Hi. Newly registered lurker, here.

Car isn't even a year old. Sigh. Put a scratch in the right side of my bumper, just behind the wheel well.

I don't know if it is worse that I was so STUPID or that now I have to worry if my paint is going to match when I get it fixed.

Asked mobworks and they said it would cost ~$150. Everyone else is saying ~$375. The difference frightens me.

Anyway, I am getting all kinds of quotes and trying to learn auto body best practices. Seems like there are a lot of ways to "fix" something, and I am not sure which is going to restore my car to the lovely perfection that she was.

I have learned that some places want to fix the scratch, spot color it, then spot clear it. I have pretty much determined this is not a good practice. I have also learned that almost everyone else spot colors the fix, then clears the whole bumper afterwards. Only one guy said he would color the whole bumper (though it is otherwise perfect) and then clear the whole bumper. This guy freaked me out because he said he might be able to accomplish this without removing the bumper (...WHAT????). I am still looking around and learning things. I do NOT want to shell out $400 for a 1.5 in. scratch and be able to SEE IT afterward. It has got to be just right, and the color has GOT to match. I just can't figure out a way to guarantee this. Almost makes me want to not fix it at all and just wait until I do something truly horrible to the thing that DEMANDS a repair. Might get more for my money that way.

Any thoughts you have are welcome. I am mostly just venting, but also wanting advice from paint experts about technique, if there are any here. I also hope to make a thread that informs other sad people about how to best fix their lovely ride.

 

how bad is the scratch?? did it cut into the paint? if it's just on the top of the paint, just get some scratch-X and it'll take care of it.

 

Ummm, you could just ignore it. Costs nuthin'.

 

Unfortunately it is into the plastic and requires some very minor repairs (for anyone who does not yet know, your rear bumper is black plastic underneath!). The scratch is about 1.5 inches long.

As far as I understand so far, there is no paintless method to take care of it. Would have to be some kind of miracle.

 

Honestly, I'd just go this route. IMO a little scratch isn't worth worrying over and it isn't worth shelling out a few hundred bucks to fix. The car will probably accumulate some minor scratches over its life (mine sure has) but that's just something that happens...

That having been said, I don't think any shop that is being completely truthful can *guarantee* a perfectly-matched color. Best bet could be to repaint the damaged panel and then blend the surrounding areas so it's not noticeable.

 

Get some Touch Up Paint for $3.00 or the Chip-Mender brand Touch Up Paint Pen for $6.95

the pen is good cos it also gives you the clear coat tip on the other side.

those color should be very close to your 04 SS if not perfect.

if you dont trust yourself, get a professional to touch up with those for you

http://www.handa-accessories.com/s2000-04.html

 

is paint+labour cheaper in canada or what? I got qoutes to paint an 04+ OEM front lip and a BYS spoiler, both from silverstone to GPW for $200-$300CND, thats like $160-$240USD

I paid $300CND.

sold my hardtop to MrAlex, he paid $400CND to change color from silverstone to GPW as well. perfect match.

 

I would recommend going to a luxury car dealer and asking them where they get body work done on cars they are going to sell/re-sell. They can usually recommend a high quality place. FWIW, removing the bumper is the CORRECT way to do the repair. It sounds like that guy who wants to repaint the whole thing is doing it right. They'll probably need to remove the gas tank door to do the color match correctly, so they can put it under the lights and compare side by side. I had damage done to my rear bumper (not my S2k ;-)) almost exactly as you describe and a bumper-off repaint is how they fixed it. Looks perfect.