captain mercury

howdy y'all

i did some searching, didnt get what i wanted, call me an ******* if you like.

i was involved in a little fender bender (not my fault: some silly woman did a uturn right into me on a yield left turn green light) a couple weeks ago, with minor damage to my front bumper (drivers side) and front air dam. i was considering upgrading to MS bumper *before* the accident, so now i have some questions. my insurance wants to repair my old bumper, with cost estimates around $1300 including labor. my questions:

1.) wouldnt it be cheaper to replace the front bumper instead of repairing?
2.) how good/bad does MS front bumper look with the OEM side skirts? any pics?
3.) is there any good way to convince my insurance to go with a new bumper rather than repair?

thanks for any help or advice. im sick, like, physically...and medicated, sorry if this seems silly. actually, im not so sure i care if anyone does think this is silly. thanks

reidswitch

Talk to the dealer that you are getting the work from what you want. The insurance check comes strait to them I dont see why their would be a problem with the change. The price is around the same and its not like your pocketing all the money...

DarkBrew

The replacement nose cap is fairly cheap (in the $300 range)
The MS nose is a lot more but you can negotiate to take the money and buy what ever nose you want and pay the difference.

You can search in the exterior appearance section for pictures https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-exterior-appearance-body-kits-27/

captain mercury

thanks for the reply. so *how* the car is repaired is really up to the shop? and if id rather spring for a new bumper, they wont care? and they will bill my insurance accordingly?

im actually not going to a dealership. i havent been completely satisfied with body work i had done there a couple months ago (which im going to go in and complain about after this is over), so i thought id take my insurance company's recommendation on repair shop. im taking my car in tomorrow morning ugh.

captain mercury

thanks. the accident is still under 'investigation' so no liability has been assigned. i dont think the other drivers' insurance will be involved with payment for a little while, myabe that causes complications?

CarAndDriver

That estimate is more than enough to pay for a new stock bumper, IMO. You could pay the difference for the MS front. Did you get a 2nd estimate anywhere?

Haze

I've had the bumper cover on my rear bumper dealt with twice. Oh the joys of living around Philadelphia!

Anyway, the first time, they replaced the cover and the second time they repaired the cover.

The thing is that the price is the same to either buy a new one or recondition it, according to my body shop guy who is a good friend. The reason that we made the choice to recondition instead of replace was time. The dealership was talking about a minimum wait of six weeks to get a bumper cover. The recondition time was a four day turn around.

It could be something like that, and the thing is that once it is painted and installed, you will never notice the difference.

New Yorker

When I had my VW GTI, I got a gouge in the rear bumper. I insisted the body shop replace the bumper, but the guy assured me he could fix it so that I'd never know anything had happened. And you know what? He was right.

YT1300

Most reputable dealerships or body shops are reasonable in regards to deciding whether to replace or repair a given piece. With plastic bumpers and the like, it has to do with the depth of the actual damage to the piece. If you repair something that is way too deep, for example, the repair won't be as strong, and you will notice the repair, so it would be safer and easier to replace the part.

captain mercury

i suppose i should trust the judgement of the professionals. the only problem i have is that i was planning to replace my bumper *before* that jackass hit me.

Haze

If you want to upgrade to another style of cover, then can't you have the insurance company give you the check go out and buy one?