Need Some Viewpoints on this Scratch Repair

[Beemerboy]

The garage door had it`s way with the bumper on our new KIA...totally my fault I should have been watching closer and as a result I`ve kicked myself around about it.

That said I really feel like this is going to be a repaint but wanted to see what others think?

I`ve thought about wet sanding the area to reduce down to level..then using some primer to base coat, color and then wet sanding.

But that would only mask it IMO.

I do have a local friend that does air brush painting for high end motorcycles and thought he might have a solution.

So I`m open to suggestions

Thanks
Signed
The idiot that wasn`t watching the garage door close enough!

[mrclean81]

Ouch that`s really deep. I honestly don`t think touching it up would work very well. There`s no doubt you could repair it as well as anyone here, but it will never blend right. Its worth a shot if you don`t plan on turning it into your insurance though. I like the air brush idea better. If he`s as good as you say he is, the two of you could probably get it pretty close.

[Beemerboy]

Ouch that`s really deep. I honestly don`t think touching it up would work very well. There`s no doubt you could repair it as well as anyone here, but it will never blend right. Its worth a shot if you don`t plan on turning it into your insurance though. I like the air brush idea better. If he`s as good as you say he is, the two of you could probably get it pretty close.

This dudes really good with the air brush and why I think he could fill and blend...at least to get it close enough for me to live with it for now.. Cost to repaint so far looks like 700 bucks (ouch) I won`t bother with insurance on this one

Thanks for the input

[The Driver]

Fill it, I did a similar scratch like that on an STI roof. It`s not perfect but trust me it will look alot better.

1. tape off everything but the scratch, get as close to the edge as possible leaving no paint exposed for the touch up to seep on to.
2. fill an apply touch up, brush with the scratch not up an down.
3. let it dry, then wet sand gently to remove touch up paint high spots.
4. remove tape, then polish.

Works wonders on most deep scratches.

[Stokdgs]

So sorry this had to happen..

What are your long range plans for the car ?
-Keep it forever
-Keep it X nbr of years and move it out?
-Other options ?

What can you stand to look at for the period of time you will have the car ?
-I will always notice its not perfect
-I will always notice the paint mismatch
-I will never look at this spot again no matter how good/bad it looks
-I will have to explain this to whoever buys the car


A correctly done touch up in any of the Body Shops I worked in would require a DA and smoothing down the damaged edge, and then feather edging all around it down to the original primer coat..
Then getting a factory pack pint of paint, and taking a sample of it out to the area and see if it needs anything added to match perfectly. Be sure to get the the flexible paint additive and add the required amount to the paint..
Then, spraying the primer back into the spot, sanding with a block and a guidecoat, until its all smooth and perfect again, then spotting in the paint with a little blend past the area..
The Airbrush guy should have a similar process for this... I vote for him...

Good luck !
Dan F

[Beemerboy]

We just brought the car in Dec and it was a lease trade in so plan was to keep it for a couple of years and trade in for a newer model.

I would be happy if could get it to blend in for now then address it later when funds are more plentiful.



So sorry this had to happen..

What are your long range plans for the car ?
-Keep it forever
-Keep it X nbr of years and move it out?
-Other options ?

What can you stand to look at for the period of time you will have the car ?
-I will always notice its not perfect
-I will always notice the paint mismatch
-I will never look at this spot again no matter how good/bad it looks
-I will have to explain this to whoever buys the car


A correctly done touch up in any of the Body Shops I worked in would require a DA and smoothing down the damaged edge, and then feather edging all around it down to the original primer coat..
Then getting a factory pack pint of paint, and taking a sample of it out to the area and see if it needs anything added to match perfectly. Be sure to get the the flexible paint additive and add the required amount to the paint..
Then, spraying the primer back into the spot, sanding with a block and a guidecoat, until its all smooth and perfect again, then spotting in the paint with a little blend past the area..
The Airbrush guy should have a similar process for this... I vote for him...

Good luck !
Dan F

[Stokdgs]

Dave,
You want a good Painter who knows how to mix and match paint color to start...

If he is really good at this, then he should also have the other skillsets... repair, prime, block perfectly, spot it in and blend it out a little to help it match the existing, depending on the condition of the existing paint...

Im not sure how bad the plastic is shredded, etc., on the edges... If its bad, it might be hard to get them smoothed down because its plastic.. Good luck with that...

I guess if your guy says its not possible to get a clean smooth edge from that bumper material, you may have to think about replacing it sometime or find out what the ding is when you turn it back in. (which might be a complete replacement :(

This was so much easier to do in the good old days of acrylic lacquer and enamels... :)

Dang garage doors !!!!

My Ex got into her X5 once with her son, started it, kept yapping back and forth, put it in reverse, and drove through the garage door before she figured out she forgot to hit # 1 inside the car to raise it... I feel your pain.... :)

Good luck, Dave !

[WaxAddict]

That repair cost sounds like a new bumper. Carsmetics, if they exists in CA, would be around 350 and depending on the manager and guy who gets your car, you can end up with a very decent outcome on a highly segmented area (where blending is not required). They fixed our Maxima with a deep bumber gouge for $350 and it looked fine.

I mean absolutely NO disrespect, but $700 to fix a scratch on a Kia negates the reason to get a Kia.

[Beemerboy]

That price is a full removal of the bumper, sand, fill repaint and re-install the bumper.



I mean absolutely NO disrespect, but $700 to fix a scratch on a Kia negates the reason to get a Kia.

[WaxAddict]

I`m not sure of your Kia model, but there`s a place on (a popular auktion sight) that sends you a bumper painted to code for $430, according to the sample I just looked up - a 2011 Soul. Give it a looksie.

[RTexasF]

Most of the larger car lots have a guy or gal on call that specialize in repairing boo boos just like that. When I bought my car new it had a lot hit on the plastic bumper cover which they pointed out right off the bat. They called the fella and you would never know anything was wrong and can`t even tell anything was repaired....and this was in 2009! Maybe a call to someone you know at the Kia dealer might yield such a person.