Spot paint repair advice request

[Scuba6]

Help! Some of y'all have serious knowledge about car painting and I need some advice. Specifically, I'll lay out a few repair options I have and would like your advice as to which makes the most sense based on your knowledge of painting.

As I mentioned in another thread, I scuffed up the paint on the rear fender flare / bumper last week. Although it's fairly minor, I'd still like to get it fixed in order to get the truck back to 100%. Thankfully there is no body damage, but the paint is scratched all the way to the black plastic. Here's the first pic, then I'll talk through the options I think I have.

The scuff is only in the area shown in outlined in red. Any other marks you see are just a dirty truck. The color code will be discussed more below.

I've gotten a few quotes on repair options as follows:

1) Small body shop recommended by the dealer. This guy contracts with the dealership to do all their minor work. He quoted me $125-150 to sand the spot and repaint all the area in blue.

2) Large body shop near by quoted $150 to do a spot repair and will only paint the area in red. The advantage here might be that the seams of the new paint would be camouflaged by the lines of the rise in the fender flare.

3) The dealership and another large body shop both wanted to drop the bumper and repaint the whole thing at a cost from $500-800. This option is out of the question due to extreme cost.

4) Just suck it up and ignore the damage. Also not a preferred option - as the darn truck is just too new to let sit damaged.

My main question to you all is in regards to the ease of blending old vs. new paints and clear coats. Would you recommend painting the whole side as in option 1 because of how the seams will fall? Or would painting the smallest amount of truck (in option 2) be best - again because of how any seams would fall. The cost difference between options 1 and 2 is not a consideration - just the long term quality of the work.

The big dealerships claimed that spot repair would look good now but would flake over time. I appreciate your advice and help in this decision.

 

[KevinG]

If you you want it done right because you are going to keep it for the long haul and don't do much off road, therefore probably reducing the chances of another mishap then you wont really like my answer The good news is as I stated in the post about mud flaps, you can save yourself quite a bit of $ by doing the prep work on your own...did they mention blending the 1/4 panel in the quote of $500-800? Too bad you don't live around here lol

 

[KevinG]

Oh and to answer your other question, if they only blend the clear along the body lines of the bumper, it might look fine at first but will without a doubt end up peeling...

 

[Scuba6]

Oh and to answer your other question, if they only blend the clear along the body lines of the bumper, it might look fine at first but will without a doubt end up peeling...

You're correct that I don't plan to do much off-roading and will keep the truck for many years.

By blending it with the body lines, you're saying that you'd recommend the option of painting the whole side - not the option of just painting the small square, correct?

I think I may have to go with this option for now - $800 to drop the bumper etc is just a little much! What's your guess as to how long this type spot job would look decent before it starts peeling?

Thanks for the advice - even if you are full of bad news! I wish I did live closer! :cheers: :redbrick:

 

[1engineer]

I was a bodyman for 4 years before going to college for engineering. This is just so you know my opinion is based on real experience. If this were my 4Runner, this is what I would do:

Have the small body shop drop the rear bumper, repair and color blend the small area and clear to the edge.
By dropping the rear bumper they can prep the seam correctly so there will be no peeling later. This will cost more than the buck twenty five but nowhere near 8 bills. This will give you best of both worlds.

 

[KevinG]

You're correct that I don't plan to do much off-roading and will keep the truck for many years.

By blending it with the body lines, you're saying that you'd recommend the option of painting the whole side - not the option of just painting the small square, correct?

I think I may have to go with this option for now - $800 to drop the bumper etc is just a little much! What's your guess as to how long this type spot job would look decent before it starts peeling?

Thanks for the advice - even if you are full of bad news! I wish I did live closer! :cheers: :redbrick:

It's a tough call. If they can blend the base coat, you are better off with them back taping off of the body line as it is less noticeable when melting the clear in. Also tough to say how long it will last. If they do a decent job, it will last at least 2-3 years. I rarely did this type of repair, as we painted EVERYTHING off of the vehicle so there were no tape lines, potential of peeling, or any other issues. I went to work for Dupont/Standox paint lines, as a technical rep after working in the shop so I have seen it all. The good news for you is that it is not a high impact area or a horizontal panel so the elements will have less of an impact. So I second what 1engineer said...

 

[KevinG]

BTW $800 is high even if they did R&I the bumper and painted the entire thing. If you could remove the cover and bring it to them, ask what the charge would be to repair the damage, prep the cover, base coat the repair area and clear the entire thing. Off the top of my head, I would estimate $350-400 and they could do it if you dropped off in the morning, and picked up the next day. That is assuming they have a heated spray booth that helps to cure the paint.

 

[Scuba6]

BTW $800 is high even if they did R&I the bumper and painted the entire thing. If you could remove the cover and bring it to them, ask what the charge would be to repair the damage, prep the cover, base coat the repair area and clear the entire thing. Off the top of my head, I would estimate $350-400 and they could do it if you dropped off in the morning, and picked up the next day. That is assuming they have a heated spray booth that helps to cure the paint.

Thanks again - I think I need to go back to a couple of these places and ask more detailed questions now that I have a better concept of what all is involved and what short-cuts / cost savers I need to try to avoid. I should have consulted y'all before I went out for estimates today!

Key take-aways from both of you:
1) bumper needs to come off to avoid lines in the clear coat
2) it's OK to blend the paint (just paint the damaged area), but don't try to blend the clear coat - I really need to re-clear coat the whole bumper to do it right.

Who knew a cardboard box could cost me so much??

 

[mojo34]

IMO, the first option is your best bet. It is pretty much impossible to paint just the area just highlighted in red...it's just too small of a space. If you have a spot repair done by a decent painter using good products, it will last without peeling.
I also do body work for a living and I've been doing it for 13 years now. I'm an ASE re-certified master body and paint tech, and I-CAR platinum individual too.