I am planning on repainting my front bumper on my 01 Millenium Silver LS430. It has the normal paint chips and a few imperfections common on a 100,000 mile car. This question is totally subjective but I wanted to throw it out anyway. The shop owner suggested that I paint the entire bumper silver including the black grill insert on bottom. He mentioned that many of the newer cars have one color bumpers and it would look more updated. I usually keep everything original but am open for suggestions. What do you guys think? Thanks all.

 

I would leave it as it came from the factory. He probably wants to save time masking.

 

I'd go factory on any LS paintwork.

 

It's a personal preference, but I'd have to agree that he wants to save time masking it off. Personally I would keep the black grill area unpainted.

 

Post this in the photoshop section and take a look at both pics and choose.

 

Thanks all for the feedback. I am planning on going the original look route.

 

good choice because the ls bumper looks alot better the way it is

 

What is the going rate these days for removing, repairing flaws, and repainting the front bumper? My shop is charging me $250.

 

That's a good price. My body shop charged me $500 which included eliminating the front license plate holes.

 

$500 sound a little steep.

 

My recent experience with my local Lexus Collision Center tells me $250 is very low for repainting any part of an LS. I was lucky they were able to use paintless dent repair to remove 3 door dings (2 in one door, 1 in the other). Had that not worked, they estimated $785 to paint/blend part of the doors on my 2006 LS 430.

 

I went by my Local Lexus bodyshop and got a quote of $400 to do the front bumper. Somehow that $250 quote sounds better. The lower quote came from a shop that did my friend's G35 Coupe front bumper and it came out really good.

 

My body guy charges a flat rate of 250/panel for 2 stage and 300 for 3 stage paint plus any parts. Any necessary prep work is included in the per panel price.