Damage to my pride and joy

[Shockwav86]

So a few weeks ago I wanted to check my oil level since the car is recently new and a manual transmission. As I walk around to the front of my car, I see this...





Gouged right down to the plastic underneath. I have had this car only since March, and have kept it in the garage and never driven it in inclement weather ever. It only has 4k miles on it for crying out loud.

Anyways, I hit it with a LC Orange Light cutting pad on my PC 7424XP with some Meguiar`s Scratch X. I wasn`t expecting it to be magically fixed of course. There`s no paint there....Now it looks like this



A little better I guess. Got the clear coat clear again, whatever is left of it. I went to a body shop that I trust and he was very straight up with me. He said its a hard color to match but probably could be done. He doesn`t want to blend into the hood and fenders, because it could do more damage than good. So he would have to pull the whole front bumper cover. Then he said that due to the factory dodge "texture" or I call it orange peel it could not be matched. His spray guns leave a much smoother and refined finish.

He showed my his 2011 Camaro that he had to repaint due to an accident and sure enough, the paint was smooth as glass. Any suggestions out there?

I also already tried dr. color chip, which the color was not even close and did not cover the black plastic. I also tried first to fill it in with applied color`s finish filler. But the paint did not cover well and it looked much worse, so I removed it.

[juliom2]

wet sand and refine the area the best possible...
once you get it "clean"; touch up...
go to a paint shop get your color done and apply in the spots...
allow a few days to cure....wetsand and refine.

[Nth Degree]

My personal preference would be to live with it for the time being. It isn`t going to rust or create any additional problems. It is likely that more damage will occur to the bumper cover over the next year or two. I would wait until there was a bigger or more reasons to have the bumper cover repainted. In many cases the repair stands out more than the original imperfection.

It really comes down to which will bother you more. The small gouge or a repaint that doesn`t match perfectly that covers a much larger area? If this were a show car I`d say have the bumper repainted, then sand the adjacent areas to reduce the orange peel so there isn`t such an obvious difference. Way more work than it`s worth in most cases.

[Reddwarf]

Sadly I can offer no advice. Just wanted say that sucks! But, I am amazed at how much better it looks after you worked on it.

[cmichael258]

Ouch! Shopping cart? Surprised Dr. Colorchip was off.

[BobbyG]

Many times I tell people I can "improve" the appearance of the defect and this is a awesome example of this.

Don, I wouldn`t be afraid to dab some touch up paint improving the damaged area even more...

[skibik]

Since you mentioned Dodge, when I had my Dakota about 12 years ago I had about the same experience. I went down to the Dodge dealer and bought one of those small touch up bottles of paint. If you bring in the VIN number they should have a touch up bottle of paint that matches your color. The main thing is that the chips or scratches need to be free of oils and waxes. with a little finessing you can usually get it smoothed out. I was able to fix my pickup with the touch up paint and other then taking to to the body shop for spot repair this was the cheaper option.

Dean.

[Shockwav86]

Juliom2...I have never wetsanded before and I`m not sure I wanna try on my show car. Makes me nervous. All the videos make it "look" so easy. What do you mean by "get your color done"...thank you for the help

Nth Degree...You are reading my mind. This is exactly what has been plagueing my mind for weeks now. It is a show car which is what is making me crazy. I have been trying to find a car of the same color that was in a rear end accident and see if I can get a bumper. So if you can keep an eye out, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your input.

Reddwarf....Thank you for your empathy.

cmichael258....I have no idea. I highly doubt it was a shopping car since I almost never bring it to any parking lots for this exact reason. Yes Dr. Colorchip was wayyyy off. Darker and more magenta. I should have taken a picture before I took it off. Looked horrible. I am gonna try to get a refund.

BobbyG...Thanks. I might try the mopar touch up paint next. Its hard covering the dark black spots and making it match the main color without a primer inbetween.

Dean....Before I tried my half@$$ed repair i did clean the entire area with a mineral spirit type cleaner. What was your step by step? Thanks.

update....like my luck can get any worse. My landlords cat must have been enojoying the nice smooth paint on my car when it was startled and put a nice scratch right in my driver`s side hood to fender decal...ugh, I can`t win.

[Todd@RUPES]

Take the bumper off (if it`s one piece) and have a different body shop spray it. Most body shops have no problem getting orange peel. Also, your body guy should be able to adjust certain parameters (amount of spray, reducer, and flow) to get orange peel no problem.

[Shockwav86]

Interesting Todd...thanks for the heads up. I`ll have to get a second opinion.

[juliom2]

I meant for "get your color done"
to go to a paint shop that will mix to match a small amount of the red you need.
When you go there you can also ask for advice.
Maybe someone else in your area could get done the blend job you need.

[Rocket]

I have a friend that does paint touch up for a living and he has touched up spots like that and made them less noticeable or unnoticeable unless you get your face close to the panel. I`m not sure if there are any people in your area that do this but it would be worth looking into and talking to them.

[skibik]

Looking at the picture you have polished out the scuff and it looks like you are left with what appears to be similar to rock chips. I am by no means an expert here I have only done a little bit of body work and paint and enough to get me by. Okay those little bottles of touch up paint you buy at the dealer should have a small brush attached to the cap like nail polish. Be sure bottle is mixed well and just touch enough in the chips to fill it. If the area is worse than what I can tell you would be better off taking it to a body shop and have a spot repair done. As per what Todd said body shops should be able to orange peel the paint easy. I had a body shop course years ago in high school and that is one of the things you are taught not to do while painting. You may want to check with your insurance company as they may cover the cost beyond your deductible but you would have had to bring it to the adjuster before the polishing. Just my 2 cents.

Dean.

[Reflectiveauto]

sorry to hear about that...please post the results when its touched up

[Shockwav86]

I`m gonna have to get a second opinion. I thought you could just change the gun settings too. I guess some people just don`t want to be bothered. Anyone know a reputable and trustworthy body shop on Long Island, NY? Preferably Suffolk/ nassau borders.