What the Actual F@*! (Mystery bumper damage)

Hello fellow Taco aficionados.
While taking the trash bin to the curb I noticed something off about the rear of my Taco. It appears as though the bumper was damaged most likely when I was parked. There’s no body damage, bumps, scratches, etc but you can clearly see a large gap below the brake light housing. I’m guessing someone hit my super bumper and it F’d up the bumper.

This thing is my baby and I take great care of it and I’m so pissed that some turd did this.
Can you guys please tell me if you’ve seen damage like this before? I’m grateful there’s no paint damage and I’m optimistically hoping it won’t be too expensive to fix…..

Any suggestions for Phx area body shops that are fair?

Lastly- does a repair like this end up in a car FAX report or is they more for a wreck? I’m not going to be using my insurance- this will be a hit from my wallet (Unless it’s a boatload of dough)

Thanks so much for your time and info- I really appreciate it.

 

I would loosen the stock frame bolts holding the entire bumper to the frame rails, re set it and then re tighten it .

The most probably thing that happened is no one hit your truck at all and that’s how it came from factory .

 

If this were me.......I'd let it ride.

I'd also remove the shin destroyer for a couple reasons. 1. Less pain and damage to your shin. 2. If it does get bumped, the impact leverage will have a tendency to twist the bumper down.

Bumpers are meant to get banged, bumped, dinged, scratched......

 

Thanks for your input- that’s definitely a possibility. I’d like to think I would have noticed it if it had been like this- but you’re right- anything is possible. I’ll give that a try- gracias.

 

I wish I could let it ride- but it’s not in me. Haha. It would make me nuts to leave it. Also eventually I’ll be trading it in- and I don’t want to give the dealership any ammo to try and tell me why it’s worth less than what is fair.

I think you’re right about taking that thing off. It looks like shit and if it’s actually making mi it impacts worse- then I’m defeating the purpose. I work in public safety and see people doing stupid shit non-stop so I was hoping to protect my investment, etc.

Thanks for your time and info- I appreciate it!

 

Not to diminish the fact that someone may have hit you and took off, I didnt notice it until I read your post. If the bumper still has structural integrity, I would leave it. Truck still looks good.

 

Are you sure someone hit it? If someone hit it will have marks. I have never seen even a light hit that didn't leave some trace marks, especially if it was enough to mis align the bumper. You will also see bent brackets behind it.

Looks like the passenger side colored bumper insert is out of wack too(near the right license plate light). Just looks like a bad alignment job from the factory.

 

I don’t see any damage, but if you’re talking about how your bed and bumper don’t line up perfectly… that seems to be par for the course on 3rd gens. I didn’t notice mine until I’d had it for a month or so.

I’d be more surprised if somebody posted up their perfectly aligned bed/bumper.

 

It’s a common issue. Every once in a while a post like this comes up. Mine had it. When I told the dealer about it, they said it was normal wear and tear, and to fuck off. Same thing with my vibrating off-road hood.

 

Not unusual for these trucks to have beds and bumpers out of alignment from the factory.

Several posts on the forum about it. Toyota's been ramping up production and sending out these trucks faster than free pancakes. If it really bothers you (and it would me) take it back to the dealer and see if they can re-adjust it out of good faith or under warranty as a defect. Toyota corporate might offer some help as well.

BTW, the gap at the top of your left tailgate is also wider than the gap at the top of the right side of your tailgate. Maybe the truck was built on a Friday.

 

You guys are looking waaaaaaaay to close.

Looks good to me

 

Yes, if you took it some place it would probably make CarFax. My truck had something minor happen to the bumper area prior to my purchase and it was documented on CarFax. Although, to be fair, I can't really see what's damaged.

 

Thanks for your thoughts. It does kinda make me itch but also I don’t want to give anyone ammo to depreciate the truck when it comes time to selling or trading in.

I can try the dealership, thanks. Since they always assume customers are trying to pull one over on them- is it a decent argument for me to make that there is zero physical damage on the truck? To you and others here’s points- no body/paint damage makes it hard to believe this was an impact issue.

The truck is still under its three year warranty. Not sure if this could be a factor but live in AZ and it’s hot as fug here. Thanks all

 

FWIW OP mine looks just about the same as that from factory.

 

It's probably the same person that spray painted your license plate blue.

 

Sorry if this is a dumb question- but let’s say they make it a car fax issue- does that cause a lot of depreciation for trade in or anything? I know a major collision would- but not sure how they would score this. Thx

 

OR MAYBE some 400 pounder walked into your shin destroyer and decided to hop on the left side a few times. Hmmm....

 

Yeah, I would politely make the case to the salesman I bought it from, maybe the sales manger or service department manager. If you're not happy with their response politely explain the issue to corporate. I wouldn't even mention anything about lack of paint and body damage. You might even remove that bumper bar before you take it there, so they don't use it as an excuse. Just say I've owned this truck for x amount of time and noticed this the other day when I took the garbage out. Would it possible for y'all to take a look at it and see what you can do about fixing it or minimizing the obvious misalignment issues?
I'm in AZ too. Phoenix, actually. Hoping this summer isn't as hot as last.

 

It's not a carfax issue unless the truck is already on there for something prior. In which case, that could be used against you for any free repair.

This is a manufacture defect and should be fixed/ repaired at Toyota's expense and have nothing to do with carfax. It wouldn't be reported for this. Only insurance companies and body shops report crap to carfax and it requires an insurance claim (or loss) to do so.