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Can we talk about how a $180 bumper repaint beat a $600 junkyard swap on my Corolla?
Ngl I learned this by accident when I clipped a concrete pole at a Kroger lot in Columbus back in April and put a fist sized dent in the rear bumper of my 2013 Corolla. I got two quotes. One shop wanted $600 to pull a matching bumper off a donor car and swap it, saying repainting mine would never match. The other guy, an older dude at a little shop off Cleveland Ave, said he would sand, fill, and repaint just the damaged section for $180 and blend it into the rest of the bumper. Tbh I almost went with the swap because it sounded more permanent. But then I thought about it, mine was the original bumper, straight and rust free, and the donor one had 90k more miles of sun fade on it. The repaint guy nailed it. You cannot tell where the dent was, even in direct sun at a gas station. That made me realize the real question is not new part vs old part, it is how much of the car you actually need to replace to fix the small broken spot. Has anyone else gone the repair route over the replacement and been happy they did?
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margaret_kelly5513d ago
Kept my original bumper too when I scraped a parking garage pillar in my Camry and the body shop wanted to swap it for one off a wreck. Paid about $200 for sand and paint on the scuffed corner and it came out looking factory. The paint guy told me the trick is blending into the panel so your eye can't find the edge. Three winters of road salt later and it still matches, no peeling or fading. You made the right call keeping your own part.
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