dormie

hey guys,

I would like to repaint my front bumper cover as it looks like coarse sand paper from rocks and bugs, even though the car only has 25k miles. There are also two small gouges that would need to be sanded and repaired.

A new cover is pretty cheap, less than $400 (which seems really cheap by lexus standards, so wondering if this would probably be cheaper than paying a body shop to repair the original cover. Obviously it will be painted either way, but just wondering if I should just start with a new one.

Anyone done this? The bumper seems really bad considering the age of the car, and it seems to have accumulated a high number of rock chips on the first 3 inches of the hood (4-5). Wonder if the paint is soft or its the blockiness of the front end on this car that leads to more crap hitting it.

EIther way, I'm going to clearshield the bumper when done, anyone have a place in Austin or San Antonio that does a good custom bumper wrap?

thanks

dyeelitt

I had the clear bra installed as soon as i purchased the car and it has kept hte car looking pretty good. Small price to pay to prevent the rock dings. I have one spot on the hood where the rock went through the clear bra and damaged the paint but I would hate to have seen what damage it would have done if I didn't have the clear bra. I had an 04 ES330 and didn't have the clear bra and a rock took a 1/2 dollar size chunk of paint off the hood, i complalined to lexus and they repainted the hood and less than a month later, the same thing. I then had the clear bra installed. I won't own a car without it. Make sure you get a reputable installer. If you were SoCal i could give you a name of a guy.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lexus paint are soft, that's why you see so many pits, don't know if i should say that's "normal"

just be careful. if you repaint bumper, make sure the paint is fully dry (especially now in winter time) before clear bra. otherwise paint might peel more easily