flektone

iTrader: (1)

I had my bumper repainted last spring from a respectable shop in town for about $500. I only drive my car on the weekends and put on about 10k or a little less since. Some highway driving and some around town. Well the bumper looks like hell again with chips in it. In my opinion a repaint doesnt hold up any where near the paint from the factory. I know there are a lot of factors involved such as the prep work, products, driving style, etc. Just wondering what you guys think. I almost want to take this back and ask the guy if this is normal wear and tear.

jroyal

All dependent on the quality of work and the products used. IMO if you paid $500 from a reputable shop they were using **** paint. You get what you pay for and if you do pay for a quality respray it will hold up just as well if not better than factory paint.

flektone

iTrader: (1)

Ah im not to sure $500 is a cheap job. From what i heard on here and other forums when I had a VW $500 is about right for a bumper respray. I know the owner, he has done work on my familes cars for the past 15 years. I may just stop and show him what it looks like.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Any paint (oem or factory) will chip.

If you want to protect your investment, clear bra, such as Xpel or Suntek, is the best way to prevent rock chips over time. For best protection, I would recommend wrapping the full hood, full front fenders, and bumper. You may also choose to wrap the front of the mirrors as well as the strip above the windshield.

-Zach

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

For $500, my shop would have done 3-4 coats of clear. For $200, I had my hood resprayed and had a single stage of clear. Wish I had paid for more coats right now.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget flex agent especially on plastic bumpers. Most shops will not use them because they're expensive.

SebaPR

to prevent highway chips get clear bra for bumper/hood. i bought my 06 and apparently (from analyzing door seems or what you call it) its beeen completely resprayed by the prev owner like a year or two ago and it looks so nice i thought it was oem (perfect mirror reflections little chipping feels smooth to touch) prov drived little or just didnt highway. i want a full polish/detail to remove the few wash swirls it has and want to clear bra the hood/bumper to preserve the nice job since my car sleeps outside and turd bombs on a hot hood is never good for the clear.

My 07 had hood/bumper resprayed 2 years ago 30k miles a year most highway and it looked all chipped again just like the oem paint so just get a clear bra if you highway much or sleep outside you wont regret it.

A friend of mine has it on his 13 subaru sti and only thing he regrets is doing half the hood instead of full since it looks so nice you cant even tell and prevents crud from getting cooked into the paint.

NickTee

A quality paintjob will hold up as well as the OEM paint Problem is finding a company that is willing to put the effort into it. Most don't give a **** and are trying to pump the car out as quickly as possible.

LexoticJ

iTrader: (5)

need a good shop here in ga for this work to be done

mandyfig

A good paint shop will give you lifetime warranty on the quality of the paint. Nothing special. However this comes with a high price. End of the day, you get what you pay for.

flektone

iTrader: (1)

Lol jesus some of you guys with the 'you get what you pay for' are acting like this was a $200 Maco paint job. $500 is not a cheap paint job. Plus my guy claims he uses all the best products. His work is guaranteed so im going to stop by and show him. Does anyone have pics of a resprayed front bumper and how many miles are on it?

mlapag

Resprayed about 3 months ago - Daily drive about 80 miles a day on the Washington DC beltway. A few small chips but holding up pretty well.

flektone

iTrader: (1)

Thanks. But the real test will be how it looks after the winter and all the crap thats on the roads. Id like to see one with at least a year on it. How much was your job?

mlapag

No doubt about that. Luckily, I will be relocating closer to my office.

Lexus covered this respray - I worked it into the CPO deal. However $500 seems par for the course. My previous 335i was resprayed for just under 600 and that included a few touch up spots on the hood. The amount of prep work drives the price quite a bit. In our case, it is limited.

Can't hurt to bring it back. Good luck.

ColtM4A3

^ This. You didn't say why you got the bumper painted, but if it was for chips then I'd say this advice is a must.