so I scraped my front bumper against a pillar while parking ....

[IcyPeas]

I now have a pretty bad scrape. So far I've gotten 2 estimates: one for $800 and another for $400. Do any of you have any experience with this kind of body work? I'm so embarrassed that I even did this in the first place. What do you think is a reasonable price (I think 800 is a rip off) Does 400 sound reasonable? I can't believe it costs that much to fix this. :cry:

[bigwillq]

1. Don't know about cost

But I scraped my back bumper of my former car in a parking garage, and my neighbor just did the same thing to hers (in a parking garage).


You're not alone! :hug: Good luck.


I then hit (and killed) a deer with former car and the car had to be totaled. Never took the car in for an estimate for the back bumper scrape, so I don't know about cost.

[pa28]

2. Unfortunately I did the same thing twice with my old car.

It was a one piece plastic bumper that blended into the body of the car. I sanded down the scraped area, washed it and let it dry.

I found matching touch-up paint from an auto parts store and sprayed the damaged area (they had a book to cross reference matching colors) and it was a good as new.

One possibility if you don't drive a leased Mercedes :shrug:

[MicaelS]

3. Between $400 and $800 sounds about right, because....

What you really (probably) scraped was not the actual bumper, but the "bumper cover". The bumper cover is a single large piece of plastic that cover the lower front (or rear) of the car. So what the repair entails is removing the old one, and painting and replacing the new one. Brackets might be needed also.

What you're looking at is price-wise:

Cost of bumper cover and possible brackets
Shop cost (hourly rate) of removing and replacing cover
Paint shop cost (hourly rate + paint cost) of painting new cover

Google "Front bumper cover" add your car make model and year to get an idea of the cost of just the cover.

[IcyPeas]

7. I'm afraid...

it may be a little more than the bumper (yes it's plastic) a bit of the actual "car" is scraped too - perhaps that's what would drive the cost up near 800. I will do a search for my bumper. thanks.

[applegrove]

4. Call around and ask for the name of reputable body shops. My local garage once

gave me the name of the body shop they used. It was nearbvy. It was $80 to fix a bumper. So much cheaper than anywhere else you could go.

[hedgehog]

5. There's always

[struggle4progress]

6. Maybe you could go back and scrape the other one so it looks symmetrical and deliberate?

[IcyPeas]

10. hmmmm. perhaps...

if I don't be careful when parking I just may do this unintentionally. lol

[ohiosmith]

8. I see that you are in L.A. Check this out.

http://www.amazingbumper.com/

[IcyPeas]

9. love it - and it's a mobile service? wow . thank you . . . eom