rear bumper clips keep popping

[ghettosled]

my co-worker has a 2007 camry and just after she bought it used, the rear bumper shell where it makes a point on the driver's side rear fender at the start of the tail light kept popping out. i messaged the tab on the bumper and it has been holding since. this was over the summer

now a couple of days ago she backed into a pickup truck. the passenger's side rear bumper took the hit at about 4mph. it popped the bumper cover out from all of the clips, broke the trunk tail light and possibly the main tail light (its a little wobbly, but no visible damage on the outside). i popped the clips back in but i cant get the one that is by the corner of the main light to hold. ive tried twice. all of the clips are holding except this one. any suggestions or tricks?

[njerald]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

my co-worker has a 2007 camry and just after she bought it used, the rear bumper shell where it makes a point on the driver's side rear fender at the start of the tail light kept popping out. i messaged the tab on the bumper and it has been holding since. this was over the summer

now a couple of days ago she backed into a pickup truck. the passenger's side rear bumper took the hit at about 4mph. it popped the bumper cover out from all of the clips, broke the trunk tail light and possibly the main tail light (its a little wobbly, but no visible damage on the outside). i popped the clips back in but i cant get the one that is by the corner of the main light to hold. ive tried twice. all of the clips are holding except this one. any suggestions or tricks?

Yes, replace the lights and bumper cover..........get her driving lessons.

tell your co-worker to stop hitting things with her car. my bumper cover stays put. but them i don't run into junk all the time.

[workerant]

Backup camera comes to mind.

Sure that clip isn't broken?

[Drizzt]

I had the same problem. When I brought it to the dealer they said it wasn't covered because if someone hits,leans, or taps the back corner of the bumper, that spot you mentioned pops out. My tabs on the bumper itself were broken and they said replacement was the only option. A short time later I was rear ended ( not hard, just a bit of paint off) and brought it to a reputable body guy who said he would have to melt new tabs on it. Long story short, it couldn't be done and he replaced the whole bumper. So as njerald said, replacement is probably your best option.

[ebumdude]

+1 on what njerald said.

Backup camera, driving lessons.....and her putting her cell phone away while driving would also help.

[ghettosled]

yeah, i kind of already rag on her for her driving skills, or lack there of. she backed into the truck because her windows were covered in frost and didnt take the time to clear them off like the windshield. lesson learned. she doesnt have the money to replace the bumper shell so i may have to get creative. just slightly challenging being that i will work on her car in the parking lot of our company during our monday lunch break. ranks up there with the alternator replacement on a '95 tahoe last week. damn, i am ghetto...

[untitlejk]

DUDE I had this problem after tinting my tail lights and man, I have put a stupid amount of hours in trying to keep this thing from popping out! The tabs broke so this was my solution:

get a high-temp gluegun + high-temp glue (no muti-temp pos because 100+ deg aka Riverside heat will melt it)

Take the bumper cover off and bend the pointy part inwards as much as possible. Since the bumper is flexible it will not crack or break so dont worry.

use the gluegun and put a good amount of glue in there but be wary of it seeping out. Then position it nicely before holding it for a minute and it'll dry up. If there are some stray strands stuck onto the car just use paint-safe goo-gone from home depot to wipe it off.

Taking the bumper off is also not a problem afterwards because it still pops out with enough manhand-force. Since my last fix, I've had it like that for about 5 months now and no problems!

[sxe-10]

the clip is broken, replacing the bumper just for 1 clip is stupid, mine sticks out because a friend of mine backed into my car, use some sort of adhesive to hold it in place

[ghettosled]

groovy - thanks for the advise. i think i will try the high-temp hot gluegun approach. i think i may swap cars for a night in order to do accomplish this. i wish the bumper cover on my gen 3 camry was this easy to take on and off!

[njerald]

Use that glue gun on the tail lights also......