General advice for bumper & dash trim repair

[gilmor111]

Hi, as you can see from the images,

I have a crack in the rear bumper, (ok, due to the fact I reveresed into the parked car directly behind me, but as i'm always last to leave work, the car park is always empty, and in the dark, a colleague had decided to park their car right behind mine....in an open, empty car park!!!!! ) On auto-pilot, i reversed as normal...and presto...


the parking sensors are intact, and I had a quote from the dealer for the replacement.....over £550 P&L.!!!! I'm quite adept at diy, have the elearn manual, and R&R seems quite straightforward, so, although i'm getting quotes for painted replacements (253 inc vat & delivery)....good?, i'd first like to have a go at a cosmetic repair (what's to lose?)...except the cost of repair materials if it all goes belly up.

quite happy to try a) flat solder or b) router/epoxy route, but its the paint job out front that bothers me....its obviously a plastic coating, so after the sanding sequence, how can i get a good match, and what with...

any advice will be greatly appreciated. Also to say I have used and benefited from the forum many times as a guest, so thanks for that.

I also have a pic if my dash..a passenger was carrying a portable tv on their lap...and it scratched the dash...again, i'm looking for replacement....ebay seems to have decent salvage, and pretty much red black or grey would look cool as i have the red interior...(not too fussed about the int/ext match)

however, if its possible to spray bumper may be worth giving a go...

again, advice appreciated,

thanks

Gill

 

[Mikey1985]

I have a crack in the rear bumper, (ok, due to the fact I reveresed into the parked car directly behind me, but as i'm always last to leave work, the car park is always empty, and in the dark, a colleague had decided to park their car right behind mine....in an open, empty car park!!!!! ) On auto-pilot, i reversed as normal...and presto...

I know it's no help but you should never assume anything when reversing in a car, always look, you could hit a person rather than just a car. no excuses for that. hope you get the car fixed ok.

 

[gilmor111]

I know it's no help but you should never assume anything when reversing in a car, always look, you could hit a person rather than just a car. no excuses for that. hope you get the car fixed ok.

yeah, good point well made. Still, where the had parked (hard to describe, as its a small narrow area, and he'd parked diagonally behind, not head on....) was just a really salt in the wound thing....

I have to fix it now as i keep leaning on it putting stuff in the boot, and making it bigger. Was in Hal£ords this afternoon and saw Davids Isopon Bumper filler, and i thought that, having reinforced the underside with a mesh solder might be the way to go, but its the respray that makes me nervous....and what with?

thanks for the encouragement....hope it gets fixed soon too....

 

[walkersky]

if the bumper is cracked it will need plastic welding and then thin skim of filler

 

[gilmor111]

whilst the crack repair would be a fun challenge, its the cosmetic finish that worries me, so I gt a quote from autoscratch for a smart repair, for £120. Will post the before and afters, in case it helps anyone in same future boat.

going to question the paint guy during repair..... fascinating stuff....

 

[mjsmke]

A van scrapped my front bumper on my last car. It had a smaller crack. A local repair garage repaired and resprayed it for £120 in one day. It looked like new after.

 

[poggy]

Had a similar bumper repair done on a Alfa. It had a big crack like yours and I thought it would never look good or last long, but it did. The paint match was invisible too and that was on a red car.

Apparently black is one of the hardest to match, but they should be able to do it.

 

[gilmor111]

Apparently black is one of the hardest to match, but they should be able to do it.

I heard it was silver after I had a lease car for work for months and had smart repairs done for cosmetics, before handing it back to the company. To be honest, the bumper was great,. but the door work was not 'invisible'...

that guy told me black was the easiest...which was why i got a black car!



In the end, i've taken it to a good repair guy...recommended by a mechanic I trust.

btw, arnold clark quoted me a staggering £556.76 for a new replacement bumper in 09

labour 147
parts 201.37
paint 135.77
VAT (09) 72.62

Anyway, the garage has quoted me 120 plus vat for a proper repair....It goes in tomorrow....will post an after pic.

 

[gilmor111]

A van scrapped my front bumper on my last car. It had a smaller crack. A local repair garage repaired and resprayed it for £120 in one day. It looked like new after.

sound like the going rate, relieved both you and poggy have good things to say about matching....

he was very honest, and said that the crack would be the weakest point, such that a similar incident would break along that fault, but he says it will be sturdy and look as new.....

yay!

 

[babbo_umbro]

Not trying to make fun of your problem, but what were the parking sensors doing?

 

[gilmor111]

Not trying to make fun of your problem, but what were the parking sensors doing?

good point, suppose it was a combination of always having the space to myself (last to leave building, dark, and that it was just out of range on a diagonal, i was on autopilot, and I did a swing/curved reverse from stationary and voila!

as i say, the crack was originally small, but since 09, I have knee'd it whilst putting things in the boot....

the person had come back and parked overnight....usually a no-no....

but at the end of the day, my fault, of course. Out on public roads, I have to say, I am very vigilant, but its a salient lesson and i just hope others get a reminder from my lesson...at least then its money well spent!

