Slvr surfr

iTrader: (1)

This happened sometime between New years night and the following two days. I know its not as bad as some others but after goin awhile without significant damage, it hurts a bit. Also by this being a car of the silver variety, it will no doubt be hard to match up if i got the whole bumper repainted. Was thinking about just using touch up paint from the dealer and just live with it. Any suggestions on which route i should take? Bumper repaint or touch-up? ::

Vpanin

Definitely the touch up paint. You will run into a whole bunch of problems re-spraying it( silver is hard to match like you said and the paint will never be as durable as stock). Put a few layers of touch up paint on it and in 2 weeks you will stop noticing that its there

Bocatrip

I have a very similar scrape on my front bumper which is Millenium Silver. I tried touching it up but it looks like crap. I got an estimate from a shop I've used before of $250 to remove, repair, respray, bake, and install. These days the color matching of reputable shops is right on the money. Touching up will not do the job if you want a good job.

caddyowner

I assume your parking sensor is OK. Is your paint scraped or is that rubber / paint rubbed from another vehicle? It that is material from the other vehicle, some rubbing compound may take it off and your paint may be fine underneath.

Jabberwock

Find the airbrush touch up guy that works the local use car lots in your area. These guys go from lot to lot fixing up stuff like that on used car trades. Deal direct with the guy by showing up at the lot when he does. Likely cost you $100 or less and he will fix it and blend it in so that it is almost invisible. Way better than touch up paint. Just call a couple of used car depts at Toyota and Lexus dealer and ask them what day their touch up guy works their lot. Or ask if you can get his name and number. He will fix it right there on the lot - takes less than hour.

lkapimp216

iTrader: (2)

Just saw that you live in D.C. I use a show in Annapolis called Gott autobody they have a great reputation and have painted most of my car and it looks great!

Slvr surfr

iTrader: (1)

@ Caddy, the parking sensor is ok thankfully but yes the paint is scratched off unfortunatley. I really wish that it was just surface scars.

Thanks fellas for the advice. Goin to be very careful on what method i use to fix this. Gonna take my time because if its done wrong(not matching or blending), it will cost even more money to correct the failed attempt.

Vpanin

try touch up paint first, if youre not happy then proceed with a respray

Milan

iTrader: (5)

The previous owner had the stock bumper resprayed at their expense (no collision, just millage scars) and it is very obvious. This was through a dealer-recommended body shop too so caveat emptor.

caddyowner

My body shop asked me to bring the car in clean on both sunny and overcast days so they could visually match the color.

2004TOYO

caddy, I may need to head your way to get my bumper fixed @ your body shop. What all have you had them do to your ride?

jayclapp

Touch up will look like crap, IMO. I didn't find that having the paint match with silver was a problem at all. Just use a competent shop and all should be fine. Of course it will cost a bit. But if you're comfortable driving it looking like whatever it looks like, that's your right, but you did ask for opinions.

caddyowner

My Lexus service advisor and I agreed that the previous owner of my car didn't know how to park - despite parking sensors and a backup camera. The items I had fixed upon delivery:

- Refinish and paint front bumper to correct scrapes on left side and fill front license plate holes.
- Repair scrapes on front passenger door and paint
- Repair scrapes on rear passenger door and paint
- Repair scrapes on rear passenger fender behind rear door and paint
- Refinish and paint rear bumper to correct scrapes on left and right side, replace right parking sensor
- Repair dent in trunk lid and paint. (probably happened in transit)

Total was about $3,200. They were (by far) my highest estimate, but I had great results with them in the past on a CTS I owned. Refinishing and painting a bumper should be about $500.

My body shop is Lawrence Auto Body in Brighton, run by Kate & Larry Lawrence. Kate drives a beautiful (I assume salvage title) 90 LS400 that Larry and his crew rebuilt.

http://lawrenceautobody.com/index.html

BTW, it took them about a week working with PPG paint reps to match my flint mica - paint color, fleck color, and fleck size. (They said one attempt had flecks that looked like they belonged on a bass boat.)

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Definitely have a reputable shop do it.

Then have a clear bra put on. The one aspect with that is the clear bra will give the appearance of a slight color shift as it ages. I'll take that over the nicks and dings that bumpers tend to get. The rear on mine had been sprayed 3 times, not "perfect" though with the clear bra, it isn't an issue since it begins to turn yellowish with age. Front has been done twice. Having the clear bra has saved it many times to make that $200 a bargain in potential bumper re-sprays.

Don't mind the sig pic...the lower half is uniform in color, the sun shining on the front gives it a fade appearance towards the back.

Kansas

Absolutely. You don't need a body shop. I used the same touch up guy the Lexus dealer uses to touch up new and used cars before they are sold. The work the guy did in my driveway was incredible. I would have thought that the metallic ("Crystal") white on my LS would be hard to match but it was a perfect match is still looks great after several years. Best 100 bucks I've ever spent.