This isn't an old post. This happened right before Christmas 2024. Daughter's car was parked in the city and while she was working someone backed up into her front end. No security cameras and no note. This last hit is the 4th time in the life of this vehicle that I've had to rebuild the front end.
Problem is that this accident bent the new front bumper mounts that I had fabricated a few years back when it was hit the last time. Nothing to do but cry, cut the brackets off, and fab up a new set.
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Mark the cut line and hack it off -- all that good previous work down the drain. Sighhhhhh!
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Condenser is a little bent, but still holding pressure. We'll go with it for now.
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I've posted this process so many times over the years even I'm getting sick of it. Need less to say, there's a lot of welding involved.
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I did manage to get a used OEM bumper from a local auto recycler and it fits much better than the aftermarket stuff -- $50 -- was a good price.
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Everything buttoned up again. While I was in there, I also installed new front fender liners (which run about $20 a set if you go aftermarket). The old ones were cracking and failing to keep the dirt out.
The bumper cover itself is a quality Taiwanese aftermarket part and is about 1/3 of the price of the OEM part. Good value on this item.
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I was thinking of painting it myself again, but it's winter and I don't have my old DIY portable paint booth set up yet, so we decided that I'll do the prep work and we'll take it to MAACO in February to get a two-stage paint job. MAACO around my parts does good work.
I've gone this route before. Last August I prepped Mrs Goodfellow's Chevy Traverse for paint (her car was keyed and maliciously scratched in a mall parking lot) and had MAACO shoot the two-stage polyurethane paint. It's a 2012 Traverse and although a spot paint would have been OK, it was showing its age and was ready for a total refresh. It came out looking great - total cost was $850 for the paint job. Price is right, and we'll do the same for this Highlander. Now all I have to do is prep it for paint.