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'03 Camry Bumper Repair

Oh, for the golden days of the standard toyota indestructible black rubber bumper. Alas, they are gone, replaced by the big plastic monster....

My son, learning to drive my 5-speed 03, tried to park too close to my rock garden wall. Wall is fine, Bumper is scratched, not MUCH damage, just scrapes that reveal the black color beneath the beige of the car.

Three different body shops all told me the same thing. The ONLY repair is remove the entire bumper, heat it, paint it and put it back on the car. At a cost ranging from $340 to $400.

Seems to me that there might be a cheaper, easier way that I could do myself. I was toying with putting bondo and the scratches and then using the left-over paint I got from a previous repair when a teenage driver tried to share one lane with me.

Any thoughts?

Reply to
timbirr
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3M makes some stuff, I can't remember what it is. A good Body Supply shop can help you there. It's a flexible epoxy just for repairing bumpers. You blend the components, smooth it on, let it harden then snad, prime and paint. Just make sure you use a flexible primer made for flexible plastic pieces, or the paint will crack.

Or, you could just try filling the striations with Duplicolor. Not as nice a repair, but adequate.

Reply to
hachiroku

Unless there's a cheap alternative, as hachiroku suggested, I wouldn't worry about it. You have to expect some battle scars.

Reply to
Hopkins

Personally I think the matching paint bumpers lead to fewer accidents compared to those black bumpers of years back. Makes the car much more visible from the back and the rear. I have no evidence to support my conclusion but if you know anything about how magicians design illusions you will have an idea of what I am talking about.

Reply to
Art

Get a Kerry bumper sticker!

Reply to
Wolfgang

I have an '04 Tundra that I scratched the front bumper in a public parking garage. I found this site, with info and products that look promising :

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NOTE: I HAVEN'T TRIED IT YET, SO I CAN'T VOUCH FOR THIS COMPANY OR THEIR MATERIALS !!

I'm kinda thinking I'll live with the "battle scars" because I park in this same garage every day ! If you DO try it, let us know if it works !

HTH

Dean...

snipped-for-privacy@mailcity.com wrote:

Reply to
D Larsen

I have tried Paintscratch.com with excellent results to do the same kind of repair the OP is referring to. Color match after the clearcoat was applied was dead on. They are a bit pricey but the product was excellent. Read all the website info and FAQs so you order the right products if that is the direction you choose. FWIW YMMV DFB

Reply to
MisterSkippy

Mr Skippy,

Thanks for the feedback ! It seemed to me that this web site was reputable, and they certainly have loads of info on this type of repair, as you noted. It's good to hear someone has used their products with good results...

Dean...

MisterSkippy wrote:

Reply to
D Larsen

Actually, I had to have body work done on the car just before the bumper damage was done. The body shop gave me the left over paint. So, I have perfectly matching paint.

The problem on the bumper is that :

1) It's plastic

2) The marks are deep, and while I suppose I could paint over them, it would be better to fill them first and I'm not sure how to proceed to fill them.

Other than that, I have plenty of paint already.

Reply to
timbirr

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