Okay sooo finally i'm forced to paint my rear bumper. a little back story... a normal day-- took the crossfire out to work, came home, and parked it in my garage. i thought i parked a little too close in the front so i disengaged the gear and let it roll a bit back in neutral until it fully stopped. thought nothing of it and got out, shut my garage door, and had a wonderful dinner. next morning, i came into the garage from the house entryway and hit the garage button to go up. it got stuck. i, then, noticed my car is all the way in the back and it was caught in the garage door. i lower it and inspect the damage. well, there definitely is a dent and scratch from impact and from the door opening, another vertical scratch going upwards. my luck. didnt cry about it because i went on a whole rant that i needed to paint my rear fascia because of the other scratches it has. You may or may not remember but the reference is here : https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...er-cracks.html

My plan of attack is to remove the fascia and either (1) fix, prep, and paint myself or (2) fix, prep and send it off to maaco to paint it. for option (1) im still not a pro at painting, i did my wheels and small projects but that's about it. im still not confident in my clear coat skills. that being said, option (2) i'm good at prep work and laying primer/paint. last year i was quoted by Maaco for both the front and rear bumpers at $360 and it had to off the car. since i have the rear bumper off now, and half of that price should be the cost to paint then i'm looking at $180. primer, base, and clear may run me over $100 at my local paint shop and plus my time. what do you guys think would replicate good results?


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For those trying to remove their rear fascia, follow the basic layout in the service manual but keep in mind there are a few more screws to get to that are holding it in place. in order to reveal these nuts, you have to remove the taillights and the interior trunk carpet. Once those are out and the holding clips, it only needs a gentle tug and you can shuffle it out. I didnt take that much photos but i documented it well on paper. so if anyone needs further clarification, let me know

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Other damages on the bumper

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As far as repair, sanding is mandatory on all scratches but for the dent, would body filler be sufficient enough for a plastic piece?

i will post my prep work and progress. i'm hoping/motivated to get this complete within the next 2 weeks.

 

Now that you have it off, take it to your body shop and let them do all the work. If they paint it and something doesn't work out later, they will just blame the prep. If they repair and prep, then they have no excuses to make it right.

 

What Jim said.

But, if you must DIY, there is a special filler for these plastic panels.

 

That makes sense. i just called 3 body repair/collision shops. 2 local ones are charging me $400 + to repair/prep/paint/finish with a next day pickup (at that point, i can buy a solid one on ebay for $360). maaco is charging me $150-$200 for the same job with a down time of 2 days. i know they arent that reputable but it must be better than what i would achieve (and i have low standards) lol any thoughts?

 

That depends: how long are you going to keep the car???

 

Make sure you are gauging your 'repaint' of the rear facia cost from the price it will cost now. You (I think) said you priced the front and rear before, but prices do go up. Also, a 'two-fer' (front and rear facia) usually costs less than a 'one-fer'.


The 'total' job vs the 'coating only' job makes sense. A warranty will make it a much better solution partially protecting you from a conflict with a prep vs paint problem.






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hopefully a while! i dont want any other car at the moment...maybe besides a pickup lol

when i bring it in, ill ask about a warranty.


thanks everyone, im going to try to bring it in this week (latest the weekend) pending when the rain stops and post results.

 

So i dropped off my bumper yesterday morning at Maaco and received a call today at around 4pm that it was ready. They gave me a time frame that it was going to be done friday. I actually wanted it to be in their possession longer so i know they took their time lol anyways, got it back and it's not bad. It turned out better than i expected from all the reviews i've been hearing. The pictures were taken right when i got it back home and it still had dust on it. i was anxious to get it back on since i don't think i'll have time after work for the next week. i'll take a better shot once the sun's out and i let it sit for a while so i can polish it.

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Pros: the major dent and scratch is gone. spider crack gone. there is a 5 year warranty. price. quick turnaround. minor orange peel.
Cons: Some orange peel lol. some scratches were not sanded down but painted over.

for $180 flat, i can't complain really. If i did it myself, it wouldve came out to almost the same cost for supplies and, of course, my time. I don't even trust myself fully in painting yet so i risked it with Maaco.

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some people wanted to know how to remove it so instead of writing a novel and embedding many pictures, i've made a video (still better than the service manual :P)
Just a warning, it's not the most in depth video but i think i touched upon all the screws that need to be taken out in order for the bumper to be removed.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fgKKBxNv6r4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

a tip because (i can't stress it enough) gently tug it once all screws are out, no need to force anything.

let me know if there are any questions, i may be able to help