Matthew DeBord/BI
Repaired!
- I recently had to fix a small dent and some scrapes on my Toyota RAV4.
- I took a pass on the dent, but I handled the scrapes and a slightly more serious problem using a $6 roll of tape.
- Minor vehicle repairs such as this are easy and can buy you some time before dealing with a costly trip to the body shop.
- Sign up for Business Insider's transportation newsletter, Shifting Gears, to get more stories like this in your inbox.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A few weeks ago, my Toyota RAV4 hybrid endured an indignity. A very low-speed collision put a dent and a scrape in its rear bumper.
Nothing to panic about. Minor impacts are pretty common, and the damage was minimal.
But it was still noticeable, and the bumper panel was slightly detached from the rest of the body, as well as being scraped. With winter coming, I decided that although I didn't really want to fully repair the damage - a new bumper would be required, and with paint and body work I was looking at a few hundred bucks minimum - I wanted to tidy up the impact.
Minor repairs such as these are easy and worthwhile, as I've already demonstrated by fixing a few scratches on my beloved Toyota Prius.
Here's how I used a $6 roll of tape to solve my problem: