Updated on Oct. 18, 2024
Car bumpers offer protection from minor collisions, but they're easy to damage and hard to fix. That's where bumper guards help. Here are eight good ones.
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Modern car bumpers protect vehicles from minor damage in low-speed collisions. Trouble is, one serious impact is all it takes to reduce their effectiveness in your next fender bender. If that happens, you probably should buy a replacement bumper. But they’re expensive and difficult to install yourself.
Once your damaged bumper has been replaced, consider adding bumper guards. There are many styles available, but they’re all sold for the same reasons — some to protect the bumper cover, others to protect the bumper itself.
Here we’ll introduce you to eight high-quality bumper guards, and help you decide which might make sense for you.
Another inexpensive option, these soft rubber bumper cover protectors come in packs of two for $13 and stick to most vehicles, wherever you want protection. They’re easy to install — just remove the plastic backing and stick them on. They’re certainly better than nothing in minor collisions, but at only 12 in. x 2 in. each, you won’t get much protection from a single package.
Another peel and stick product, this rear bumper cover protection strip costs around $45 and comes five or six inches wide and 62 in. long. It should work on many vehicles though it needs a flat bumper to adhere properly. Because it’s a sheet of thin rubber, it will protect your rear bumper cover from scratches and minor dents (or help hide the ones you already have) but won’t do much for harder impacts.
At $100, the Luv-Tap BG001 offers significantly more protection than the peel-and-stick products. Designed to cover the face and sides of many styles of rear bumper, the BG001 comes in two sizes and offers versions with and without cutouts for license plates. Made of stretchy, heavily padded fabric, the unit comes with special bungees and heavy-duty suction cups for installation.
At 12 in. tall and 48 in. wide, the Parking Armor Ultimate Bumper Guard offers serious protection from rear collisions. Its two-inch-thick body is packed with high-density protective foam, yet it’s still flexible enough to conform to the varying shapes of different vehicles. The price is reasonable for the amount of protection it provides.
If you own a truck and want some seriously sturdy, rugged bumper protection, consider the Bull Bar from Black Horse. Designed to cushion head-on impacts from wildlife or other vehicles, the Bull Bar’s steel tube construction is sturdy and rust resistant. It also adds a style element that many truck owners find appealing. This bumper protector doesn’t help much on collisions to the sides of the bumper though, and it’s pricey.
The Bumper Badger Classic edition is sizable and offers lots of protection. It’s 40 in. wide, 12 in. tall, and made of heavy-duty black rubber with raised ribs for extra protection. It’s also reinforced by a steel bar at the top that keeps the unit sitting flat against most bumpers. Strong nylon straps held in the trunk door keep the Bumper Badger in place, and allow it to flip neatly into the trunk for storage when not in use.
Like the Bumper Badger Classic, the Bumper Bully Gold is made of heavy-duty rubber, but this model covers a larger area — 46 in. x 12 in. Two straps closed in the trunk door anchor it, and steel stabilizer bars hold it flat over the rear bumper.
