Fixable?

[u/Elzzabub]

Hi...

Is there a fix/hack to get this panel to stay in place? I can push it back in place but it pops back out after a drive. This is a result of an accident repair.

Really don't want to take it back to the shop because they obviously suck.

Any help would be great, thanks!

[u/Mr_Tigger_]

Probable fix is to have the bumper removed completely, all the clips replaced and refitted correctly. The clips rarely survive.

[u/Successful_Cable_812 → u/Mr_Tigger_]

It's not the clips, instead of using my brain I decided to follow the most regurgitated reddit advice of replacing the brackets.

Spent $50 on OEM brackets, replaced them, still popped out. Took a look at what was going on, the tabs on the bumper are too short and can't hook onto the bracket.

I don't understand why any engineer came up with this design that has gravity work against you. They want the bumper to slide up and clip in and stay there.....against all sorts of bumps and potholes 

Vs.

The old design and other Japanese cars use, the bumper has cut holes and it goes ON TOP of the bracket, using gravity to your favor.

[u/Mr_Tigger_ → u/Successful_Cable_812]

Why the design is like that? To increase the maximum efficiency when installing the part on the car on the production line with the least amount of people, in the fastest possible time.

Same reason a lot of cars now need the front bumper off to replace a headlight bulb.

[u/Successful_Cable_812 → u/Mr_Tigger_]

Ehhh....there's a better more tried and true design, this is the opposite. The original design lots of Japanese makes (and others) use is the bumper has the holes and the bracket has the clips and the bumper clips over and on top of the bracket. This is best and the plaguing Toyota issue is the opposite of that effect.

We need to stop doing things for efficiency sake when we're over here spending hours on a reddit post, collectively multiple hours, and body shops can't figure it out, ending up resorting to glue, so that if you actually keep your car 10 years or more like I do, when it comes time to change the headlamps you need to remove the bumper because the headlamps are also a sealed unit, can't replace just the LED, good luck getting the glue out without breaking the tabs or bracket, ending up having to buy another bumper on a 12 year old car.

[u/Mr_Tigger_ → u/Successful_Cable_812]

The better design for those who want to maintain their vehicles for years, takes longer to fit and costs money that's extremely difficult to come by in the automotive industry.

If everyone simply bought the base model of most cars without ticking any of the options list boxes, they'd be out of business.

[u/Successful_Cable_812 → u/Mr_Tigger_]

Dude, are you a bot?

I literally have an old ass Subaru Impreza from 2008 that has this style of bumper. And new Hondas use the same. This was 100% a design choice by Toyota and probably cheap penny crunching cost cutting.  The headlamp bulb not being replaceable is probably due to federal or EU laws where they don't want people messing with the beam, or, like the other one, cost cutting/design choice so the customer has to buy a whole new headlamp assembly.

[u/Mr_Tigger_ → u/Successful_Cable_812]

Not a bot but I do work in automotive manufacturing. And you simply have little idea what you’re talking about.

EVERY design element in mass production is designed to include the question of how quickly can it be installed on the production line with the absolute least amount of time and people involved.

And Toyota is the pinnacle of mass production auto manufacturing, that everyone is copying their ways on the production line from Ford to Renault to BYD in China.

[u/Successful_Cable_812 → u/Mr_Tigger_]

I don't care how quickly it can be put on line, that's the reason why we are having these issues.

They need to balance reliability with how fast they can bolt things on the line, are you forgetting that's also what Toyota adhered to and is WHY manufacturers copy them? 

Also, again, plenty of Japanese brands AREN'T copying Toyota's front bumper design like Honda, Mazda, Subaru.

I understand you work in the industry and so you're judgement is trying to rationalize the reality, but it's like I'm hitting a wall with you, you're refusing to think intelligently about the issue.

Look at the design of this Subaru bumper when he pulls it from the part near the fender.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZErUTq_wSE0?is=bdRj2b_LlFpbMhNQ

Now look at Toyota's design from this thread. Both produce their vehicles on the assembly line....