How is Toyota and all of these auto manufacturers producing this crap? These are basically Chinese plastic on wheels with a bunch of fancy tech. Turned the wheel a little too quick and caught my bumper… pulled away. Snapped it back together with all plastic pieces… so flimsy. Just completely unimpressed with a $50k vehicle.
Guess what? Quarter million dollar cars are the same way.
Not sure how the wheel under normal load could catch your bumper or the wheel well plastic liner. Remove a 10mm bolt at the bottom of the front wheel arch, and a few plastic push pins, pull the arch trim back, and you can snap back the bumper cover into place. There’s a second 10mm bolt 1/4 up the arch too if you need to remove that. Also, if the black plastic mounting piece behind the bumper (arch area) is broken, buy a new one off eBay. If the wheel arch trim has a few broken tabs just put double-sided 3M automotive tape; it will hold. You can buy a new arch trim for about $50 too. Most vehicle bumpers are snapped together this way. Easily a DIY fix. Coincidentally, the iPhone, laptops, flatscreen TVs are mostly Chinese made too, and so’s your socks and underwear, LOL.
The days of metal bumpers and steel frames are long gone. I’m not in the business, but I think all cars are plastic now.
Cars are not designed to ‘catch the bumper.’ Expected damage from inattentive driving.
Dorian said:
Cars are not designed to ‘catch the bumper.’ Expected damage from inattentive driving.
I have a 2017 Chevy Silverado that has scuff marks on the front bumper where I’ve caught some parking concrete stops. Cars post-Covid are junk, and they are charging 20% more.
What’s the real story here? Turning the wheel too quickly doesn’t cause the wheel to catch the bumper…
LisaLovesToyota said:
What’s the real story here? Turning the wheel too quickly doesn’t cause the wheel to catch the bumper…
Sorry, not clear. I was backing up out of a driveway and turned the wheel too soon and the bumper scraped over the raised curb on the side of the road. 100% my fault.
@LyamGenesis
… Yeah, don’t run into stuff if you don’t want it to break.
To answer your first question… how do they produce this crap? That’s ALL manufacturers. They do it because we buy them. EVs are sharply down in sales… because people are not buying them like the honeymoon days.
Have a 21 XSE, same color and wheels, never had this issue. Seems like operator error to me.
Darior said:
Have a 21 XSE, same color and wheels, never had this issue. Seems like operator error to me.
100% user error. I’m just making an observation on how cheaply these cars are made today.
@LyamGenesis
It would have been better to make that point clearer rather than how the initial post came across. Stuff happens, and then it requires money to correct.
My guess is you had ice build up in the wheel well and it caught the tire… it’s why you should clean it.
frank said:
My guess is you had ice build up in the wheel well and it caught the tire… it’s why you should clean it.
It’s not an issue with the wheel/bumper. I wasn’t clear in OP. I didn’t give enough clearance when I turned my wheel for the raised curb backing out of a driveway. It is her error.
@LyamGenesis
Good driving saves money, but feel free to continue to bash the vehicle rather than paying better attention and driving better.