Replacing front bumper - 05 legacy wagon

[Beatty]

I need to replace / have replaced the front bumper - and I am being quoted thousands of dollars by garages. Seems a bit high.

Can anyone recommend to do X or avoid X including - swapping my mangled bumper for a different newer model? 

I live near Montreal, and found a couple of places online that will sell me a Primed – Ready To Paint Bumper Cover - but the delivery costs more than the part itself.

Is this something I should get used to since my car's officially ancient (according to one junk yard owner)?

Thanks in advance, Beatty

[BoozeRS05]

You won’t be able to just plug in a newer model bumper cover without a bunch of other stuff (fenders, headlights, brackets, etc).

Professional paint should cost $300-$400 for a bumper.

Looks like rockauto has them for around $230 shipped to me, but I’m stateside. A used OEM bumper would need a decent bit of prep before it could be painted over, but will probably fit better than something aftermarket. I’d think $700 should the most you’d need to pay all done.

[GearJamr]

With having an 05 you can only get a bumper from an 05 or 06.  I  would check a local pick n pull (like Kenny's U-pull - there is one in Cornwall ON and I think there is one near Montreal as well) and get one from there.  You can get one from a GT or n/a, both are the same iirc.  They are held on mostly by plastic push clips.  The toughest ones are through the front of the front quarter/fender.  There are a few along the underside, and a couple of bolts at the top around the grille.

If you aren't picky about how well the paint matches and just want to get close, spraying it yourself is an easy way to save money.  If you have atlantic blue paint, I have 3 cans of colour match paint I could send you for shipping cost.

They aren't hard to swap out, just have to make sure you get a correct fitting one. 

[Beatty]

I just might make a trip to the US - a couple hours' away for me. That pricing for rockauto looks about right. 

I checked Kenny's Upull, but there was nothing for my car / year/ make/model. I even widened the scope to include all locations and nada.

@GearJamr thanks for the offer re: blue paint but mine is a light gray. 

I'm kind of tempted to take the bumper off myself after watching some videos. Just to see if I have all of the clips and bolts needed for the new bumper. I mean, it's already mangled. What more damage can I do? Why am I asking this - do I want more trouble in my life. 

Thanks for both of your replies. Much appreciated.

[KZJonny]

Might need to double check your search parameters…?

https://kennyupull.com/part/subaru-legacy-2005-25/

If that link is good, it’s even the right colour, silver metallic. (Same as mine…) There are a handful of other within an hour or so of driving. Bonus to going to the scrapyard is collecting a handful of body clips for extras from any other Sooby nearby, in case yours break coming out.

I’ve got a spare blue one in my basement as well, but it’s 2006 blue (?),  and I would bet shipping would be nearly as much as just the cost at Kenny…

Edited September 16, 2022 by KZJonny
Grammar. Ugh.

[BoozeRS05]

Removing and replacing the front bumper isn’t really hard. I jokingly say it’s the prerequisite to - should you be working on your car.

Bunch of push pins and clips, but pulls right out once you get them all. Putting it back on is simple too. Just start with the center grill area and work your way right to left. 

[Beatty]

@KZJonny - woah, thanks for the link. Looks like a drive to the big bad city is in order. I didn't think to swap out wagon for sedan. A front bumper's a front bumper, right? Looking at the list of parts available on that sedan makes me wish I were super handy. 

@BoozeRS05 I'm thinking that a bunch of push pins and clips might be my limit. But for this purpose, it's ok!

Cheers.

 

[KZJonny]

Happy to help. There were plenty more 2005-2006 Legacies in the search hits, but that one looked reasonably undamaged, and should be the right colour, barring extensive sun damage. I'd guess at this point that distinction would be the least of your concerns tho. Maybe you can find something a little closer to you if you spend more time going through the site, but you mentioned Montreal, so I figured that would do....

You may find a tool like this really handy:

https://www.amazon.ca/3Pcs-Combo-Repair-Tool-Kit/dp/B081V8NHWP/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=push+pin+removal+tool&qid=1663418913&sprefix=push+pin+re%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-11

I use these things whenever I'm pulling body plastics off. Saves plenty of broken clips and somc cursing, usually. I imagine you could find one cheaper, even on Amazon, but worth the few dollars.

