Got backed into in a parking garage

[Sidekicknichola]

My brother way house / dog sitting for my wife and I last week and he took one of our cars to a theater .... while there someone must have backed into the car and popped a nice hole in the bumper with their trailer hitch.
... no cameras in the garage either.


Anyways, can a little hole like this be fixed with like plastic welding or am I better off just getting a new bumper cover?

The damage (the black around it isn't scrapes - just that dirty)

 

[Tweak155]

Are you sure your brother didn't do it accidentally?

Either way it looks pretty minor with how zoomed in the picture is. I'd only get it fixed if it bothers you. What year is the vehicle?

If you have comprehensive you can get it fixed that way.

 

[Sidekicknichola]

Are you sure your brother didn't do it accidentally?

- Nahh, if he would have, I'm sure he would have come clean on it.

Either way it looks pretty minor with how zoomed in the picture is. I'd only get it fixed if it bothers you. What year is the vehicle?

Its a 2006 IS350, my wife's daily driver... doesn't really bother her / me, but if we ever go to sell it, it will need to be fixed. The only a "new" bumper is on I figure the closer the paint fade will match

If you have comprehensive you can get it fixed that way.

I do have comprehensive insurance, but a $500 deductible, I can get a prepainted bumper from Sewell Lexus for $550, not worth filing a claim.

... I just seen "plastic welding" repair places, wasn't sure how the quality was with something like that.

 

[Tweak155]

- Nahh, if he would have, I'm sure he would have come clean on it.



Its a 2006 IS350, my wife's daily driver... doesn't really bother her / me, but if we ever go to sell it, it will need to be fixed. The only a "new" bumper is on I figure the closer the paint fade will match


I do have comprehensive insurance, but a $500 deductible, I can get a prepainted bumper from Sewell Lexus for $550, not worth filing a claim.

... I just seen "plastic welding" repair places, wasn't sure how the quality was with something like that.

It's been a while but doesn't comprehensive mean you don't pay the deductible when the car is parked? That's what I received through my company when my wife's car was parked.

Perhaps comprehensive is the wrong option I'm trying to think of.

 

[Sidekicknichola]

Perhaps... I understood it to be the same as, let's say a deer hit my car. I still had to pay the deductible despite not being my fault.

 

[Tweak155]

Perhaps... I understood it to be the same as, let's say a deer hit my car. I still had to pay the deductible despite not being my fault.

This had specifically to do with the car not being in operation. You may want to call your agent and find out.

 

[XavierMace]

I had to pay the deductible when my car was hit in a parking lot.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Usually the insurance will classify this sort of damage as a hit and run. With no information to go on, there is usually a deductible that will apply, though it is often smaller than the "normal" deductible. I had something similar happen and while I carry a $1,000 deductible on my policy, the deductible for a hit and run was only $300.

As for the OP, that will probably not require a whole new bumper, but it will require sanding and repainting of the existing bumper. Probably about $600 to have a good shop do that.

ZV

 

[ino uno soweno]

I suggest,



If you look a little harder to find the right place and the right guy, that could be welded and painted properly around a $80-$100 max.

 

[Zenmervolt]

If you look a little harder to find the right place and the right guy, that could be welded and painted properly around a $80-$100 max.

Get rid of the word "properly" and I agree with you.

The only "proper" way to fix that is to remove the bumper cover, sand the area, and re-paint the entire bumper cover. Otherwise you're dealing with blending the paint which will be noticeable on close inspection even if the best paint guy in the world does the job.

ZV

 

[ino uno soweno]

Get rid of the word "properly" and I agree with you.

The only "proper" way to fix that is to remove the bumper cover, sand the area, and re-paint the entire bumper cover. Otherwise you're dealing with blending the paint which will be noticeable on close inspection even if the best paint guy in the world does the job.


Ha ha ha, I totally agree with you, we need to get rid of that word, properly.
But as always, with all respect to you, I suggest the determining factor here “is the op happy”, is he getting what he is asking for above, “can a little hole like this be fixed with like plastic welding”?


With all respect to the op,


Unlike us ( you and me )who have a good eye for this sort of thing, and a lot of others do not care or even can see faded paint, or maybe actually do not have the money at hand to even think about getting it restored,


So, we have 2 possible scenarios, yours and mine; please consider which is more applicable to the op,


Your scenario is a good option but results in a very beautifully painted white front bar, Around $600 sitting directly under faded oxidized head light covers, black arrow, blue arrows show the bar is oxidized, dirty, with no shine at all, we cannot see the rest of the car so we do not know how much of the rest of the car paint is faded, neither op or wife does not care if it is fixed, because the car is a work horse, and that is ok, most people have work horses. but they now have a outstanding bright white front bar, a real attention getter, more stress, everyone sees a bright painted panel,
To detail ( machine buff and hand polish) the rest of the car paint so that the front bar does not stand out looking perfectly bright and machine buffed and causing and attracting attention, would probably cost another,$350= now totalling around $950.