 

[gilmor111]

more arnold clarkisms...

the scratch in dash trim, just had a quote.....


~£155 part
~£200 paint + labour
+ 20% Vat

have you seen the size of the passenger dash trim.....!!!!

 

[306maxi]

more arnold clarkisms...

the scratch in dash trim, just had a quote.....


~£155 part
~£200 paint + labour
+ 20% Vat

have you seen the size of the passenger dash trim.....!!!!

Just buy one off Ebay.

 

[gilmor111]

Just buy one off Ebay.

been looking for days and written to a million breakers yards....only 2 on ebay, one pale blue the other yellow!!!

the garage is going to look at a repair....it's bumper material after all

 

[306maxi]

been looking for days and written to a million breakers yards....only 2 on ebay, one pale blue the other yellow!!!

the garage is going to look at a repair....it's bumper material after all

Well perhaps you should wait till a black one is available?

 

[gilmor111]

Great job, like new.

But, (there's always one!)

The dash scratch repair was awesome, they treated it pretty much as a plastic mend in situ and is smooth and glossy as was. however, its a mess at the buttons, you can tell where the job ends and its not polished properly. In essence, they should have removed this, and so I'm going back Monday am.

What I'd like to do is remove the dash trim, take it to them, and collect and replace myself. I just want the blooming thing finished uniformly.

Need some advice how to go about the removal.

I understand I need to

disconnect the negative battery terminal
remove the blank buttons
push in prong tools to release the radio and wc units
Unscrew the dash trim

Have I missed a crucial step (please try not to say 'aptitude transplant')

Also, can I leave the car like this for two days, not connected at the negative terminal, whilst the now famous dash trim is being fixed? Or does this affect codes, settings etc.

Please help.....I really want to learn......

 

[amen]

JB weld resin for all sorts of plastic pvc abs etc... Its sold in the states im sure its sold in the UK. Take your bumper of and apply it where the crack is, wipe of any excess right away. It will definetly bond your bumper, and you wont need to repaint (hopefully) Its cheap! I would try this before spending money on anything else

 

[gilmor111]

JB weld resin for all sorts of plastic pvc abs etc... Its sold in the states im sure its sold in the UK. Take your bumper of and apply it where the crack is, wipe of any excess right away. It will definetly bond your bumper, and you wont need to repaint (hopefully) Its cheap! I would try this before spending money on anything else

thanks Amen, i'll keep it in mind for next time, good to know.

J-B WELD - Metal Repair: Amazon.co.uk: Kitchen & Home

I chickened out in case I bodged, took to coachworks and they've made a good job...umm apart from the dash above....(will post pics later to compare).


I still really need to know the dash trim removal sequence mentioned above....I know they'll make a good job if they have the isolated dash trim piece

please help kind, mechanically adept people...

 

[grimwau]

gilmor, sorry I can't offer any more advice to what you have already fathomed out but sometimes a picture is worth a few words.



Hopefully it will help you to ID where the fixings are located.

Good luck.

 

[gilmor111]

gilmor, sorry I can't offer any more advice to what you have already fathomed out but sometimes a picture is worth a few words.



Hopefully it will help you to ID where the fixings are located.

Good luck.

Thanks tony, my adventures continue...

went for car, turned up was turned away, altho i was two hours later than advised (car in garage for 4 days), as far as i could see they were working on it still....

i came back 30 mins later, its in forecourt, covered in dust, inside and out. The guy is polishing the dusty car paintwork without rinsing dust off first. I couldn't believe this but amazingly kept my mouth shut as I really didn't want to tell this 25 year old good rep business how to do their job. I walk around the car, he's not walking round with me, when i say filthy inside i mean bag of flour explosion filthy....the main part of dash looked amazing...'fixed' i thought...I looked at the bumper and the passenger door all gone....great....a lot of money for cosmetic repair but great...

the i got home and washed it clean....


the dash is awful, the repair looks good but unfinished, the bumper looks great, until you open the boot, and a scuff tomy sill has left a similar tape line on the passenger side where the car meets the interior, up from the sill. I feel had! (worst still I feel i've walked into it!!!) I'm gutted that he dissuaded me from smart repairs as they were 'quick fixes with quick fix approaches...'

I have to go back to the garage tomorrow morning, and I will see what he says...he doesn't know i'm coming as i went back Saturday after collection and they'd shut up early. I tired to call but they don't have an answer machine.

I know I should have inspected fully but with dust everywhere in interior, and the boot closed, it looked fine.

Please help with any advice....even if its not what I want to hear, it may benefit me now and others later.


no black or red dash trims on ebay (only 500c)...else i would ask for my money back for the dash repair....

can't help missing my Dad, this is the kind of thing where he would have marched down with me....(but let me talk for myself...)