I haven't pulled off my bumper in a long time, but am going to have to soon. As noted, it's pretty easy. I don't remember if you need to remove the grill or not, but if so, you'll need at least a 10mm socket/wrench as well to undo a couple of fasteners.

Post of some photos of the before and after. Cheers!

Edited September 17, 2022 by KZJonny

[Tehnation]

Did you look on car-part.com? They have Canada stuff as well, I just looked and seems like there are plenty of used bumpers for 05-06 in Canada. For the cheapest fix, I would find a junkyard with a bumper in the same color, weren't that many colors offered for the 05 legacy if I recall, 2 blues, black, white, red, grey... so 1 out of 6 isn't bad odds lol! 

I just recently found a rear bumper at a junkyard for my lgt that was all torn up. Cost me 225 American for the entire assembly, the cover, the metal bar, mounting brackets etc. If you just need a cover should be cheaper. 

What color is your car? Fog lights?  

[Beatty]

Thanks to all for your recommendation and advice. I actually bought the tools rec'd by @KZJonny and set out to move my car closer to the house to begin bumper removal when the car wouldn't start. Jumped the battery, had the car running, hood up, a neighbor kid/young man drove past and asked if he could help. I gave him the litany of what I had to do, junk yard Montreal, bumper, yada yada. He offered to help. Next thing I know he's using Axe body spray and a lighter to even out the dent in the front bumper. Using zip ties to hold parts of my bumper together, and just re-clipping the rest into place. He took the whole thing off to inspect things. Tried removing one bolt that never budged, but then assembled everything together looking tight and smooth. 

I think my GT would have been sitting in my driveway for years (mechanics too busy anyway with the aftermath of the big storm in Quebec in May - still cleaning that up - to take on my puny job. Even though they quoted me a huge fee) - if I had not come to this forum and got chatting with youse all about possibly doing this myself. Which drew the attention of my neighbor.

Note: I hate doing this kind of work. I'm much more at ease with software than hardware. 

Some photos for your amusement. 

Now onto fretting about other work needing to be done....

Cheers to all, 

Beatty

[KZJonny]

That's awesome! Awesome hearing people helping people for not other particular reason than because they can, and they want to help.

Was this young man old enough to have earned some thank you beers after all was said and done?

 

Car looks good after the fix! It's being a little fussy, and if it doesn't bother your, the forget about it, but it looks to me a little like the grill insert is uneven. There are a couple of tabs on the bottom of it, that slide into holes in the bumper cover. *IF* you care to adjust it, it's really easy, would just need to be backed out a little, and re-inserted with some gently downward pressure to make sure the clips slide in where they are supposed to. It also won't create any problem if you don't so there is that.

You've got the same colour/year wagon as I do as well MT or AT?... Should you ever decide you don't need a GT wagon any more, be sure and reach out here first!

[Beatty]

Quote

Was this young man old enough to have earned some thank you beers after all was said and done? 

Just Barely. But we'd handed over 2 Coronas with limes before thinking to ask....

Gave him a bit of cash, and am going to help him with his own website. He's running a side gig of bodywork or perhaps selling cars as a concierge type... 

Now that you've pointed out the grill, I actually do see the slight dip on the right. Thanks for that.

I'm a terrible car owner. I just love driving. So ... not sure what you mean by MT or AT. 

But it's an American car (in miles and mph) imported into Canada. Which requires math every time I think about fluids or mileage.

[KZJonny]

8 minutes ago, Beatty said:

Just Barely. But we'd handed over 2 Coronas with limes before thinking to ask....

Gave him a bit of cash, and am going to help him with his own website. He's running a side gig of bodywork or perhaps selling cars as a concierge type... 

Now that you've pointed out the grill, I actually do see the slight dip on the right. Thanks for that.

I'm a terrible car owner. I just love driving. So ... not sure what you mean by MT or AT. 

But it's an American car (in miles and mph) imported into Canada. Which requires math every time I think about fluids or mileage.

Eh. It's Quebec. Drinking age is more of a suggestion than any kind of real strictly enforced law right?

MT -> Manual Transmission AT -> Automatic Transmission

I think you've got a very nice car for driving, but am clearly biased if being a member here wasn't enough to explain that. Hope you get lots and lots more fun miles out of the car. Sound like you might have a good little exchange of services going on with the neighbour, if he continues to need some tech help.