mole177 said:
kjfik;efja;ufan!
some punk ass kid scratched my bumper. can't believe this... i parked all alone in 1 space in the middle.
i shoudl of known something looked out of the norm.
its a deep scratch on the bumper... im hoping the person rammed into my tow hitched and decided to get revenge. god i hope that happedn...
anyone have any idea how much a new rear bumper would cost for a 2006 ?
its gotten scratched in the valley a month ago when there were strong winds and it might be time to replace the whole thing.
i pray the person who scratched my bumper has uncontrollable diarhhea for months on end.
i feel for ya. my 1 1/2mo old t4r's got the deep scratch on the rear bumper too. i made it look worse by trying to re-paint it myself and did it hastly.
if you decide to fix it urself, i have a few advice to you based on my experience.
1. do not try to rush the repair. it's so easy to make it look worse after the repair
2. do not attempt to buy touch-up paint at the local autoshop. the chances are likely that they won't have the perfect color for ya. try online, such as this:
http://www.paintscratch.com/
3. do not use spray paint. i originally went for spray paint and made it look much much worse because 1. you can't apply to the specific scratched area, 2. if you apply to the bumper, the paint will drip down and leave mark.
4. instead, use paint bottle and brush. spend a few dollars (at walmart) and buy a nice nylon brush.
5. again, be patient. apply a coat, let it dry for a day, use 800-grade sandpaper and/or compount to polish, and do it again for at least 3 times.
6. be careful when sanding the scratched area. i started sanding and i ended up sanding unnecessarily large area, thus making the spot bigger than necessary. if i were to start all over again, i'd use a pencil (or something that can be easily removed later) and circle the area before i start sanding and paint.
i also went to the several autobody shops and asked them about repainting the bumper. they quoted from $350 to $550. All agreed that they cannot just spot-paint the scratched area; they will have to remove the bumper and repaint the whole thing.
of course the money was the factor when deciding to repair it myself but also was the consideration that since '06 is still so new, they didn't have the correct manual in their computer to remove/install the bumper for my t4r. i'm sure it's probably not that difficult and they'd manage anywayz but it sure made me uncomfortable about leaving my new truck for repair.
hope this helps!
