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Where to buy a front body panel?

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4.2K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  Salmon  
#1 ·
I have a couple damaged body parts and I assume they cannot be repaired, but must be replaced. (Please tell me if I am mistaken!)

Is there somewhere I can get an affordable replacement panel? Unfortunately it looks like the replacement would be the entire front end that wraps around both sides. See attached photo.
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I obviously need the black moulding around the tire, too.

There's also a dent in the silver moulding above the passenger window. Looks complicated to replace, but I'd like feedback on that as well. Here's a view of it:
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#2 ·
Ebay has lots of used parts but the problem with them is most of them have damage (they come from wrecked cars).

For body panels, there are lots of non-Toyota suppliers that cater to body shops. Those are often a good deal, but may not be OEM quality. I replaced the front bumper cover on my daughter's Dodge with one of those. Some of those suppliers will even paint them for you before they ship.

The silver trim strip above the window is actually stainless steel. I think it just snaps off, but I'm not sure. If you can get it off without damaging the mounting clips, then perhaps you can press out the dent from the back. If not, you might consider some window visors such as these: Amazon.com: AUTOCLOVER Dark Smoke Side Window Visor 6 Piece Set for Toyota RAV4 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 / Safe RAIN Out-Channel Guard Deflector : Automotive
 
#3 ·
Good advice from FKHeath above. Hard to tell from the photo but that front bumper cover doesn't look like it is broken to me. The black marks are either paint from another car or OEM paint removed all the way to the plastic. Cheapest way to go is to buff out or touch up the bumper cover. If you really want to get a replacement cheap they can be purchased pre-finished from various sellers for a pretty reasonable cost. In 2021 I bought a KIA SPECTRA front bumper cover for $221 from MBI Auto (EBAY seller). It came painted and all folded up but I removed the wrapping and followed the instructions to let it take the proper shape again and installed it just fine. The silver color match was very close but not perfect. Best result is a body shop that will paint to match but that gets pricey. I expect you could buy the other parts (black wheel trim and chrome window molding used from used parts dealers or new from a dealership. If you can remove it without damage you could probably repair that molding piece. I have done so with windshield moldings but I don't know how door moldings are attached.
 
#8 ·
"way to go is to buff out or touch up the bumper cover. If you really want to get a replacement cheap they can be purchased pre-finished from various sellers for a pretty reasonable cost. In 2021 I bought a KIA SPECTRA front bumper cover for $221 from MBI Auto (EBAY seller). It came painted and all folded up but I removed the wrapping and followed the instructions to let it take the proper shape again and installed it just fine. The silver color match was very close but not perfect"

Our 2007 bumper needs to be replaced. Gotten two quotes and both said it would be too much work to remove paint and repaint, cheaper to replace. I found some on ebay but the painted ones were $600 and change. I was concerned about the "folded" part. Did the fold really straighten out? How hard was it to replace? Body shop wanted $1,100 to replace and paint. Was MBI the ebay seller you used?
 
#5 ·
The silver trim strip above the window is actually stainless steel. I think it just snaps off, but I'm not sure. If you can get it off without damaging the mounting clips, then perhaps you can press out the dent from the back.
The silver trim is riveted to the top of the door frame and holds the rubber seals in place. I believe there are two rivets for each piece, one at each end.
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#10 ·
Our 2007 bumper needs to be replaced. Gotten two quotes and both said it would be too much work to remove paint and repaint, cheaper to replace. I found some on ebay but the painted ones were $600 and change. I was concerned about the "folded" part. Did the fold really straighten out? How hard was it to replace? Body shop wanted $1,100 to replace and paint. Was MBI the ebay seller you used?
I was really skeptical about the folded part and paint match. But I looked at a number of reviews and they were favorable enough that the cost was worth the risk. When the panel arrived I thought I had made a big mistake. I just couldn't imagine how the paint would hold on with something that bent out of shape but I carefully unwrapped the panel and placed it in a warm room. It took a while but it did open up to the proper shape and the paint stayed intact. Our KIA was 10 years old but it was silver and the paint was close enough that I was happy with the result and nobody said anything when we sold the car. A bright colored car might not have a good match after that long. One question I would ask myself is "what am I going to do if the paint match is bad?" in my case the answer to that was "install it anyway" because I wasn't willing to put any more $$ into it but if you are particular and won't be happy you might get an estimate for painting as a backup plan (or just buy it unpainted and plan to have a body shop paint it to match (that probably won't be perfect but better). The OP has a fairly recent RAV4 so I expected their paint would not have faded much but on a 2007 the risk of fading is a lot higher.

Regarding installation: We also have a 2013 RAV4 that was in an accident (front bumper) and I purchased a few parts, took it apart, and re-installed everything. That was a little tricky because of the way Toyota puts the front end together so I would strongly recommend searching for youtube videos of how to remove the parts before starting it.

edit: I did use MBI and was happy with the results but that was a few years ago now so I would do a new search and check reviews carefully before purchasing. MBI was kind of strange because they had me place the order then e-mail them the color code (I thought it was weird that an option wasn't built into their purchasing system).