Jay H
Senior HTF Member
After running over a neighbor's scooter, I put a fairly deep scratch in my rear bumper on my MR2 Spyder, in a place that is hardly noticeable as it is on mostly the underside of the bumper. I had an estimate yesterday at a Toyota bodyshop who quotes me $680 (mostly labor@ 45/hour) when I just found out a new bumper (unpainted) is only $208. I wonder how much paint + clear coat would cost but I have to wait til the bodyshop is open before I call. Seems silly to fix something when a brand new one can be had for less or the same price. The MR2 uses bolt-on panels and I can replace the bumper myself because of that. It's also why bodykits are fairly easy to get and install although they're not cheap.
The reason the quote is so high is that the guy says they will repaint the whole bumper. I really think that in this case, it might not make sense because it is fairly hidden and not really too obvious, except to me. I am wondering if any of you have any experience in bodywork and DEEP scratches. Something I think I would try to sand down with a Dremel tool and then use touch-up paint and clear coat. Like I said, it's in an area where I feel I can do a good enough job not to be too noticeable if I'm less than perfect. Worst case scenario is I buy a new bumper anyway and install it myself. I have a picture of the scratch but I have to get it online soon. Any recommendations on what to use, like the right dremel tool bit and techniques?
Jay
The reason the quote is so high is that the guy says they will repaint the whole bumper. I really think that in this case, it might not make sense because it is fairly hidden and not really too obvious, except to me. I am wondering if any of you have any experience in bodywork and DEEP scratches. Something I think I would try to sand down with a Dremel tool and then use touch-up paint and clear coat. Like I said, it's in an area where I feel I can do a good enough job not to be too noticeable if I'm less than perfect. Worst case scenario is I buy a new bumper anyway and install it myself. I have a picture of the scratch but I have to get it online soon. Any recommendations on what to use, like the right dremel tool bit and techniques?
Jay
but it turns out to be a small outfit doing minor body work and stuff. This guy will just do the area and then try to match the metallic paint as best he could. But only for $100. I'm more inclined to just do it myself if I can't get some recourse from Toyota if something goes wrong. I had some idiot in a dealership mess up a water pump installation in my BMW that I didn't find out til miles later and fortunately I was able to contact BMW NA who wrote me a check to cover the repair of the shoddy repair. Since then I'm reluctant to deal with non-dealership places. I think I'm gonna just do it myself. I'm afraid because of the metallic paint, if he's gonna do an area much wider than the three scratches and can't get a good match, I'll be SOL. However, if I just touch up those scratches myself with some patience and care, I think I can do a great job and I wont be doing an area larger than the scratches themselves. So I will be checking out primer and clear coat. 