In my scenario, I did mean to just only paint blend the end small damaged area on the bumper, just the small patch around the ripped plastic and gouges,
By “properly” I meant the op should make sure the $150 restorer does weld and fill to the original thickness plastic, and brace for strength, so that no other gap or crack filler is required, just light sanding, than prime with the “correct “ and proper plastic “primer “, and correct factory colour coded paint, costing $80=$100.maybe $150, guaranteed not to lift or peel 10 years,

You might agree that my suggestion is more applicable to the op, costing much less money and after flicking a little dirt over the restored area is basically invisible to the untrained eye, and no one even notices the small area has been restored, especially the wife,

And $50 dollars for a good car wash, $50 to buff headlights, and the car is safer and almost ready for sale,


My line of thought is any small dent restorations like these, should only cost around $150, welding and painting in the correct manner, and correct materials, I am also adamant that I will not go through insurance because I believe any and every claim I make will increase my premium in the end,, and I would rather pay $150 then pay any Deductible,


All respects to you members who own special cars who can afford the deductible, and demand top workmanship, and paint work, if you can afford it, good luck with that, I would if I could,

 

[Zenmervolt]

So, we have 2 possible scenarios, yours and mine; please consider which is more applicable to the op,

When my 1998 Volvo was involved with a hit and run that scuffed the fender and bumper and cracked the tail-lamp, I took the car in and had the bumper fully painted, the tail-light replaced with a new unit, and the fender sanded and touched up. This is for a car that has over 160,000 miles on it and is simply a daily grocery-getter. It lives outside, un-covered, and is not regularly washed or waxed.

I fixed it because if you want something to last, you take care of it. I have never believed in the school of thought that says a person should just let things slowly fall apart. It's the same reason I pulled apart the entire dash to repair a couple of failed plastic clips instead of simply living with the rattle.

If the OP is interested in truly taking care of his machinery and intends to keep it for the long haul, I still think that doing it properly is the better option. The thing about "good enough" is that it just isn't.

I am also adamant that I will not go through insurance because I believe any and every claim I make will increase my premium in the end

Well that's just plain wrong. You can believe it all you like, but it's patently false. I've filed a few claims with my insurance company for incidents where I was not at fault and my rates have never increased because of that. In fact, after the most recent incident (Dec. 2012) my rates went down.

ZV

 

[ino uno soweno]

Quote, “If the OP is interested in truly taking care of his machinery and intends to keep it for the long haul, I still think that doing it properly is the better option.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
In a perfect world, we all agree with you, but, the op asked for.
Quote, Anyways, can a little hole like this be fixed with like plastic welding or am I better off just getting a new bumper cover?
And I am not his mother; I am just trying to help him with his specific question.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Quote, . The thing about "good enough" is that it just isn't”.
In a perfect world that is True, but again it only depends on what the op or anyone else wants and if he is willing or capable of paying for everything.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Quote, my rates went down.
Shut mate, we don’t even speak English around here, hahaha, but I can assure you, around here rates do not go down for most us, unless you up-grade more and more and pay more and more, so the numbers on the paper go down and look good, but the total is more, if you know what I mean,,
We have too many “ real Muscle Car horror “ stories about some insurance companies refusing to pay, because they can see from your paper work, the policy holder has not got the money to take an insurance company to court, for years and years,
Another Example, guy goes for a drink, when later getting drinks for everyone, someone else stole his jacket, keys, and beautiful $80,000 late model black Audi.
The insurance company refuse to pay citing they do not insure jackets or contents of jackets, the owner is at fault for losing the keys and take us (IC) to court, true story,
However, I am very happy to hear yours does go down. You must be a lucky kind of guy,
Hope you have a nice day.

 

[Sidekicknichola]

OP Here

I was not at fault and my rates have never increased because of that. In fact, after the most recent incident (Dec. 2012) my rates went down.

Not going to even risk this.... because lord knows they won't. I have never ever heard of rates dropping from having an accident... unless somehow the "state farm" claims adjuster plowed into my park car and to keep me as a customer they drop the rate instead of me sticking them with a lawsuit.

If the OP is interested in truly taking care of his machinery and intends to keep it for the long haul, I still think that doing it properly is the better option. The thing about "good enough" is that it just isn't.

Doing it right and doing it smart is the big different here. It just seems hard to justify the $1200 quoted prices I was give for a "doing it right" repair for a purely cosmetic part that will most likely get smacked again. A $500 pre-painted bumper from Lexus is just as good IMO if not better. Paint blending is an art, and I would hate to roll the dice for $1200 that they can even do it properly.

... honestly what I'll probably do is wait for a Sewell sale through clublexus.com (I'm a member there) and a few times a year they offer 10-25% off sales and scoop up the bumper (pre-painted). I've taken the bumper off this car before, we'll at least on our other car (IS250) and its pretty straight forward. As mentioned before with the headlights, I do have another set because that side is quite fogged up due to a Turkey hitting the headlight months back and cracking the housing on the back side ... water got in and has made it fairly fogged. I was waiting til spring to replace them (I have the 2012 LED model headlights waiting).


Either way I won't replace anything until the snow melts at the earliest... if ever, I may just keep it in the garage until a possible sale date, then replace it. The car is often street parked downtown Minneapolis, so odds are its going to see more bangs and bruises before it is sold/laid to rest.