‘It's an Added-In Feature, I Swear:' What Is the ‘Toyota Camry Dent' and Why Is It Everywhere?

Motor 1

7 hours ago

An automotive enthusiast claims he believes Toyota has purposely engineered the Camry to make its rear bumper cover prone to denting.
Shadetreemotors (
@shadetreemotors
) has dubbed the damage the 'Camry dent.'
While some who replied to his video believe the Camry's body mettle has deteriorated over time, others attributed the dent to other factors.
The Camry Dent
'Let's get into the Camry dent,' Shadetreemotors says at the top of the video. Then he shows photos depicting a variety of
Toyota Camry
models with matching dents in their rear bumpers.
The cars are different colors, model years, and trim levels. But they all have a basketball-sized dent on the lower left or right edge of the rear bumper.
'Once you've seen this reel, you're gonna see these [expletive] dents in these cars everywhere you go,' he says. 'As long as you have eyes—they are that common.'
He claims that the damage isn't just a design flaw or a simple matter of component degradation over time, attributed to the brand's longevity. According to him, the bumpers are intentionally designed this way by the Japanese automaker in the spirit of planned obsolescence.
'Now, leave it to Toyota to engineer a way into their car to make it look ugly after a certain point,' he says. 'So that you can get tired of looking at it and buy another Toyota.'
Shadetreemotors continues, 'They figure well, you know, if you've gotten one Camry. And you enjoy the way it runs and drives, but eventually the bumper caves in. You figure well [expletive] I'll buy another Camry.'
'And I think that's an added-in feature, I swear.'
At this point in the video, he shows an image of a late '90s champagne-colored Toyota Camry. The vehicle has a dent on the rear driver's side bumper.
A text overlay reads, 'Look for them and you'll see them everywhere. The Toyota Camry: a mysterious magnet for dents on the corners of the back bumpers.'
The caption states that these are 'statistics based on 153 Camrys with the characteristic popped-in rear bumper corner.'
Next, Shadetreemotors displays two pie charts. The first details the color of Camry vehicles featuring the rear bumper dent. The second showcases a variety of different Camry models labeled XV20, XV30, XV40, and XV50.
He concludes, 'Typically this was done on the silver and beige cars. They have the dent and the '02-'06 cars were affected the most. But it seems to be all of them.'
Other Theories
Others have noticed the so-called Camry dent. There's even a Facebook page dedicated to the dent called
Camry Corners
.
One outlet even
questioned
whether the oft-disfigured part revealed a flaw in Toyota's manufacturing process or if it just spoke to the longevity of Toyotas.
Jalopnik
argues that the Camry dent isn't caused by a design issue. The author notes that the Honda Accord, Volkswagen Passat, Nissan Maxima, Ford Fusion, and Kia Optima sport similar rear bumper cover designs.
The site states, 'They're a quite conventional design, with a rigid steel beam forming the base structure, a middle layer of energy-absorbing dense styrofoam, and an outer polyurethane outer bumper skin. Almost all modern cars use a similar design.'
The reason there are so many dented Camry bumpers may simply be a numbers game: The cars are on the road for so many years and miles that eventually many end up with a dented bumper.
GoodCarBadCar
writes that since its launch in 1982, the Camry has consistently been one of the top-selling vehicles in the world.
Coupled with the long-time reputation for reliability of the Camry, this means there are likely still millions on the road today.
Further, a dented bumper doesn't impede driving. So a Camry owner may simply choose not to fix it.
Fixing the Camry Dent
Toyota Ask
says it costs anywhere from $160 to $1,100 to replace a Camry bumper.
The cost depends on availability and whether or not the part is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) model. It'll cost more to get the real thing brand new from Toyota. You can opt to save money by getting one secondhand, from a junkyard, or from a third party.
For Toyota Camry drivers who just can't live with that unsightly dent but don't want to spend a bunch of money, there's plenty of advice available online.
YouTuber Get Fixed instructs you to first remove the grommets affixing the bumper cover to your car. There are several around the rear wheel wells and the back of the Camry.
Once the grommets have been removed, Get Fixed instructs you to pop the trunk. Then remove the fasteners securing the trunk panel. This allows you to safely pry off the rear bumper cover.
Following this, you should place the cover piece on a towel facing downward. Then, step on the dent to invert it.
This helps, but may leave some much smaller dents behind, as Get Fixed demonstrates. For these, Get Fixed recommends using a heat gun to make the bumper more malleable. This allows you to smooth away any errant dents by hand. Just keep it about a foot away from the bumper so as not to melt it, the creator notes.
How to Remove a Dent from A cars Bumper
Commenters React
Shadetreemotors' video inspired people to share theories and observations about the Camry dent.
One speculated that the ubiquitous dent is due to Camry's popularity with old people.
Another blamed its reliability, writing, 'The Camry isn't getting replaced as long as it's still starting and rolling, even if only on three wheels.'
Yet another made the logical argument that it's just a matter of driver error.
'Lol Camrys don't just get a dent naturally,' they wrote. 'It's 100% of the time due to an impact.'
At least some people believe the Camry dent is merely a myth.
'They learned from the first gen Camry, that car was made of stone,' said one.
Motor1
has reached out to Shadetreemotors via Instagram direct message for further comment. We'll be sure to update this if he responds.
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