reversed into a pillar!

[charlielow]

Hi folks,

The wife accidentally reversed into a pillar in the basement car park recently and now the rear bumper is damaged. She was going pretty slow, so the damage is not serious but I'm pretty sure it can't be mended. Fortunately no structural damage as the point of contact just missed the car's impact beam by an inch.

Has anyone had any similar experience and if yes, would appreciate if you could advice on the costs. I also intend to install a reverse camera, so any leads on that would be good too. The car is a 2010 Toyota Prius based in Melbourne.

Cheers!

[Braddles]

I'm in the same boat. The right corner of the bumper was pushed in and popped out again by car park faeries. The damage isn't great and I have coverage for little dings, so I can get it fixed quite cheaply. I initial hope was that I could fit a body kit instead of fixing the bumper... but of course the body kit would only cover the bottom of the bumper and not replace the whole thing.

Get the repair assessed, because it may be possible to fix it.

As for fitting a reversing camera, check Toyota Manuals here and search for "Rear View camera". The installation instructions assume wiring to the factory sat nav, but at least you'll see the pins and wiring that you need splice to. (You'll probably want to get a wireless camera and screen after reading that!) You'll need good stiff plastic levers to prise panels; I use a Kincrome set. The pins are quite stiff and need a bit of force to remove. Take care and work methodically. You should be able to find replacement pins at AutoSuperRepco if you break any.

[Richieb]

Did the whole lot on my Prius, but the center dash part just flaked apart in my hands. It was bone dry from the sun at it every day.

Watch out for this one. The Audio/AV panel tools work perfectly, unless the panel is a weak one.