Was rear ended in a hit and run. Wondering if I may be able to fix it myself. Does this look fixable

Have you tried smacking the bumper cover to see if it will clip back into place?

Sometimes just leaning on it will do the trick.

Also, you should at least get an estimate.

 

I have not tried to push or pull on it but that sounds worth trying. I would think that it may be possible that some clips may be broken and I won’t know unless I take the bumper off? Not sure, but yeah I was debating whether to make an insurance claim or not.

 

Any other photos from the rear? That doesn't look so bad, but if there's more damage...

Plenty of YouTube videos on removing the rear bumper cover. Replacing clips would be a breeze.

 

The valence cover was damaged looks like I will have to replace that, thankfully the tow ball helped in minimizing the hit to the bumper.

 

Sorry. I would let a good body shop do what's needed.

 

Get an estimate from a reputable body shop and go from there.

 

So the red bumper cover might just need a good whack, but your silver valance looks like mine after I caught it on a rock.

I guarantee that some of the tabs on it have broken, and you’ll need to replace it.

You can do it yourself, but honestly by the time you’ve paid for the parts, you might just want to pay the 1 hour or so of shop time and be done with it.

You’re looking at $620-$850 worth of damage roughly speaking, unless the red bumper cover needs to actually be replaced.

Depending on your deductible and recent claim experience, you might want to eat the cost yourself. If you do, go to an independent place, because they’ll come back with a much lower estimate than the chains.

What’s more, if the red bumper cover is fine except for some gouges, an independent shop is less likely to make you buy a new cover versus filling and blending.

 

@bassist Thanks I was able to push the red bumper back in. And yes there was definitely some broken tabs on the valence cover. I believe that the red bumper should still work, so I will be looking for estimates or will decide to do the work myself. Thanks all!

 

LOL, he's not Fonzie.

 

Looks like it can be fixed to look okay if you are mechanically inclined. But the real question is what's the internal damage? Will this affect the safety for another rear end hit?

 

See, he is Fonzie!

At any rate, the big challenge when it comes to replacing the valance yourself is that you have to remove the entire red bumper cover, which means you have to have the nerve to pry it free with all the associated noise telling you that you are breaking something.

Now, if you don’t have the rear blind spot monitors and cross traffic alert, I would consider just replacing the whole thing with the Ironman rear bumper. Not much more than the valance, and then you have better departure angles.

 

Ring rear ended-regardless if you can fix i yourself, get an estimate and have the insurance company pay you. Today’s bumpers are designed to give but there can be hidden under damage to the crash bar behind the bumper that you can’t see. Also, the bumper cover would normally pop back. The fact that it has remained in the misaligned state that it is, could indicate broke clips and or damage to the bumper absorber. What you choose to do after the insurance pays would be up to you. If the damage is high enough you could also be entitled to diminished value. Good luck. Hope Minnie was hurt.

 

Yeah it would be expensive. When I ask a bodyshop near my house to do some painting from trail damage (no broken stuff just scratches) to payed from my pocket, no spending time for the bodyshop with insurance process they said around 1000.

 

Perfect time to replace those awful silver valances with black ones. The front valance can be replaced without removing the bumper cover.

 

Really? Everything I’ve ever seen indicates you have to remove the bumper cover from the front.

 

After looking at 4Runner lifestyle they are selling the front and back (black) valence covers for 200 pre tax and delivery fees, which doesn’t seem that bad. Will try to remove the rear bumper off myself. If there is further damage I will look at a metal bumper such as the Ironman, which most of these require the the bumper to be removed and cut anyway.

 

One example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv1bMpN16Rc

The rear is a different story. That cover has to come off.

 

Same thing happened with my Prius and the back bumper - someone bumped me, it pushed the right side out just like that. I was able to tap it with some muscle and it 'popped' back in, but the tabs actually broke and it comes un popped ALL of the time, drives me crazy. Hopefully you got lucky and your tabs are intact.

 

Truth be told, 4runner bumpers are just a plastic cover and some hard foam about 1-2 thick, then it’s the frame crossmember. Indon’t think suv bumpers are regulated like cars of yester-year.

On the 4runner, once the foam squishes, the frame crossmember is what gives. That said, the crossmember is usually harder than most cars that hit it, so it’s them that take the energy.

But I’d say it’s worth having it checked out. Especially if you don’t know what hit you. If it was something hard and heavy (truck, forklift, a jeep with steel bumper, etc.) you may want to verify there is no frame damage.

 

@Technologic80 I hope the tabs are in tact, I don’t think the bumper will pop out how it is currently, but I will be taking the bumper off to change the valence cover so I hope they don’t break while doing that. @McSpazatron it was a Hyundai sedan that hit me. The tow ball (shown in one on my pics) definitely helped and it caved in their hood. The spare tire is also behind the hitch so maybe that helped?? I looked under the car and did not see any frame damage, but I’ll have a better idea once I take off the rear bumper.

 

Post some pics when you get the bumper cover off.

 

@glwood54 Will do, hope to have the parts and work on it this weekend.

 

Fingers crossed that the bumper cover has all the attachment points intact.

 

@MarcRed4R
Sorry to hear this, gotta love the hitches eh.
I've removed both the rear and front bumper off by myself in the last month (prolly the third time I've done it, for mods).
Your rear bumper looks to be fine and you said you popped it back on. I believe it's fine cuz it's actually like a whole row of clips, that identify as male and female - and to install the rear you literally rip/pop it off, and then literally smack clip it back into to place.
Your valance however, has little external clips that break easy and good on you for replacing. But do your fingers a favour and remove that rear bumper before valance for replacement (hate to say it)

 

this is my November

 

What was the front off for?

 

Apex Overland Recovery Points w/ KDSS

 

You have to remove the front bumper just because of KDSS?

 

Be careful here. There may more damage than it looks. My "22 ORP has an electronic module mounted underneath in that exact location passenger rear corner. I still haven't been able to find out it's actual function yet if someone knows.