QuestionGary,
I hope I'm taking this question to the right expert. I bumped into another car in a parking lot, and being as it was technically my fault, the insurance did not cover the repair. The body damage is minimal-- a couple of 2-4 inch long cracks in the plastic bumper through the complete thickness of the plastic, and some minor accompanying deformation.
I was wondering if you could tell me, or tell me how to find out, what such a repair should cost if done professionally. I have not taken it to a shop to get an estimate yet as I find short, young, blonde women sometimes tend to pay more for car work if they can't demonstrate some knowledge on the topic at hand.
Would it be more cost effective to do this myself or not, assuming I would probably have to buy a few tools in addition to materials, and take the repaired bumper somewhere to be painted?
What tools and materials would I need, exactly? What might I expect to pay for them if I got mid to high end products? I have been unable to discover through internet research the exact plastic the bumper is made of-- I'm probably not using the right search terms. What should/could the paint job cost (ball park is better than nothing), assuming they will repaint the whole bumper?
The last part of my question is this. I've never taken the bumper off of a car made of plastic-- most of the cars I've worked on have been 1980s where the bumper is a separate fixture from the body of the car. What's underneath there? I live in an apartment complex, with no option to put the car under a roof for a few days, and I live in NC-- a state where the weather is schizophrenic. Is there any problem with leaving the front of the car under the bumper exposed to rain and leaves and random passers by?
Thank you very much for your time. I hope you're having a great new year.
Anne
AnswerHi Anne,
To fix this most body shops will either plastic weld it or use a plastic adhesive to repair the damage. It's really not necessary to find out the type of plastic used because most adhesives nowdays are very universal and will repair almost all plastics on the market.
The local body shops where I am at usually charge anywhere from about 250.00 to 600.00 to repair and repaint a bumper. Of course, it depends on the color, car model, and the shop for accurate quotes.
I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. Not that it's hard work or anything but most shops won't paint over work that has been done by other people. Besides, most of your expense is going to be in painting.
