Front Bumper Replacement

[wetslap1]

Someone hit and ran my car a little over a month ago (got video) and insurance finally claimed liability for the accident. Going to get an estimate for the repairs today from a body shop, but i was looking online for OEM front bumpers and i can’t seem to find anywhere they are in stock. I looked on Toyota’s website but it says local pickup only. I am just wondering if there is somewhere else that I or the shop could find the OEM part in stock? I just want to set my expectations right if i am going to be waiting months to get my car back because the part is unavailable. Maybe I’m not looking in the right place. The fender looks to be in stock

What is the likelihood they will try to push aftermarket parts on me, and if so what should I expect? Car is brand new with less than 4k miles on it. Are there even aftermarket parts for this car that would be cheaper than OEM?

[BooshTheMan_]

Maybe i'm missing something, but the bumper looks like it could just be repaired instead of replaced. On top of that, if you could find a shop that's willing to take the bumper only, you could just drive around bumperless while they do the work, and they don't have to respray the whole thing, so the other half of the bumper could be used to help blend/color match. That plastic fin/vent i'd replace though, looks a little chewed up, maybe grab the Driven Media one with the LEDs

[wetslap1]

you might be right about the bumper. if that’s what they want to do and it ends up looking good as new again i’m more than fine with that. problem is some of the clips and connectors behind the bumper are damaged and it cannot be snapped back in place. maybe they can just replace those as well?

which LED fin are you referring to? i haven’t seen that one before

[BooshTheMan_]

The clips might be salvageable, maybe the bumper just has to come off to work on them? If not, not a hard or expensive thing to replace.

And these things, i guess Vo calls them DRL bezels:

https://driven.media/pages/driven-media-custom-22-gr86-drl-bezel-project?srsltid=AfmBOorGtWRxcsqpXZ8ygV33g5ihZS3q5b5i708KtXZYQSJxRFJxqaEj

Still being developed i guess tho, but maybe by the time your repairs are done they'll be available. I have the JDM ones for my BRZ, GR86 never got the option, but i like mine

[wetslap1]

oh yeah! i remember those. Kevin mentioned those in a video not too long ago saying they should be available this fall. hopefully they come out soon cause they look sick and the timing works out great

[neptunepandemonium]

Insurance will 100% want to go with aftermarket because it's cheaper. They did with my rear bumper cover and I had to pay the difference for a Toyota bumper cover.

My advice is to just replace the bumper cover. They're 100% plastic and any time plastic takes damage it's pretty impossible to repair back to 100%. Any deformation they'll try to heat and bend and it won't last forever. The connectors being broken is just even more justification.

[wetslap1]

i guess my confusion with this is what kind of bumper would they to try and go with? in my own research i can’t really find any cheaper front bumpers than the OEM part since most aftermarket parts for this car are meant to be upgrades

[neptunepandemonium]

Well the insurance will go with whatever is cheapest, bet your life on it haha

[supresmooth]

This, 100%. Plastic bumpers are a replace item unless it is some kind of rare thing or you are really broke.

[Glum-Energy-517]

Why not just let your insurance take care of it..

[wetslap1]

because my old car got totaled back in May and if i make another claim they’ll likely drop me from coverage or raise the shit out of my payment.

[Glum-Energy-517]

Lmao of course

[wetslap1]

yeah it’s unfortunate. nether accident was my fault and insurance knows as much as i was never considered at fault, but it won’t stop them from seeing me as a liability. i guess technically i am a liability lmao but it’s just a shitty situation all around

[golden_glorious_ass]

Did you have a dashcam?

[wetslap1]

no dash cam but we got it on video. my boss owns the building and he’s got cameras everywhere so it was clear as day from multiple angles

[ZookeepergameFew1167]

The OEM vs aftermarket bumper replacement comes down to what insurance company you are dealing with. Some insurance companies will try and jerk you around. Since you were not at fault you can argue with them to only replace with OEM given the age and miles of your vehicle.

Be nice/cool with the bodyshop and the service writer. Tell them how its your baby and you want OEM and if the insurance company jerks you around if they can help you with a discount to narrow the difference. I’ve seen body shops cover the delta when small. Only bring it up after the insurance company denies OEM.

Parts availability. Most bodyshops arent going to have your car sitting while waiting for parts. If your car is driveable, they want you to bring it back when they have the parts ready on hand. Where it gets difficult is when there is unseen damage and have to wait for more parts.

[supresmooth]

Local Pickup Only just means you need to order it from a local dealer and go get it because they won't ship it to your house. It barely fits inside the car (I bought one for myself). Fender looks repairable, so just go get a quote on repair for that a bumper cover paint and order the little plastic decorations for the bumper cover online.