Insane repair cost for paint job - recommendation
 

Hi all!

I've scratched my neighbor's 2016 Lexus IS 200t and of course, I promised to fix her car at my cost. I was never in an accident so I assumed that the cost will be around $300~$500. However, this morning, I got a quote saying this will cost $995.

Found out, this car is leased and she wants to do front bumper repainted. She stated that if you Lexus find out that your leased car is repaired, they may charge you?

I seriously don't know whole lot about Lexus but I live paycheck to paycheck, don't really have $995 to fix the bumber.

Guys, please help me so I can convince her to give another place a shot.

Thanks all in advance.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...598b4f40a6.jpg

Touch up paint and call it a day.

$1000 for paint.. rather get a new bumper when the time comes. But yours is a lease, most dealership won't notice if you just touch it up. If you repair it, there will be records.

That is stupid silly - $400, maybe $500 max. Get someone who knows how to blend - it will be better that a full bumper repaint that doesn't match and will stick out.

Read the post again. It's not his car. His neighbor is insisting that the entire bumper be repainted for $1000.
This should cost around $300-$500 to have it sanded it out and blended back with the factory paint.
with such a minimal damage, I don't think it will be noticeable even if the paint is a bit off.
Go get an estimate with your neighbor, most shops will even refuse to do a full bumper repaint for this miniscule damage.

Just to add quick note to this, this quote came from her friend's autoshop.

I can see $1000 for a full bumper repaint if it has some scrapes and heavily pitted pitting, requiring a lot of prep work. But this looks so minor.

I think your neighbour is trying to fleece you and her body shop buddy is going to split the g and just put touchup paint on it for. This could be considered minor acceptable "normal" wear and tear and may not even be noticeable. Or even find one of those bumper scuff repair places that people use for lease returns and do a spot repair which will be a quarter of that. Even if it was noted damage, Lexus isn't going to charge anywhere close to a g for that on a lease return.... probably charge $250 which is what it cost to get it touched using one of those bumper repair places.

I'm with everyone else, it's like a $500 job tops at a body shop.

I'd have her get a quote from the Lexus dealer approved shop, a well known chain and another quote from another shop, she should give you three printed quotes.... excluding the inflated one from her buddy.

Regardless, its a lease.

Why waste the money on fixing this when $20 touch up paint can do the job. Like others had said, its minor, can be considered wear and tear (depending on dealership, like I said, most do not care).

i know a place is el monte can fix for you brand now and only costs around $250. i scratched my 200t, in the front bumper too, much bigger spot. only costs me for 250$

i know a body shop in el monte can fix for you brand now and only costs around $250. i scratched my 200t, in the front bumper too, much bigger spot. only costs me for 250$

I have to jump in. "It's a lease"? And? He hit someone else's car. I wouldn't use touch up paint if it was mine, especially if someone else hit me. No way. $1000 to repaint seems right to me, especially in my area.

Thanks guy for your opinion. Yes, I would NOT do this job myself, this is a lease car and someone else's vehicle. But I found a dealer that will do the job at $295 plus tax.

Even though I just showed him a picture but he assured me that this is really minor and should be done less than 4 hours.

Final question. Do you tip the mechanics??

Definitely look around $995 is a lot even for the entire bumper. If your neighbors concern is Lexus finding out that it was repaired, having the entire bumper repainted will most likely show up.

It shouldnt cost too much to have that small area repaired.

Glad you found something reasonable. I don't think tipping a mechanic doing $300 worth of work is necessary. Remember that's mostly labor, and it's not like they make min wage.

1,000 dollars for that is crazy! That's good she's trying to work it out with you but that amount makes no sense. You can actually do it yourself and not look bad. This happened to me before and was able to do it in a way that didn't look off. At the time I had a new camry se (I know not a lexus) and my stupid ex scrape the driver side front bumper. So what I did was go to a paint shop and custom match the paint and put it into a can. The paint was 20 and the professional clear coat can was 20. The scrape was the size of a cell phone, so all I did was tape around the part I didnt want to touch and sand the affected area, then wet sand, prime, wet sand, paint, paint, clear, clear. Returned the car to the dealership and had no idea.

Absolutely! Don't forget to include an extra 20% in tip so the mechanic will take good care of you. Otherwise 15% for average service.
I'm being sarcastic here!