I scraped my left bumper today backing out of my driveway.
Wondering if it can be repaired or will the bumper need to be replaced.

 

With the damage being that low on the car you might get an acceptable repair but even that correctly requires that the bumper skin be removed from the car and refinished. I've tried doing it otherwise but after about a year the clearcoat started to peel at the bumper edge - lot's less expensive though so it is tempting.

Dave Mac

 

The bumper doesn't need to be replaced, but the bumper skin does. They'll need to paint a new bumper skin and replace the old one. I had that done on my GS when I was rear-ended.

 

Thanks for the advice,
So, what price range am I looking at. My dealer has a collision center and I've had some minor work done there previously but I'm thinking maybe I should just call my insurance co and go through them.

 

I had a small 4 or so inch gouge on a RAV4 bumper, they actually heated the gouged area to fill in the gouge, smoothed it (not sure if they had to add a vinyl filler), and repainted the entire bumper. $450 a couple years ago, absolutely undetectable, color matched, too. A very good body shop, as well.

 

I drove the wife's Acura into a parking spot and right onto a concrete barrier. The bottom of the bumper cover was damaged but not the bumper itself. The cover was scraped all the way across the bottom and required replacement. $800.00 for an aftermarket part painted and installed.

 

The good news is that, in that location at the very bottom of the bumper, the repair doesn't need to be absolutely perfect for it to be unnoticeable. Even the paint match doesn't need to be perfect to be unnoticeable. There is a good chance that they will be able to find a way to spot in the refinishing and to break it off at a spot that is very low and avoid having to refinish the area higher up, which has the potential of being much more noticeable.

 

Sewell lexus lists the cost for a painted bumper cover at $789. You would need to add labor cost to remove the old cover and install the new one, so I expect your local Lexus dealer would charge at least $1,000 to replace your damaged bumper cover.
Minor damage like your picture shows can be repaired for much less at an independent body shop, but its your choice regarding the convenience of the dealer or cost savings somewhere else.

 

They won't replace the bumper cover, they will sand out that area, and then repaint the existing bumper cover. I'd want to see that area color coated and blended into the rest of the bumper and then the whole bumper clear coated. I'd say you're looking at $400 or so.

 

I asked about getting the bumper cover sanded and repainted when I damaged the Acura. The body shop recommended a new cover over a repair and stated that to try and match - blend - the paint would require more labor which = more $$. I then worried that the repair would be apparent. For a difference in money of $2-300.00 it isn't worth it IMO. I went for the replacement cover and never looked back. Turned out perfect.

 

Totally depends on the type of damage. That just looks superficial, if there are deep gouges in the bumper or cracks or tears than its a different story. The bumper cover itself is like $450, you have to do a lot of prep work and additional paint work to get to the cost of a new bumper considering most body shops have a labor rate less than $60 an hour.

Personally, like you I care more about the result than the cost. But, the times I've had issues getting paint to match its been when an entirely new bumper has been repainted. In instances when the area has been repaired and color coated and blended into the bumper I haven't had that problem because the paint the comes up against the next adjoining panel is the original paint.

 

My wife's SC430 had very similar damage to the front right side of her bumper. We had a reputable body shop take care of it. They sanded and prepped the area and painted it, matching it perfectly. You can't tell it was repaired. Cost me $185.00. Three years later, it still looks good.

 

Appreciate all the replies. I'm having it looked at tomorrow thanks to all of you I have a better idea of what can be done.
I'll keep you all posted.

 

My guy at Lexus recommends just sanding and painting since it's superficial. $200 to 250.
I'm happy!