Hercules

My friend was following me and instead of waiting for me to turn at the intersection, was looking at traffic. When it was clear, he went... I didn't go yet though.

I have a nice dent near the liscence plate in the plastic.

Question is this... can plastic be repaired, or does it have to be replaced? My friend is paying for it and I don't want to make him pay a lot of money but in the end, he did hit my car and he does have to fix it. It's not even a bad hit, very minor, but let me know either way.

I just need to know whether I'll need a new bumper, or whether it can be repaired.

Thanks!

RX-Late

Plastic bumpers can be repaired with filler and resprayed. You don't need a new bumper - that would be seriously expensive! Take it down the "shop" as you say and get quote.

Sorry to hear about your car by the way.

desmo996

Sorry to hear that. I almost rear-ended an rx8 with LP "ENDLES" with my X5 in Orlando. Wouldn't that be incredibly ironic? She decided to go right at a light and suddenly decided to stop for no apparent reason. She was yapping on her cell phone. An alert navigator saved my butt.

cruzdreamer

in my Mazda Protege5 after 6 months.......it had two indentations from the bolts on the license plate holder....they filled it and sprayed the whole bumper.....looks like new. Cost was about $300(in Illinois) Hope this helps.

r0tor

iTrader: (1)

damn that sucks

I'd have it checked out to see if any of the supports behind the bumper were bent. Sometimes with the plastic bumpers things are a lot more serious then what it looks like.

mikeb

that sucks but yes It can be repaired

I once hit my friends show car and I paided NO questions asked

funnyface

If the plastic has more than minor cosmetic damage it should be replaced. Most plastic bumper repair methods do not hold up long term. Any filler or heavy primer application will crack over time with exposure to weather extremes or any flexing. I own a collision repair business and we repair very few bumper covers.

8_wannabe

I think the answer is... You need new friends! :D lol, sorry and bum deal about the damage.

CelticFan

A small "tap" can be very expensive. You shouldn't use filler on a bumper unless it's a very small amount. It won't flex with the bumper and if you ever twist the bumper it could fall off. Also when the car set's in the sun and gets hot and the plastic expands the putty will not and this could also cause problems if they use too much of it. Look at the body lines around your tail light and deck lid compared to your bumper and see if they are the same all the way around. Sometimes just a small hit can bend your reinforcement and push your rear body panel in. What looks like nothing can big a big deal when it's all over with.

cruzdreamer

Well, my damage on my bumper that was fixed so far has lasted a year and a few months and it looks great....they must have done a good job,huh!?

CelticFan

I'm not saying it can't be repaired. I've made bumpers out of filler before because that's what the insurance company wanted and they never came back in after all these years on the road. I'm just saying that if it was my 2004 RX-8 or even my 1990 Miata I would put a bumper on it. Even if it's reparable your friend will have to pay a lot of cash to get this done. Paint alone cost lots of $.

khoney

That's a true bummer, man. Hope you were able to restrain yourself. I would be concerned about using filler on a bumper.

Bumper = designed to flex
Filler = not designed to flex

Flex bumper = pop filler


Or so it would logically seem to me.

rael

Define your understanding of the phrase 'My friend'.

rael

RX-Late

Well not always ...

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PLAS~FIX works quickly and efficiently. With PLAS~FIX you will obtain a result which will match the quality, strength and flexibility of the original material. A PLAS~FIX repair is shock resistant and will withstand all weather and temperature conditions"

Check out ...
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