Bumper Paint Chip-off: What Should I Do?

[Kikkomann]

I had my car washed in the gasoline station last week (I was so busy that time I have no time to clean the car myself). Now my problem is this: due to the high pressure of the water hose, some of the paint in my bumper was chipped-off (approximately size of a quarter). And on top of that, there are about 3-5 of these.



Does my problem call for a total bumper repaint or I can do a more "non-hostile" solution?



Thank you.:wavey

[Kikkomann]

Any help and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.



Thanks again.:wavey

[slvrshadow94tt]

A high-pressure wash can, under certain circumstances, be brutal on a factory paint job. However, it`s unlikely IMO that it was the high-pressure water alone that caused your paint to pop off. I`ve witnessed first-hand the damage pressure washing can do to a paint job. But 90% of the time there was some type of damage to the paint (small chips, cracks,etc.) that the pressure washer took advantage of and made worse. If your vehicle is a newer vehicle and the paint was undamaged before the wash, then I would say that the paint had extremely poor adhesion to the plastic bumper. Perhaps it was poor quality paint from the factory or maybe the bumper had been repainted poorly after a small fender-bender. I can only speculate about the many possible causes since I don`t know any details about the vehicle in question. What I do know is that you are in a crappy situation that could get worse........ even with a spray from the garden hose if you aren`t careful. My advice would be to fork over a couple of Benjamins at the local body shop and get that bumper sanded down and repainted professionally. Then when you get it back, think twice before taking it to the local service station car wash!:wall

[imported_phareous]

I`ve read that the paint on bumpers and other plastic parts will always be softer. This is because they have to put some stuff in the paint to keep it flexible so they can put it on top of the plastic.



Anyways your best bet is to just try touch-up paint and see how it goes and then if you`re not happy with that then I guess all you could do is get the whole part repainted

[Kikkomann]

Thanks guys!



Actually, I already bought a pint of paint for about $1.82 at a local car paint shop and I brushed it on the affected areas. It came out great when I buffed the whole bumper. Even it was only brushed, the paint blended naturally with the whole bumper though I really have to admit that I need to have the whole thing professionally painted sooner or later.



Again, tnx!