The grille on my 03 Escape is loose and I want to replace it but videos seem to show a daunting process that requires removal of the whole bumper cover. Is this true or is there an easier way?

 

I just pulled the bumper on my 06 Escape in order to switch out a headlight assembly that was fogging up--I believe the 03 is pretty much like to 05-07 models and it wasn't bad at all! It helps if you have a trim remover tool in order to pop out the fasteners that hold in the front wheel well liner.

When I had my bumper cover off I accidentally bumped the wire for the deeper-toned horn on the passenger side and didn't realize it for a few days. I had to remove the bumper cover again just to re-hook the horn up. If you have a 10mm socket, a screw driver, and a trim removal tool it really isn't too big a deal to pop that bumper cover off! Took me just under 10 minutes.

 

Once you pull the bumper cover off, then it's easy to deal with, I replaced the headlights and one bad and so was the replacement. So we had to pull the bumper cover 3 times however rockauto made the parts good and paid the return shipping.