[Konig]

Im going to replace my front and rear bumpers for my car and was trying to find the cheapest way to do this.

Do you guys buy those parts online and bring them to an autoshop for repair or do you just let those autoshop handle everything?

I only want to pay for their repair service but something tells me that they will charge me more for their repair time if I dont give them a chance to make a profit off parts

 

[dbfreak]

I know guys that weld 3" diam steel pipe to the frame. Doesn't look too good but it works.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Go to a pick-your-part junkyard and pull them off a car. Then install them yourself.

That's the cheapest way to go, and you'll only need a few wrenches to do it. Prepare to get dirty at the junkyard and you should buy two wheel ramps for your car.

Pick up a Haynes manual if you can or a shop manual for the car.

Also, not all repair places will let you bring parts in for installation. They like to go through their own supply chains. But if you DIY it, you can skip all that garbage.

Most body shops have highly inflated prices because they can get away with charging those to insurers. Which is part of the reason why insurance is so expensive. And car manufacturers built a metric assload of profit into replacement parts - helps keep the price of cars down.

 

[SuperNothing]

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Go to a pick-your-part junkyard and pull them off a car. Then install them yourself.

I have recurring nightmares about the day i spent with a friend of mine at the local pick-a-part, extracting the rear end and trailing arms from a '72 chevy C20 - mostly with angle grinders, powered by a generator, in the rain.

We needed it because his '68 C20 has a really low ratio differential that he can't get new gearing for, so his truck has a top speed of about 65mph (with a whole lot of torque). The one we extracted, he can get new gearing for.

But just a bumper should be no big deal. Depends how old the car is i guess - if you go back far enough it might be riveted on. If you're talking about very recent production, usually there's just a plastic cover over some metal bars or something, and maybe you just need the plastic - in which case, bring a good cordless drill and a collection of bits.

 

[breakfastchef]

Uncle Erik's solution is way too involved for me - junkyarding, ramps, manuals. I would take it to a body shop and let them do their job and pay them for it. The cheapest way to do the project is not do it at all.

 

[Konig]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericj /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have recurring nightmares about the day i spent with a friend of mine at the local pick-a-part, extracting the rear end and trailing arms from a '72 chevy C20 - mostly with angle grinders, powered by a generator, in the rain. We needed it because his '68 C20 has a really low ratio differential that he can't get new gearing for, so his truck has a top speed of about 65mph (with a whole lot of torque). The one we extracted, he can get new gearing for. But just a bumper should be no big deal. Depends how old the car is i guess - if you go back far enough it might be riveted on. If you're talking about very recent production, usually there's just a plastic cover over some metal bars or something, and maybe you just need the plastic - in which case, bring a good cordless drill and a collection of bits.

It is a 2003 camry and yes - its just a plastic cover...I wonder if there is some installation manual somewhere to attach the thing

 

[ericj]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Konig /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is a 2003 camry and yes - its just a plastic cover...I wonder if there is some installation manual somewhere to attach the thing

Of course there is. For about $20 you can get a haynes manual that covers the car. Might not go into much detail regarding the trim.

 

[gshan]

Try contacting some body shops and see if they can do the used bumper search and work for you. I'm sure they've got some connections with junkyards. If not, try a junkyard listing like this one: Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market

If you need a repair/tech manual for your '03 you could try digging through some Toyota or Camry specific forum. Perhaps someone has PDF'd it.

 

[mbriant]

I have a 2003 Sienna which was rear-ended at a crosswalk when it was 3 weeks old. I'm pretty sure the Camry's bumper is similar. Because the damage was only cosmetic ( the actual metal bumper bar underneath the plastic skin wasn't bent or dented ) they replaced only the plastic skin. It looked like it simply bolted on from underneath and behind to me.

Have your bumpers been hit hard causing serious damage, or are the plastic skins simply scraped or torn? Could you get away with just re-painting the existing skins? If you go with new skins, and you're going to colour match the skins to your car, you'll have to get the bodyshop to paint them properly as well ( with proper bumper paint ). Since the body shop will be installing and painting the skins, it's probably a good idea to buy from them as well so they can't start pointing fingers at other suppliers ( leaving you stuck in the middle with a major hassle) if the skins don't fit right, or the paint doesn't stick properly, etc.

 

[Marados]

Quote:

How do you replace your bumper cheaply?

Trick question! You don't!

 

[Budgie]

Agreed!
They will just get dented. Even soft things like foreheads can dent a bumper, if you hit em hard enough.

 

[Konig]

I know you should not replace your bumpers but im selling the car soon so..............
I will take all advice seriously. I guess I will call each shop and get a quote. Thanks.

 

[santiclaws]

Heh, I'm about to replace mine. I bought a replacement bumper cover from a private party after I found very detailed instructions online about how to do it, which seemed pretty simple. Required the purchase of a Torx screwdriver. I'm hoping to be able to do it in under an hour. We'll see...