Bad Morning

A lot of parking lot accidents get written up to be shared fault anyway. He was going to have to make a claim either way.

 

I don't think this looks that bad after pushing back out at least less visible for now... and nice to know your fog light went back in.

 

Check out the you tube video's of the hot water trick to get plastic panels to pop out, might help.

 

I agree. Overall it looks pretty good considering. Its been this way for 3 months now and I'm in no rush to fix it any better. I'll eventually get a full front bumper.

 

It can be popped out but bumper will need to be repainted.

A good body shop could probably fix around $500

 

Found a front OEM non painted bumper for $200, then another $500 to have it painted to OEM specs. Plus the fender flare and other clips that broke.

All in all you could do it yourself for less than $1000, which a body shop would charge $2-3k depending on what state you live in. You get what you pay for.

Also, if you can deal with the paint being scuffed up, I’d recommend taking off the wheel well guard and using a blow dryer on the front bumper to heat it up and it will pop right out.

I had the exact thing happen to me when I hit a huge boulder in the desert.

 

OP... if you can afford it and don’t mind, this might be an excuse for a steel bumper.

 

This is really what I want but unfortunately its the worst timing. I'm in the last leg of saving for a house and was not wanting to spend any extra money but now i have to lol. It's kind of funny in a way how things work out. I've been free of any type of 'collision' for 10 years and then all of a sudden... coughing up some dumb cash.

 

Your human. Stuff happens man. Don’t beat yourself up.

Being in your situation, I’d pop it out and just drive it. House is more important than the truck. You can always get a new aluminum/steel bumper or back to OEM down the road.

 

I’d vote for ya to replace with aftermarket bumper like a Fab Four or something.

 

You don’t have to. Nothing is structurally wrong with the truck it just looks bad.

Buy the house. Worry about the bumper when the cash is there.

Pop the plastic out.
Wash the bumper
Clay bar the bumper to help remove paint transfer. Mothers makes a great clay bar kit for $18 found at nearly all major box stores.
Get some microfiber applicator pads and some Scratch X polish thats also cheap and easy to find. Use that to remove remaining paint transfer and surface scuffing.
If you have a DA polisher use that to smooth over the damage the best you can.

It will look better between now and the time you get the house.

 

It's a truck.

Leave it.

 

i'd take the house before the hit on the truck being fixed... been trying to get a house for 2 yrs now, i'm almost there and when i get closer unless the truck is totalled i'm riding wrecked and all and fix it when i get my garage

 

Pop it first. Aftermaket options second

 

It is designed for animal strikes. ARB really puts their bumpers through the ringer with tests and studies. It’s also airbag compliant, so I figure if I hit something hard enough to destroy the crush points and actually do frame damage, you’d do frame damage on a stock taco as well. whole point of an actual steel bumper is to protect you from damage, not amplify it.

 

I'm more concerned about stuff like side impacts or incidental strikes. There have been at least one or two incidents posted up here where someone got clipped and while a normal bumper would rip off in such an incident, the steel bumper potentially bends the frame.

 

Thank you for all your replies. I've been feeling like an idiot today and all your responses helped me worry less. When you love your truck as much we do it's hard to not consider it top priority if not perfect lol. I've received genuinely great advice, and I really appreciate it.

 

I would just pop it out and deal with it until you have the cash to do what you want. Its not like it wont be there in 6 months haha.

I've had a few scratches on my new truck and it bugs the hell out of me but what are you going to do.

 

haha his does not it's a slightly older model. I was genuinely shocked at how little damage he had.

 

Just out of curiosity... if he backed into you, why are you paying for his buff out?