Bumper was sideswiped in parking lot. Paint pen or shop?

S

Signess

New member
It is inevitable. I purposely park half a mile from a store's entrance and without fail a car chooses to park next to me. Well this time a car that had parked and left before I returned rubbed my front bumper and fender. No dents and thankfully no metal was touched, but the paint is gone and there is a .5" wide sliver of black plastic about 10" in length.

I took it to two body shops for quotes and both were over $900!!! I was told to do it properly they have to remove the bumper and all trim, sand, and repaint the entire bumper. I respectfully declined.

I am not looking for perfection, but what would you guys/gals do? Toyota paint pen and just do my best? Or find another shop? I know over the years the bumper will collect all sorts of rock chips and dents, rubs, etc., so I am leaning towards just covering it up as best I can.
 
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Signess said:
It is inevitable. I purposely park half a mile from a store's entrance and without fail a car chooses to park next to me. Well this time a car that had parked and left before I returned rubbed my front bumper and fender. No dents and thankfully no metal was touched, but the paint is gone and there is a .5" wide sliver of black plastic about 10" in length.

I took it to two body shops for quotes and both were over $900!!! I was told to do it properly they have to remove the bumper and all trim, sand, and repaint the entire bumper. I respectfully declined.

I am not looking for perfection, but what would you guys/gals do? Toyota paint pen and just do my best? Or find another shop? I know over the years the bumper will collect all sorts of rock chips and dents, rubs, etc., so I am leaning towards just covering it up as best I can.
Click to expand...
I would try self-repair first. You can always pay for the job later if you don’t like what you did.
 
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Signess said:
It is inevitable. I purposely park half a mile from a store's entrance and without fail a car chooses to park next to me. Well this time a car that had parked and left before I returned rubbed my front bumper and fender. No dents and thankfully no metal was touched, but the paint is gone and there is a .5" wide sliver of black plastic about 10" in length.

I took it to two body shops for quotes and both were over $900!!! I was told to do it properly they have to remove the bumper and all trim, sand, and repaint the entire bumper. I respectfully declined.

I am not looking for perfection, but what would you guys/gals do? Toyota paint pen and just do my best? Or find another shop? I know over the years the bumper will collect all sorts of rock chips and dents, rubs, etc., so I am leaning towards just covering it up as best I can.
Click to expand...


I would use it as an excuse to get a full steel bumper...
 
Need a pic, but from the description, i would either just touch up myself, or ignore it.

To fork over that much for the same thing to happen again at any time, and it seems sort of a small cosmetic issue, seems sort of a waste (unless you are rich, lol).
 
Signess said:
It is inevitable. I purposely park half a mile from a store's entrance and without fail a car chooses to park next to me. Well this time a car that had parked and left before I returned rubbed my front bumper and fender. No dents and thankfully no metal was touched, but the paint is gone and there is a .5" wide sliver of black plastic about 10" in length.

I took it to two body shops for quotes and both were over $900!!! I was told to do it properly they have to remove the bumper and all trim, sand, and repaint the entire bumper. I respectfully declined.

I am not looking for perfection, but what would you guys/gals do? Toyota paint pen and just do my best? Or find another shop? I know over the years the bumper will collect all sorts of rock chips and dents, rubs, etc., so I am leaning towards just covering it up as best I can.
Click to expand...
What is your insurance deductible? If it’s less than your bids, that could be the best compromise.
 
File a report with the police as a hit & run incident. If it happened a while back, sometimes, the police will still give you a report. And then see what they can come up with. If there is no video around the area or any witnesses, you will be SOL. Sometimes, they can get a vehicle's tag and therefore get you the suspect vehicle's insurance information where you can file a claim with them.

If not, take the report to your insurance and see what they can do for you.
That's if you want to go that route.
 
I would say don't file a police report...then it shows up on your carfax--so it will cost you later during trade-in or when you sell it...Everyone wants a clean carfax which is BS. Only what is reported goes on there, much more major stuff can happen and never show up. I know from experience!
 
I'd say just do some more offroading. That scratch will then just blend in with the rest of the pin stripes. :laugh:

Seriously though, I would never pay to have that fixed. I'd be out there with the white touch up paint and call it a day. Mine is a magnet for dings in parking lots, gave up on trying to avoid a long time ago. I like the steel bumper idea mentioned above though!
 
I wouldn’t go through insurance or file a police report for that.

I had a small dent repaired from a parking lot surprise when I was in my early 20’s and proud of my new corolla :) I went through insurance on the premise “that’s what it’s for, right?”

Well, later on it showed up on my insurance as a collision. I should have never got insurance involved for a ding in a parking lot that I could have paid for out of pocket. I was a dumb kid, lesson learned— shit happens.

Sorry about your circumstance though. I also park far away from the lazy people all the time.
 
If the plastic bumper is gouged, it will cost more which is probably the case. $900 is about right and I'm guessing they would just trash the bumper and order a new one or aftermarket and just paint it. Touch up may make it look worse depending on how you do it. If you do use touch up paint, get a smaller brush than what comes in the bottle and don't get the paint outside the scratch. Junk yard may also have a bumper in good condition. I don't think the rear bumper is too difficult to take off.

For any other material that is on the paint like rubber or paint, use lacquer thinner to get it off.

Other than that, a pic would help.
 
Good grief, $900, that's highway robbery.

OK I can't see the pic, can you please repost ?

I too have plastic bumper scratchy damage, self-inflicted however.

Got me thinking maybe I can take it to TJ. But not sure how worth the trouble it is to even bother.

OK post those pics ! ! !

:usa2:
 
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