Bumper repair?

[Boongie]

I noticed tonight that my new 2005 Camry has what I would call a gouge in the rear bumper. The car is a medium gray color. The gouge is more than a scratch since it catches my fingernail. It is about 1/4 of an inch long. From my searching on the forum I know that repairing a paint chip in metal can be tough. But what about repairing a gouge in a urethane bumper? I presume that just using factory touch up paint would not be enough. Is there a filler product that I could use first before applying touch up paint? And will factory touch up paint last on something as flexible as a bumper? Or do I need to use a body shop for this one?

[buellwinkle]

Body shops charge way too much for urathane bumper repair. My daughter`s boyfriend scraped her bumper on a pole, nothing wrong with the bumper, just needed to be sanded and painted. I got quotes from $500-600, insane. I found a place that sold me a new bumper that they pre-painted for $230.



On my MB, the first week or so that I had it I closed the garage door on the bumper, arghh. I took it to a place that does paintless dent removal and airbrush touch up. They fixed the gouges, primered the area, base coat and clear for $150 and a year later it still looks good.



Personally, I wouldn`t try it myself, touchup paint never looks right, specially on a metallic color.

[imported_themightytimmah]

I`d take it to someone who can airbrush it. You could probably touch it up yourself, but you are not going to get Autopian results on gray. I got a perfect scratch fill on black once, but most of the time, touchups come out slightly less than perfect.



You`ve just gotta decide if its worth the money to you for it to be 100% perfect. On my `97, its not. If I had a brand new SL65 or something, you can bet it sure as hell would.

[Boongie]

Where can I find somebody who airbrushes? Would that be a regular body shop?

[imported_themightytimmah]

Yeah, a body shop should be able to do that, unless they are run by greddy ```````s (which is a rarity of course in the bodyshop business ), who claim that a full repaint is the only way to go. In that case, just walk out.

[buellwinkle]

Many PDR places now do airbrushing. Ask around dealerships to see who they use or hang out and you`ll see their trucks with their name/phone number outside. The ones that do dealership cars are more likely to be affordable and good.