Friendly advice? (parking lot accident)
 

Hello,

I just got off work and noticed my co-worker checking out the damage on my front bumper. In the dark it looked like there wasn't any damage at all. Unfortunately, when I got home and got a flashlight out there were about 6 edge scratches 1-3 inches long with the paint rubbed right off the the plastic. There doesn't seem to be any cracks or dents, but I'll take a better look in the morning.

Is it possible to fix these spots up without repainting the entire bumper? Seems like he's more than willing to pay for the damages, but I still want to minimize the cost. I work pretty closely with him and he's been nothing but helpful, since I'm the newbie on the team.

I think I can compound/polish out the scuffs, but I'd rather let a professional take care of the real damage. I know a low cost unnoticeable repair is counterintuitive, but this is my first car purchased. I've gotten used to the occasional rock chip and scrape, but I still like to keep the paint nice and polish out little scratches whenever I have the time.

Does anyone have any advice or has had a similar experience and can enlighten me on the details?

Ouch, yes it's fixable. It all depends how much money you want to throw at.
That last pic sure looks like its past into the bare metal.
The typical answer is to let your insurance handle it,
The mild answer is to get a scratch and dent pro work on it.
The personal answer is to get touch up paint and have at it. At the end of the day only you will notice/care.

It's actually the front bumper, so just plastic. I want to do the touch up, but since it's on the edges I'm almost sure It'd be more noticeable after I take a shot at it lol. I'll put up some better pictures in the morning.

I've never had to go through insurance before, so I'm not sure how our premiums would be affected by this sort of thing. Is this considered a collision? I set my "Comprehensive" deductible to $200 in case I ever came back to the car and found a bad, random scratch.

Would you happen to know about how much a "premium" repair would cost for damage like this?

I can't say for sure how much, prices go up/down depends on your area.
Locally that fix at a scratch and dent is around $350.

If I where to go through the insurance route it come down to how much your deductible vs how much it the repair would be out of pocket. Say if my deductible is $500 and actual cost to fix is $1k, I'll go which ever is going to cost me less.

I'll have a chat with your insurance agent to get the right answer and what they can cover.

It's about $800 for a bumper repaint.

That's a pretty high estimate. A whole new bumper itself is only a couple hundred bucks.


OP: I doubt that is fixable without actually taking the bumper off and repainting. Unfortunately when they're down to plastic like that you can't just buff it out. You can minimize the noticeable damage, but without an actual repair there will always be the deep scratches.


This probably boils down to how much of an issue it is to you personally. I don't think it is really worth getting insurance involved. You should be able to square it away with your co-worker if he is actually a stand up guy. Just go get a body shop estimate and go from there.

You still need to paint the new bumper.

$800 is normal around here at the good shops.

Yeah, thats extremely high. I was simply stating the price of a part. Even if they're including the part that would be a high estimate. I'm going to guess they're also doing the removal / install, and new brackets for that.

I really wouldn't want to get insurance involved either. I'll look around for some reputable body shops in the area.

It's actually not that noticeable since it's black plastic & plastic. The scratches are a little smaller than I originally thought. I'm thinking since it's the front and rocks will chip away at it anyway, I'd be happy if it was touched up and sanded/blended smooth. This would be cheaper and also avoid the entire bumper being a slightly different color?

Some pictures in daylight:

Luckily no dents. Prices around here are generally higher for just about everything. How much would a good touch-up usually go for? I think it's impossible for it to be unnoticeable, but I just don't want more paint chipping off since they're pretty big scratches.

Just now realized I'm in the wrong section - anyway to move the thread to Cosmetic Maintenance?

Your local dealership sells touch up paint, can't get any better than factory stuff.

https://www.drcolorchip.com/ worth a try

Mr.ac: local dealership's stock touch-up paint might be worse for old enough cars with paint bleached a bit under sun during car's life. Touch-up paint may fit still new enough car's color tones. Custom paint shops may color-match to what you have now.

I can live with a slightly off tone, but I really just want it to be flush and unnoticeable by touch. If I can't get a good quote, I'll probably end up getting some sandpaper and give it a shot.

I see that name thrown around a lot. Seems like they have paint repair kits. I'll look into them more, thanks.

what kinda car did he hit you with to make those types of scratches where they are?

It was a slightly older Lexus. Dented his rear bumper but it popped out while we were talking lol. The scratches are on my front bumper ('17 86) with lots of sharp angles.

ahhh... you have a 17. thats why your bumper also looks like that. wasnt sure if you had a trd front kit or something lol

yep. I actually didn't like the front bumper as much as the old one on the frs, but now I think it looks better. Maybe biased? haha

Was quoted $1100-$1200 from 2 local shops. Both wanted to strip the paint/clear coat then repair and reapply clear coat to the entire bumper.

One of the guys said he'd help me touch-up the scratches then let me decide if I want to do a more intensive repair.

If you don't clear the whole cover you will have problems down the road, pricing seems fair for what it needs.