That doesn’t look bad (yet).

One telltale sign is if you can see the bumper cover’s “tab” through the gap. In your second photo (passenger side…. Rare?) this is apparent, so I would diagnose it as a mild case of separation.

what is your mileage etc.?

 

8200 miles. Have owned the car from new for 2 weeks short of a year.

 

That is probably the start but unusual that the passenger side is worse than the drivers side. I try to avoid rough roads all the time because all the vibration can’t help matters
I haven’t looked at mine too close in a while, time to look at it as I approach 8k miles.

 

It’s possible, but I wouldn’t touch it! My original bumper had the slightest hint of it and it was fine for 32k miles.

 

What happened after 32k?

 

Bambi gave him a black eye 😢

 

Ah, that wouldn't be good. I got a black eye with a Home Depot bucket in the middle of the road but other than cracking my passenger side scoop it was fine. $65 later I replaced it and no issues so far.

 

Barely a whiff of the separation with my original bumper from the factory. Weeks after the replacement and it’s slightly popped out. 🤦🏽‍♂️🙄🤬

 

That's disappointing, but if anything would cause the separation to start, I suppose a deer collision would be it.

Are you going to do the fix mentioned in the video in the first post?

 

This is an entirely new bumper and hood. I don’t think I’ll install the fix yet. I don’t want to make it worse! 😂

 

Ah damn, you did all you could however, these clips that Lexus/Toyota uses (not just the IS500, but other models) seem to be piles of doodoo.

 

your not gonna make it worse..you want the repair to be done as good as before which this is not. I would go back and say hey this bumper isn’t on and then tell them about the Etsy fix…they likely would be happy to try it besides them having to figure it out themsleves

 

I told my Lexus certified body shop about the Etsy fix. They were damned glad to learn about it, because they had experienced same with the IS500 repair, as well as with other models. Seems a common Toyota/Lexus problem.

 

I will take it in, probably when it’s warm. And the many cars damaged in the GA snow madness are out of the way. Note: I mentioned the Etsy fix when the car was taken, because I was concerned this would happen. Said they do not work with 3rd party applications.

 

Hey Tony, i hear what you are saying about your dealer but this is the only documented repair that actually works. There is a very good video explaining how to do the procedure and if your Lexus dealer wont touch it, try another one or even a Toyota dealer that will. The worst case is about 1h of labor but well worth it in my opinion. Dont let them attempt the ziptie tsb as that has made things worse in some cases by actually damaging the tabs thus requiring a new bumper.