Poqman

I found my rear bumper had been bumped while at Lowes the other day. The bumper is not dented, but where it was deflected from an impact, it has hairline cracks in the paint finish. The slight transfer of paint from the other car polished off easily. Has anyone had a bumper cover repainted after being impacted and showing the hairline fractures? Do the hairline fractures disappear with a new paint job? I plan to remove and replace the cover myself. I can buy a new cover for $307 from Sewell's, but will still need to get it painted to match. I found an Ebay seller who sells refurbished covers for $431 already painted, or I can take the current bumper off and take it to a paint shop. Haven't gotten quotes for that yet. Anyone feel strongly how to best do this repair? Interested in your comments. Would like to keep it under $500.

jzwu

Can you just carefully touch up the hairlines? It wont be noticeable. I would rather spend the $500 on performance stuff than on a 10+ years old car's bumper.

1100HP

I agree with the above. Unless of course this thing is your pimp car.

Yes

I would report it to your insurance as a hit and run and let them pay for it. It shouldn't affect your rate at all. But to answer your question, most likely it just needs to be repainted. I don't think you'll need to buy a new bumper. I also suspect attempting to touch it up yourself would only make it look worse.

Jabberwock

Call your insurance company - file a comprehensive claim - being a hit to your parked car in a parking lot. Take it to a good Toyota or Lexus body shop. We had a new rear bumper cover put on our Highlander after a minor low impact accident put a small hole in the cover. Took the body shop only one day to replace the cover and paint match it - the paint matched very well given they are painting on plastic. I think is was about $500 - the other guy's insurance paid 100%

mandyfig

You can find a shop who will do it from $500~$700 for a re-spray. They will take off the bumper and clean up the hairline crack (they will just sand it down, primer it and then re-spray the whole bumper. Good luck.

mandyfig

A friend of mines ES330 had the same thing. He backed up on his daughter's car one time, no dent but hairline cracks and deep scratches. Total bill $600. No insurance claims. However you will need to let it go for about 1.5 weeks. No need to replace the bumper cover.

But you have options.

Poqman

Thanks guys for the input. Seems like my current decision is to either buy a remanufactured bumper already painted for $431 and install myself or remove it and take it to a paint shop. I'll take it to a few shops and get quotes next.

Yes

Keep in mind installing a bumper may be more difficult than you think. Also, with a remanufactured bumper, fitment may be an issue.

mandyfig

Agree ^^ I replaced my son's Maxima's rear bumper, it is a 2 person job. You will end up scratching the bumper. Just fair warning.

Harold57

The other thing to keep in mind is that matching 9 or 10 year old paint is not always straight forward. Typically, there is some paint fading from sun exposure. Often to get a good match, the body shop will have to feather the color in to the adjacent body panels. Good luck and let us know how it comes out. Be sure to take before and after photos.

scdroptop

iTrader: (1)

I've had my front bumper re-sprayed at Sewell on my last 02 when I first bought it. Grandma that had it before me kissed the garage several times on both sides pulling in.

I believe it was around $600 or so. They took it off, sanded it, primered and re-shot it. Took a few days and got to tool around in a sweet IS250 all week. No blending, but they did color sand/wet sand buff and polish and totally detailed the car for me.

IMO it would be WELL worth it to do this at your local dealer than fool around with the eBay bumper you are talking about. For these reasons: the PITA to put it on...the possible damage in shipment....how long will it take (time is money, right?)...plus not sure if it will match and if you will need tabs or clips or break lights, etc.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SC430-REAR-B...item336dd7f1ec

In some cases it just pays to leave it up to the pros. Especially when we are talking just 15% more $$$$.