Feedback for Bumper Options

[Canadian Guy]

Hey all,

Unfortunate event happened while I was on shift at the hospital. A contractor working at the parking garage I was parked in, managed to knock a fence gate onto my car and dinged up the front bumper and small part of my hood. 2015 WRB BRZ (I am looking into them to get them to pay for everything, but so far no ones answering. I submitted a dash cam footage of the man picking up the fence from my car to police, but I am just planning for worst case scenario).

Most of damage is mix of clear coat damage and layer of paint. Spots on the bumper is missing paint down to the plastic. I've been quoted for repairs of $950 CAD based on photo submission but anticipate more once they see in person.

I am weighing options but wanted to see costs of what people have done in past for front bumpers replacements/change up etc.

1) Buying a used 2017+ bumper in WRB
2) Buying a used 2017+ Bumper in another colour and paint matching
3) Buying parts at cost (friend at subie dealer) of a 2017+ bumper and bezels and paint matching.


thanks in advance!

[soundman98]

i typically go with option 4) get repair quote, collect check from persons insurance company, buff out damage to minimize appearance, and use the check for everything else in life. because it's a car, and as long as it gets used, it's going to get some knicks and cuts.

[Canadian Guy]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i typically go with option 4) get repair quote, collect check from persons insurance company, buff out damage to minimize appearance, and use the check for everything else in life. because it's a car, and as long as it gets used, it's going to get some knicks and cuts.

That’s good insight . I’m definitely going to consider that .

[soundman98]

pearl colors are impossible to match. the best they can ever do is a fade into adjacent area's to minimize the appearance. pearl is both slightly opaque, and has metal flake embedded within it.

basically, the sparkly metal flakes are mixed into the paint, and an ionizing charge makes them lay in the paint a specific orientation--like little mirrors. there's almost no way to get new sparkly paint to lay in the exact same way. so a fade is required to visually blend the area's together so there's not as sharp a contrast between the new and old paint. but with a careful eye, it can usually be spotted under different types of lights.

[Sam86]

Looks pretty noticeable from that pic, if you're fine with keeping it like that as one of your replies suggests then you're a stronger person than I am. I obsess over the tiniest of paint wear/ rock chips in noticeable places.

For you I'd say it's cheaper to just get it repainted. You could do a cheap DIY yourself with touch up pens from ft86speedfactory but they won't be perfect, just good enough from a distance UNLESS you actually wanted a new aftermarket bumper style then this is the perfect opportunity.

If you got a new bumper you could probably try resell your OEM bumper to someone looking to DIY paint. I've seen some 86/ FRS owners who've swapped their stock with a BRZ bumper

[ls1ac]

Take it to a PDR shop, not the guy in the mini van. many can do a reasonable job of color match. Not perfect but in a DD for work they are good.