Bumper damage

Somebody is messing with the car's in my apartment building's covered lot. I talked to a sweet old lady who drives a Subaru Outback wagon, and she said somebody had keyed her car twice and scraped her rear bumper with something. She has two small 6-inch key marks on her hatchback door, and a

6-inch by 6-inch minor scraping of her rear bumper.

The kind of damage she has on her bumper exactly matches mine, only I have 2 of 'em. It's only surface damage, not dents, but I told her some fool must be messing with the cars in our lot.

I don't even keep my car parked in the covered lot anymore.

So anyway, the bumper marks are not excessive, but eventually I think I will replace my bumper. I went online to RockAuto just to get an idea of how much it would cost to order a bumper. Price was nice: $33.79 for Parts Link number TO1100204 (OEM number 5215933912).

Standard is $40.79 or $79.79 for CAPA-certified.

The only problem is shipping is $107 !

Here's the link for the '06 rear bumper at RockAuto:

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Clicking "More Info" will show a picture. RockAuto.com really has some great pricing.

Do you think the $34 or $40 ones would be good quality, or should I stick to $79 CAPA-certified?

Reply to
Built_Well
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I would find out if you have any insurance coverage for the damage first. Renters insurance or the owners of the building may have coverage for this kind of damage. I would also notify the police. They take a dim view of intentional damage.

As for replacement. WHY? If it is just scratches I would just sand them out or fill them with bumper repair material, sand and respray the original. Less work than removing the old one, then sanding and painting the new one to match and installing it. Plus you would still have the factory part. All for less money than replacement.

Reply to
Steve W.

There are paint kits sold just for this

Reply to
ransley

The new bumper needs to be painted so just paint yours.

Reply to
Art

I'd think if the bumper cover is black plastic which has color throughout, then it could be buffed out. I had an encounter with my garage and had body shop do this and it looks like new.

OTOH, I am in a situation with my wifes car whereas bumper is painted plastic and no deep gashes but over spray paint from road line painter. In this case it may need to be repainted.

Reply to
Frank

First of all, you are looking at bumper covers, not bumpers. As several people have pointed out, replacement bumper covers come unpainted, so rather than replace the good factory bumper cover with a cheap aftermarket one that will probably warp over time, you would be better off just having your current cover touched up or repainted. A competent body shop can scan your paint and come up with an excellent color match for paint that has the proper flex additives.

Reply to
Ray O

there was a lawyer on the radio the other day. he was talking about dings made by the people in the car parked next to you in a parking lot when they open their door and ding your car. he said damage is damage regardless of how minor. So if you see them dinging your car, they must provide you with their insurance information. I suppose if they don't, then you should call the police. I guess your problem is that you don't know who did it so likely you will have to pick up the repair tab yourself. I see a lot of covered parking areas are secure, so hoodlums cannot come in and damage the vehicles. Maybe you should try renting at an apartment that has secure parking.

Reply to
boxing

I know that if you get in a wreck here in a private lot, cops don't really give a crap.

Reply to
Reasoned Insanity
:

Aside from the good technical advice that other people have mentioned: if this problem is as plural and as consistently themed as you seem to imply, perhaps the victimized tenants need to get together and have a talk with the landlord about either an intramural feud being carried to the level of borderline police trouble, or the security problem.

I'm sure there's fine print in the lease agreement for him to hide behind from the standpoint of actually covering the damages, but hearing that multiple people are having the same problem in his parking lot (especially if they have police reports or insurance claims to back it up) might inspire some kind of action. And it gets your side on the record should things escalate beyond petty pissiness or small scale impulsive vandalism.

As for insurance (whether tenant's or auto, if they have "collision and comp" rather than just liability) that's an individual call for each car owner. It would be silly to go through all that trouble to net a buck fifty after the deductible... or get your rates raised, or even your policy cancelled, if the company is looking for an excuse to do that anyway. A quick call to your agent, making it clear that you are looking for strategic advice rather than starting a claim, might prove instructive. Unless you're really proud of the car and want it to look perfect, some things are just better handled on a DIY, cash basis.

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

Consumer Reports, in the Feb. 1999 issue, reported about OEM and aftermarket body parts and found that aftermarket bumpers (none CAPA certified -- CAPA didn't certify bumpers back then) performed much worse, and, after a series of 3- and 5-MPH tests, allowed well over $1,000 worth of damage to occur, and one bumper's internal reinforcement beam broke into three pieces. In contrast, OEM bumpers allowed only cosmetic damage to the bumpers. I've read that much newer, CAPA-approved bumpers are also deficient. Consumer Reports also tested OEM and CAPA-approved fenders and found that the OEM ones corroded much less and fit better. All the CAPA fenders were malformed.

Reply to
larry moe 'n curly

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