Damage to car bumper

The message from "Mark Hewitt" contains these words:

To me it looks more like a crack from an impact. Though that could be the photo.

It is possible it might have been hit from behind while parked at work, however there is no damage lower down which you might expect. Would explain the dent just above it tho.

In any case it doesn't matter now I just need to get it sorted.

Seconded.

PS. Just phoned the dealer and they have said that if the bumper is cracked it will need to be replaced at a cost of approx £300 !! There's no way I can afford that, especially since the same thing could just happen again tomorrow.

Insurance?

If not, why not just use the car as it is until you can afford a repair?

When I started buying new cars I used to get really upset when they got their first car park scratch or dent. Sadly, that's life! It's one of the reasons why I would never consider buying new again.

The combination of our over-crowded roads and our relatively uncaring society means that it is virtually impossible to keep a car in pristine condition whilst continuing to use it every day.

Chris

I'm quite happy to use the car as it is. The look of it doesn't bother me in the slightest. What I am concerned about is water getting into the gap and causing rust and ending up costing me much more in the long run!

I doubt that there's much underneath to go rusty, but if you're not worried about the appearance, squeeze some silicone sealant in the crack and blow it over with an aerosol can after it sets. OTOH there are Co's that specialise in repairing plastic bumpers etc. Mike.

Wait for one in the correct colour to turn up at a breakers - should only be =A350-=A3100

Keep an eye on scrapyards for one the right colour, the bumper doesn't keep any water out anyway.

Utter rubbish. There's a place 12 miles away from me that welds plastic bumpers for a damned sight less than £300.

Try a few different bodyshops - preferably some independents.

I haven't looked at the image, but is it a plastic type bumped?

In years gone by, I've had cracks in a bumper (not just tiny ones, either) "welded" by a bodyshop, and the bumper sprayed. It cost me around £100 for all of that, and I couldn't tell it had been done, afterwards.

Absolutely - the larger bodyshops probably don't have the same interest - they just make money off the new parts, painting them and fitting them, to worry about such repairs.

Smaller bodyshops tend to consider this sort of work, because if the jobs too expensive, people going to a smaller bodyshop most likely won't bother (as by going to a smaller bodyshop, they are probably not claiming on insurance).

Mark Hewitt

So,"there's no chance of me fixing this myself" has to be revised. Roll up your sleeves!

Use a hot blower to get all the moisture out, then apply a sticky tape of the appropriate colour to cover the scratch mark. Wait till summer (high temperature and low humidity) to do the repair.

Meanwhile look out for a spare bumper from breaker's yards (It doesn't matter if you are out of luck; you are to repair the all the damages with Glass Reinforced Plastic in any case). Get hold of: (1) Haynes service manual on your car; and (2) "The Car Bodywork Repair Manual" by Linsay Porter. (Haynes Publishing: ISBN 0 85429 864 9) -- a truly excellent treatise. Both may also be found at your local library, or borrowed from its associated branches.

Good luck. Oh...don't spend your time wheeling as ax and looking for this scoundrel; it's bad for your nerves.

I had a Focus bumper fixed after hitting a faun (in Coventry city centre no less, wtf was it doing there). The damage was more extensive than that, and for £45 I got it plastic welded, sanded and sprayed. It's visible but only if you know where exactly to look.

Mark Hewitt ( snipped-for-privacy@markhewittDotCoDotUk.spammers.will.die) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Nah, looks more like a passing two-year-old on an electric toy car scraped it...

Talk to some local second-hand-car-dealers - there's people who do plastic welding and bumper repairs to exactly this kind of damage every day.

Mark Hewitt ( snipped-for-privacy@markhewittDotCoDotUk.spammers.will.die) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Oh, c'mon! You'll almost certainly find that the panel ABOVE that gap gets utterly filthy now from road muck being sprayed up...

( snipped-for-privacy@derby.ac.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

IIRC it's a current-shape Fester. Any bumper in a scrappy'll be on a car that's been written off, so almost certainly useless.

Maybe. Depends on how it was written off.

The message from "Mark Hewitt" contains these words:

Then you'd better buy an old Land Rover next time - or live with the split.