Hey Guys!
I have a couple scrapes on the front of my S2000 (2002, Silver). One's near the bottom on the passenger side, but then the larger scrape is near the top on the driver side. The more I've been looking at it, and possibly taking pictures to ask you guys what you think it would cost to get it repaired, I noticed there's just dozens of small rock chips on it. Nothing over the top, just you're average wear and tear on a 50,000+ mile vehicle.

So my question is, could I just get the entire front nose/bumper painted? I don't have a lip, or aftermarket headlights/intake that would complicate anything. Plus, there's a GREAT autobody shop in town that does some really incredible work. The two things I'm wondering is, How much would it cost? and Will it look bad afterwards? I assume a good bodyshop should be able to make the repaint unnoticeable, right? After all, I'm sure they have to match paint on lots of vehicles that rear end other vehicles!

 

Get it re-painted man. It will look so much better, and the shop should be able to match the paint no problem. When I got my ap2 front and rear bumpers painted last month they were slightly to dark at first, but they just re-did them and tinted the paint a bit and now it matches perfect to my Suzuka Blue Metallic. You would never know it was actually re-painted.

Cost varies from where you live, and shop to shop. Around where I live for a quality job it's average $300 for one bumper. They also shaved my licence plate holes (instead of getting bumper plugs) and it looks so much cleaner like that.

 

Hey Suzuka-Blue-S2K, Thanks for the response! I'm glad you encouraged me to get it re-painted. I think that's what I'm going to do! Just out of curiosity, when they painted it the first time and it didn't match up, did they charge you for fixing it the second time?

We have a great bodyshop in our town! They do incredible work, and are always booked months ahead. So while I assume their prices may be a little higher compared to the others, if I can walk out of there with the front painted for under $500 - I'll be thrilled! I think it will drastically improve the look of the car having the paint chips fixed!

 

with Max on having it re-painted. Only thing I would be cautious about is if the body shop tells you they have to blend the adjacent body panels (i.e. hood, fenders). I recently had a CF hood painted and, because there are so many variations of Silverstone, the fenders were blended to match. What I didn't think about at the time was, if in the future I ever decide to put my stock hood back on, it's not gonna match. Hindsight tells me I probably should have just taken the hood (not the entire car) along with a smaller factory-painted piece for color-matching purposes to a different body shop. You see, I bought a used spoiler a couple years ago, took it along with one of my stock side mirror housings (had APR side mirrors on the car at the time) to a nearby body shop and they matched the color darn near perfectly. I'm not saying that blending is wrong as I'm no expert, just to proceed cautiously. Shop around and get different shops' opinions until you're confident about the work being done. If it doesn't come out perfect the first time, you shouldn't have to pay to have it redone.

BTW, might consider having some clear bra/film applied over the new paint to avoid future rock chips. Just be sure to let the paint cure long enough before having it done. The curing timeframe varies... just go with whatever the body shop says (or a little bit longer) if that's what you decide to do.

 

Thanks, JulieU!
I've definitely decided on just getting the entire front nose repainted - As I'll be able to repair the rock chips, the scrape that I have on it, and everything else - all at once.

Thanks for your advice, I'll watch out for that! If you don't mind me asking, how much was it to have the hood painted, and blended with the fenders? It's getting warmer - So it's almost time get to get the car out! I'm thinking not this next week, but the week after that I'll take it to the body shop and see what they recommend, and how much the quote is!

Until then, All other advice is appreciated!

 

Glad you decided to get it done! Also if you don't have to have a front license plate just have them fill those holes. They will only charge maybe $50 more to fill them and sand it down.

When they re-sprayed mine because it was to dark the first time, they did not charge me any extra. Most shops will re-do them for you if you arent happy with the color match, and they didn't even ask me (they had my car and could easily tell it was to dark compared to the rest of the car) so they just did it for no charge since it should match. So yeah I would just give them your whole car so they can see the color comparison against the car, and if its off they should re-do them for you and try to get the match better.

 

I paid $375. I might also mention that the CF hood had some pre-existing damage and I also had them shave the washer nozzle holes. IIRC, they actually re-painted it three or four times because (1) the damaged area kept re-cracking and (2) they weren't happy with the way it came out (it "fish-eyed" or something ). Oh, they also painted the bottom side of the hood and the mesh that goes in vents black.

The main reason I don't really like to take the whole car is because of all the horror stories I hear about overspray. The shop did a decent job of covering almost the entire car when they painted the hood and fenders, but still managed to get a little bit of overspray on the little black part of the rear bumper. They got it off fairly easily, so turned out to be no big deal, but it was just a hassle having to take it there again.

I was a little disappointed because this particular shop is highly recommended by just about everyone I know so I was expecting perfection. Needless to say, it's not perfect, but overall, I'm satisfied with it for now. Lesson here is that you get what you pay for and don't expect it to be perfect.

 

@Suzuka-Blue-S2K = Yes! This thread has been exciting because I was anticipating the cost to be higher! Even if it is, I'm glad to know I have enough saved up to cover the cost! (I'm a broke college student, so funds are hard to come by these days! Haha) Does filling the front license plate holes look that much better? I had never thought about having this done, but since I never plan on using a front license plate - I might as well! I also have high hopes in the bodyshop I plan on taking it to. They have a great reputation in town, and do incredible work, so I'm hoping they won't disappoint!

@JulieU = Thanks for telling me! I also have some damage on my bumper where the previous owner hit his stone gate. It's not dented/effecting the metal, but it will need some extra attention. I also have one particularly bad paint ship on the driver side fender. This irritates me because all the other damage (The scrape from the previous owner and rock chips) are all on the front nose. So I may have to have at least one of the fenders repainted to. Maybe they will end up blending the paint like yours, or maybe they will just paint the fender/nose? From hearing your experience with paint blending, I'm a little afraid if that's what they say they're going to need to do! But if I get just the nose repainted - I'll be happy! But maybe it's better to get both fixed at once...Who knows, I guess we'll find out soon when I'm able to get the quote!

 

Yes it actually made a really noticable difference for the better. It doesnt look bad with the plugs but I loved it after they shaved those holes though. It's a small detail but it does stand out and makes the front end look a lot cleaner.

 

Hey Suzuka-Blue-S2K, do you have a link to any pictures of your S2000? I'd be curious to take a look!