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bumper Qs: Year compatibility, oem vs aftermarket

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by cnschult, Aug 12, 2014.

  1. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    Please don't ask me to use the search function, I've searched for 2 hours and can't find the answers, I even learned info I didn't need like the fact that the gas tank from 2004 thru 2006.5 is not compatible with the gas tank from 2006.5 thru 2009, but I can't find an answer to my questions.

    Some bumpers on ebay say 2004-2009 while some say 2006-2009 and some say 2008-2009 or some other variation. I have 2 well-maintained low mileage prius I'm trying to sell with no luck so far so I've decided to just repair the bumper covers and raise the price. My 2004 has a damaged rear bumper cover and my 2005 has a damaged front cover. So was there any styling differences and more importantly fitment changes from 2004 to 2009 that might cause a bumper to not fit a certain year?

    And secondly, are the $100 cheap aftermarket bumper covers on ebay any good? I'm trying to sell both my Prii so I'm looking to do it as cheaply as possible without screwing over the next owner by creating lots of issues down the road. An old thread had a priuschatter complaining about an aftermarket bumper cover not fitting well despite having a body shop do the work. Obviously a new OEM fits perfect but is very expensive.

    I will have a body shop do the work for me, the owner is a friend who gives me a special rate in the summer when business is bad (his workload is very full in the winter from all the idiots who try to use all season tires year round)

    If I lived down south I would just repaint one bumper so that one car had 2 good ones and then one car had 2 bad ones for someone interested in adding a body kit, but people up north don't have body kits on their daily drivers because the decreased ground clearance makes it harder to drive thru snow. The Garage Vary body kit has always been my favorite for Gen II, but its expensive and the shipping from Japan is outrageous.

    Thanks in advance
     
  2. exstudent

    exstudent Senior Member

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    Looks like you found your answer about the cheap aftermarket bumper covers: not fit well.

    Used OEM bumper will probably fit the best for obvious reasons. Your body shop friend will know best, but I'm guessing paint a used OEM bumper off the car will be cheapest, since no blending the old/new paint.

    Contact Steve at autobeyours.com. Although their website says they don't ship painted parts b/c people unhappy, maybe he will make an exception. Maybe drive to him? Michigan to Indiana way closer than me.

    Craigslist for people parting out a wrecked Prius.

    Good luck.
     
  3. TampaPrius.com

    TampaPrius.com Active Member

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    Aftermarket bumpers usually fit fine. You may need the bumper retainers. They may be broken or may break when you remove the bumpers because they are 9 and 10 years old and made of plastic. If the clips break the bumper will not stay in place and will look bad. The rear retainers are usually $35-40 each and the fronts are around $20 each on eBay.
     
  4. cnschult

    cnschult Active Member

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    Were you in my driveway looking at my cars? its' so funny you mention that because the 2 bad bumpers in question each have one bad bumper retainer and one that's still good.


    But I still really do need an answer to the my question if there were any changes in the bumpers between 2004 and 2009. thanks
     
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I suggest you go to toyodiy.com and see if you can look up part numbers for the North American Prius front and rear bumper covers for the 2004 model year. Then compare to the 2009 model year and see if there is any change.
     
  6. TampaPrius.com

    TampaPrius.com Active Member

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    They are the same. The only difference is the grille inserts on the front bumper. Some have fog lights and some don't.