GREETINGS ALL! I have a dog damage question

**slvrshadow94tt** · 08-06-2003, 08:16 PM

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I am a new member to Autopia and have spent the last few days exploring this wonderful site and kicking myself for not having known about it sooner

. I`m not "new" to detailing and take pride in the work I put into my cars. As far as products go, 90% of my experience has been with meguiars/mirror glaze line. I have many questions I would like to ask, several answered already by the search engine here.

The question I would like to start off with first deals with the driver`s side corner of my front bumper.

My "garage queen" is a 94 Toyota Supra Twin-Turbo and is

Alpine Silver in color. This car is performance modified, low miles, and in pristine condition with one minor exception. About two and a half years ago, late at night, I hit a large dog that darted into the road. If I take the speed limit and my braking into consideration, rate of impact was around 20MPH. Since the bumper was urethane and point of impact was at the corner, the only damage was a cracked turn signal lite. But where the corner flexed it created a spider-web effect and I can`t tell if the paint/clearcoat or both are cracked. You can only notice it if you look at the corner from certain angles and in certain types of light.

Does anybody think that this could be a DIY fix? I would prefer not to take it to a shop to have the whole bumper removed and repainted. There`s no one I trust in Louisville, KY to match the paint.

Thanks in Advance:up

**imported_Infamous** · 08-06-2003, 08:50 PM

If it is cracked then you need a repaint. My mom had to get her bumper repainted and they never used flexible primer so it started cracking on its own. It just peels off SOO easily. Your lucky that silver is a very forgiving color so you don`t notice it as much. You can try polishing it to see if it helps but it MOST likely won`t do much. Do a search and see if anything comes up.

Nice car BTW could you post some pics?

**slvrshadow94tt** · 08-06-2003, 09:01 PM

A repaint is what I`m trying to avoid but may not be able to do. The body shops in Louisville either won`t mess with it because it`s not an insurance claim or want to charge an arm and leg for work I feel is unacceptable. (I look at previous customer cars to determine quality of work and paint matching).:down

I`ll try to get some pictures posted up soon. Thanks for showing interest

Any others with suggestions?

**imported_rajs** · 08-06-2003, 10:30 PM

Slvrshadow94tt -- Did the dog survive ? You didn`t mention it in your write up -- just curious.

**slvrshadow94tt** · 08-07-2003, 12:03 AM

Sadly, she did not.

It was about 9:30pm on a Friday night mid December and I was on my way to a Christmas party. I was driving down a two lane road doin about 45 or 50 MPH (it was a 45MPH zone). The dog came running from the right-hand side of the road and was in the middle of my lane 15-20 ft ahead when I noticed her. I hit the brake and jerked the wheel toward the shoulder and went half way off the road before straightening the car out and getting back on the road again. My maneuver failed. I hit her in the hind quarter with just the corner of the driverside front bumper. I didn`t know how bad her injuries were so I did a U-turn and went back for her. I saw her dragging her back legs as she tried to get out of the road so I quickly pulled over, put the flashers on, and helped her off the road. It was really sad because it seemed as if she didn`t know her back legs were paralyzed and she kept trying to stand up as if she were going to go home. She didn`t whimper or cry at all. The only thing I could think to do was just stay with her and keep her from moving. She was a beautiful dog, looked like a mix between a black lab and a german shephard. Nearly two hours passed before a passing motorist decided to stop and offer me help. I sent the guy to a 24 hour emergency vet and he returned shortly after with a borrowed stretcher. We loaded the dog on the stretcher and into the back of his Suburban and went back to the vet. The vet was able to contact the owner by the info on the dog tags so we waited at the animal hospital for the dog`s owner to arrive. Meanwhile, the vet told us that the dog`s back was broken. The owner arrived about 1:00am and we spoke only briefly. I wanted so badly to choke the hell out of him for letting his dog run loose without a leash at night. He informed me, however, that the dog belonged to his little girl and that he was unaware that she had let her out. I expressed my sympathy instead and went on home for the night. I called the animal hospital the next morning to check on her condition and they told me the owner requested she be put down as the surgery would have been to expensive.

**Michaelelts** · 08-07-2003, 07:41 PM

Hi slvrshadow94tt first kudos for doing the right thing by the dog mnay people would have said tough and driven on. It did not sound like you fault at all. I also have a a 93 TT supra. It has only lately turned into a garage queen and for many years it was my daily driver. An incredible car now BPU and I still love it like it was new. Over the years I picked up some rock chips and a garage scrape so I had the front bumper repainted. Removing the bumper is not hard but it did not have to be done there were no masking tape marks at all. I believe the quote I got for the bumper was around 200 and I have been quite pleased with the results it was done about a year ago. you can check out my web site for pictures of the car. You should check out supraforums or mkiv.com if you do not already know about them for a bunch of other supra owners Davidmy web site

**SickOfItAll** · 08-08-2003, 02:05 AM

Kudos to you for doing the right thing with the dog, and best of luck getting the paint taken care of.

**SlvrChrm03Max** · 08-08-2003, 03:46 AM

I saw her dragging her back legs as she tried to get out of the road so I quickly pulled over, put the flashers on, and helped her off the road. It was really sad because it seemed as if she didn`t know her back legs were paralyzed and she kept trying to stand up as if she were going to go home. She didn`t whimper or cry at all. ......................

I called the animal hospital the next morning to check on her condition and they told me the owner requested she be put down as the surgery would have been to expensive.

**slvrshadow94tt** · 08-08-2003, 04:55 PM

Thanks for the replies. It`s good to know that I`m not the only one who believes in doing the right thing.:up

It`s also good to know that there`s another supra enthusiast on this forum!!:xyxthumbs

**slvrshadow94tt** · 08-08-2003, 05:35 PM

Hey dashotgun!

Your Supra looks great! Did you not like the factory spoiler?:nixweiss

Wouldn`t repainting the bumper in a solid factory color be less expensive and easier to match than a light metallic color?

If I`m remembering correctly, I had gotten several quotes after the accident happened and they were all in the $300-$400 range.

Plus I was told by a few that they would not be able to match the paint as well as the factory did. That seems unacceptable to me.

Anyways, thanks for introducing yourself !

**Michaelelts** · 08-08-2003, 08:30 PM

I bought the car new without the wing. I liked the wingless look then and now with every little shoebox having a large wing I like it wingless even more. A good shop should not charge to much more for stock metalic paint I think the silver was still a two stage not a three stage paint. With compute matching and quality paint it should be close. Yes you older paint will be some what lighter because it has faded over the years but given the bumper will be totaly repainted it will not be that noticeable in my opinion. I think that 300 would be fair if it is a very good job. One suggestion go find a merecedes, porsche or BMW dealer and find out who they use to paint there damaged autos.