Bumper bash

[jess]

I still have dealer plates on my 09 hb.

3:00 p.m.: Walked back to my Yaris in the parking lot and found some DF had likely backed the corner of his rear bumper into my front bumper putting a cereal bowl size crater on exactly the right corner of the bumper. The fender portion of the panel had broken off the right wheelwell.

I instantly did the math: $500 deductible + very recent reports on how pricey Yaris bumpers are to fix + worry over freeway speeds adding further damage if I waited on a repair.

It added up to a lump in my gullet and the feeling of my wallet soon being emptied.

4:00 p.m.: Walked into a body shop rec. by the local Toyota dealer. Owner took a look at the crater. No scratches, no tears in the plastic, no adjacent metal tweaked. I told him about reading (on YW) about how a blow dryer can be used to heat the plastic and reshape/reform the plastic.

In less than 10 minutes from the time he pulled it into the service bay it was back and looked flawless.

He insisted on not charging for the fix. Besides labor he was out the cost of a clip to the wheelwell.

I'm guessing these sorts of repairs don't make it into studies about "pricey bumpers."