Bumper refinishing costs

[Hijack]

Hello all,

While, overall, my car is in really good condition, it has gotten its fair share of rock chips and indentations all over the front bumper over its 23k miles. I wanted to get the bumper looking like new again and decided to get quotes on refinishing it.

I've gotten two quotes around $1300 to have it done. This includes stripping it down, completely sanding it back to smooth and refinishing it. These quotes are from the arguably two best shops in my area, so I'd expect them to be a little high, but I was figuring more like $800. Does this $1300 sound within reason to anyone who's had this done before?

Thanks much for any insight!

[phillipj]

I know that my friend paid $600 just to have his new bumper painted. I think that was a deal too.

I would say you should be able to get it done for less than $1000. $1300 is a bit steep. And depending on the color of your car color match can be a PITA. Make sure whoever does the work will guarantee the color match. Metallics can be especially difficult.

And get the 3M clear bra after the paint is dry. It is a bit pricey but will prevent you from having to paint it again :rolleyes:

Good luck!

Edited July 13, 2011 by phillipj

[Hijack]

The car is black, so color matching should be relatively easy. As for the clear bra, I had thought about that, but a buddy of mine had a 3M bra installed on his black 350Z and I really didn't like the look. It wasn't really clear. Always looked like his hood and bumper were sort of hazy. However, I've always been told that a repaint is always more prone to chipping than a factory finish, so it might be necessary after all.

Anyhow, thanks for the input. I appreaciate it! I'll toss up some before and after photos. This is also going to be a opportunity for me to install those aftermarket grills I bought. Need to take the bumper off for them anyhow.

[phillipj]

The car is black, so color matching should be relatively easy. As for the clear bra, I had thought about that, but a buddy of mine had a 3M bra installed on his black 350Z and I really didn't like the look. It wasn't really clear. Always looked like his hood and bumper were sort of hazy. However, I've always been told that a repaint is always more prone to chipping than a factory finish, so it might be necessary after all.

Anyhow, thanks for the input. I appreaciate it! I'll toss up some before and after photos. This is also going to be a opportunity for me to install those aftermarket grills I bought. Need to take the bumper off for them anyhow.

I have the 3M bra on my black 07 Turbo. The whole bumper and the fenders and hood. It was done at the factory. The haze is really only noticable on the hood. I don't like the way it looks but it sure has saved my paint. You might want to think about doing just the bumper to protect that new paint. The bra is not noticable on the bumper..

Good luck and looking forward to pictures!

Phillip

Edited July 13, 2011 by phillipj

[biopsea]

for what its worth, i was quoted $1,000 USD to respray front bumper. seemed a bit steep to me, and as a result, im still staring at the 4 license plate holes.

[phillipj]

for what its worth, i was quoted $1,000 USD to respray front bumper. seemed a bit steep to me, and as a result, im still staring at the 4 license plate holes.

I have a the same problem. I would love to get my holes plugged but that mean a re spray and a re application of the 3m bra. I'm not going to p*** away money like that. I"ve got a cool "Flying Lizard racing" plate for the front. Definitely an HP gain..:rolleyes:

[BOOSTTT]

That still sounds steep. I'm about to repaint my black front bumper for 750. They say they follow factory specs...Factory paint, number of coats as factory (per VIN#) and same clear-coat that the car would have had from Porsche, so they say? Sounds too good to be true, but this shop is gigantic and is always 100% packed with nice cars. Had them replace a rear trailer arm on my crappy Z3 I used to own. Good rep too.

[Hijack]

Well, I got it back. What a dissapointment! First, they left it pretty orange-peeled. Then, they mounted it wrong. They put the right side of the bumper UNDER the ledge it is supposed to rest on and the right side correctly on top. I could slide my hand under the right light! Then, as I knew would happen, they couldn't get the aftermarket grills on to my satisfaction. The fit of those things isn't very good I know, but I, a layman, can put them on with a good degree of accuracy, I would expect they could!

Sorry, had to vent! Anyhow, took it back and had them buff out the orange peel and remount it correctly. I'll deal with the grills myself. Anyhow, it definitely looks good now. Showroom new! I'm doing a Stage 2 swirld removal polish, stage 1 finish polish, seal and wax to get ready for the Vintage Grand Prix here in Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday (obviously for show only). I'll post pics as soon as I'm done.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Hijack

[Hijack]

Here's the final results. After having the shop fix their errors, it turned out pretty nice!

Before (sorry I didn't get any of the bumper while it was still on the car):

And here's the after:

Edited July 25, 2011 by Hijack

[phillipj]

Looks awesome. Nice job..:clapping:

Don't feel bad. My friend had his painted 3 times before he was happy. Glad you finally got it sorted..

Edited July 25, 2011 by phillipj