Quote:
Originally Posted by iyzmi  The insurance company is going to give me about $650 to have the bumper repaired by a body shop. The body shop won't be touching it up like what I want to do. They're just gonna sand down the whole thing and repaint it. A new painted bumper on ebay is $550 so I figure if I mess up, I can just go ahead and order a brand new one and install it myself. Either way it is less than what the bodyshop wants. Here are some pics of front of the car as a whole. You can see that the damage really isn't that bad and isn't that noticeable either. The front plate is really messed up but it took most of the damage.  |
Here's my thoughts:
A brand new OEM bumper cover is $260 and paint + installation is another $350 which is approximately what you are getting paid from your insurance company. So I don't think they are repairing your existing cover for the same cost, they are probably replacing it. Also, from this picture it appears that there is a really bad crease/crack on the top of the left side of the cover. I personally don't recommend attempting a repair on that extensive of damage. It can be done and shops could fix it (with alot of filler) but I'd be hard pressed if they would warranty their repair because it might not last. I've seen shops attempt bumper repairs and they usually fail after they get heated up in their paint booth and/or when they install it. 3M makes a great bumper repair kit and the repaired area is many times stronger than before, but due to how cheap a replacement cover is, it's not cost effective to attempt.
If you do decide to have the bumper repaired, make sure the shop paints the entire bumper.