whether someone actually bumped into the front of my Tacoma in a parking lot or something. When I was investigating the scuffs, I noticed that the entire front plastic piece felt a little, well, flimsy. Like, it has a lot of plastic give when I press on it. I assume this is normal? It just kind of bugs me. Especially since I think someone might have bumped my truck!

 

The majority of modern plastic car bumper system fascias are made of thermoplastic olefins (TPOs), polycarbonates, polyesters, polypropylene, polyurethanes, polyamides, or blends of these with, for instance, glass fibers, for strength and structural rigidity.

 

Well it's plastic, so....


Also what is with so many people being worried about scratching the bed of their trucks? It's a truck....

 

But of it bothers you that much, i recommend you get a rubber bed mat.

 

For some it's the first few that hurts the most and for others their trucks are not just trucks but show pieces that they want to keep looking sharp inside and out. For those like you who feel it's just a Truck, their's nothing wrong with that too. $.02

 

Pics of what you are looking at here would help.

Also, do yourself a tremendous favor and buy the Toyota OEM bedmat for your truck. It fits perfectly and will protect your bed as well as keep anything from sliding around.

Congrats on a nice new truck.

 

I get it to a point, I really want the paint of my truck to look good but as far as the bed, it doesn't really matter to me.

 

Because it looks nicer. My old F250 looked like shit until I sprayed it with Line-X. Looked brand new. These composite beds can’t be sprayed like that. Surface scratches are one thing however I have scratches that expose the fiberglass or whatever it is and it looks like shit.

 

Everything up front is plastic.

 

Of course, even with these add ons, you've still got three sides of the composite bed to scratch or gouge all to hell.

 

Truck beds get scratched up when you use them. Scratched and gouged paint in the bed looks bad as well, and if metal, rust eventually eats the bed away.

 

Jesus...all of y’all gripe so much about all the little knicks and scratches that come with using a truck, I’m wondering if any of y’all actually use a truck for ‘truck stuff’ of if y’all are just a bunch of pavement princesses....

My god, if any of you actually take your lifted and mud tired trucks out of the mall parking lot and onto some trails, how are you gonna cope with the scratches that come with off roading???

I mean hell, I like keeping my truck looking good as much as the next guy.... but I’m also not gonna whine when my truck see some wear from use.....if I wanted something to obsess about, I would have gotten a classic.

They are Tacoma’s, not Ferrari’s.... a couple scratches and bed wear isn’t going to take thousands off your resale value

 

This. It took me a little while to figure this out while doing my research for my first truck, but it's true. Consumers care a good bit less on the average about nicks and scratches on these types of vehicles than the little fancy shiny 4 bangers i'm normally into.

Still, i think the OP might just have a bit of 'new car paranoia' syndrome - i've got it too, but it'll pass!

 

Agreed. I'm not the one buying metal covers for stuff.

I'm the one with gouges and scratches and chips (oh my!) in my bed. guess I probably should do better strapping down the front of the 1800lbs of 12-16ft aluminum bars/tubes I cantilever over the tailgate (the usual order is supposed to be under 1000, but they filled an order with solid 2x2 bars instead of 2x2 tubes once.) lol. Might give some of these folks a heart attack. I wonder how much a new bed shell thing costs... I have a feeling I'll be finding out eventually

 

Yes I think the front valance feels flimsy.

 

I can understand your wanting to keep the truck looking good.

Scratches in the paint can really wreak havoc over time, which is not good.

The plastic bed however, can be abused and still last a very long time.

I would suggest you just pick up a load of crushed stone, and off load it with some type of metal rake or something equivalent.

Just pop that cherry in a proper manner and don't look back.

You should not have to worry about keeping the bed pristine, since it is going to look well used eventually- just get it over with and enjoy your badass looking ride.

Cheers