I hit the front bumper of my 2009 Prius (hit the side of a snow bank) and now I have a baseball size crack to the right front bumper. It looks like the whole front bumper is connected and made of some kind of fiberglass. Frankly, I am disappointed in the exterior quality and surprised when I saw the damage. Can you offer advice on the estimated replacement cost and recommend the best place to have it fixed in the Twin Cities? We purchased the car from Walser Toyota in Bloominton MN and I have a feeling they will charge a ton for replacing it. Thanks for your help, Kristen
I suspect it's plastic, rather than fiberglass which normally is pretty flexible and wouldn't be damaged by a minor impact like that. But, given your location and the time of year, I suspect it was quite cold out that day. Unfortunately that plastic gets brittle in extreme cold and is much easier to crack. I had a similar problem with a dodge dakota when I was living in NY... on one day when it was a couple of degrees below 0 I also bumped a snowbank while I was parking and wound up cracking the lower bumper. I'm not sure I can help much on the cost of the parts, but if you brought it in somewhere I'd expect to pay around $1000. I have heard of companies that will fix cracks like that for a lot less than replacing the bumper would be, so you might want to look into that too.
Take it to a body shop. They can most likely close up the cracks with epoxy and touch up the area for much less than $1000. Replacing the whole bumper and getting a color match will be expensive, due to the preparation requirements and the cost of the part and paint, closer to $1000. Ask around for a good body shop (AAA, insurance agent, etc.) The bumper is made out of urethane. Perhaps though the cracks you are seeing the styrofoam absorber, which makes it seem cheap, but it does serve a purpose for meeting Federal bumper low velocity impact standards.
Yep, replacing the front bumper cover and getting that one pained would probably cost $1000 or so. When someone hit my rear bumper of my Prius and knocked the bumper cover off, IIRC, it was $1200 to get it replaced along w/an energy absorber.
