Front bumper not secure

[dandarc]

My wife clipped the garage backing out today, and the whole left side of the bumper is not secure. I can't get anything to sear properly or snap back in to place.

I'm thinking of duct taping it and then driving to the dealer to get it fixed properly. Do you think this is safe? 10 miles or so to get to the dealer.

[Holyoak]

I think so.  Clean and dry all surfaces where the tape is gong to be very, very well, and overlap the tape.  Good duct tape has a very high adhesive strength, when applied to super clean, hard painted surfaces like automobiles...  Surprisingly strong.  Same goes fro good quality clear packing tape too.  I see cars all the time with taped up plastic bumper covers, and mirror shells that look to have been rigged up for a long time.  Good luck.

[dandarc]

Thanks for the advice. I looked at it in better light this morning - was being held on by only 3 screws on the right side. So I finished the job and took the plastic bumper completely off - car looks funny but I'm much less worried about driving it and having this huge piece of plastic fall off.

[dcheesi]

BTW, the dealer may want to charge you for a whole new painted bumper == $$$ 

I had a similar thing happen, and a local mechanic was able to re-secure the existing bumper on that side; didn't look perfect, but it was safe to drive. Add a little touch-up paint (available online) to fill in obvious paint scrapes/chips, and you're good to go.

[dandarc]

Yeah - if I had the time, tools, parts I'd do it myself, but I do not have the cycles available right now to figure this out without our only car to go places and buy pats and stuff.

When I called this morning dealer said "reattach the bumper - we can do that".

Hope that means it will be close-ish to what I could do myself, and only cost hundreds of dollars more. Right now, saving 6 hours of my time - this might well be an optimistic estimate for how long it would take me - is worth hundreds of dollars.

[dandarc]

BTW, the dealer may want to charge you for a whole new painted bumper == $$$ 

I had a similar thing happen, and a local mechanic was able to re-secure the existing bumper on that side; didn't look perfect, but it was safe to drive. Add a little touch-up paint (available online) to fill in obvious paint scrapes/chips, and you're good to go.

You are the winner of the predictions competition. $1300 they want.

I'm taking it to an independent shop tomorrow to see whether they think they can use the old part.

[Car Jack]

Figure out what held the bumper on.  Likely a bunch of plastic clips and a few screws.  The screws and maybe the plastic clips are holding on to the metal on the front.  Find them.  Get some new clips.  Put them all in place with the bumper.  Profit.  I'd predict that $10 at Auto Zone will get you clips that'll work.