so my girl was coming to see me yesterday and got into a small accident.
she backed in to this guy's front bumper molding, leaving small scratches and her car was fine.
when the police came he refused to file any reports and said it's no big deal.
next thing you know, he calls my girl saying the scratch is deeper than he thought it was, and wants repair money.
i went to check it out, it was BARLEY NOTICABLE.
still, it was her fault so i said i'll fix it for him.

i know it's not the best pictures but you can see the little white scratches in the middle part of the molding. he admitted the other scratches on the under and upper part of the bumper was there before this happened.

he got a estimate from a bodyshop and asked for 150.
the estimate report said they had to repair a dent that's not there, and re-spray the molding.
i'm not fallin for schemes.

it seems i can wetsand and buff it off
i don't think the scratches are deep enough to repaint the whole thing
what do yall think?
please help

 

that will probably buff out pretty good

 

would you please point me to the right direction.
can i just clean with soap water,
and buff with any pad?
TIA

 

If you don't have the ability/experience in doing this, I would recommend NOT using someone else's car as your guinea pig.

 

i would never do no harm to somebody else's precious ride.
found the pad i was looking for
appreciate ya concern tho

 

i don't want to send you down the wrong path, but if you can find some fine sand paper. 1000 plus. you can wet sand most of the scratches off. when sanding you just let it glide over... don't apply to much pressure.

once that its done... it will look like you messed it up even more... but thats when the polishing compound comes in. if its a factory paint job, this should be able to fix it. i can't say 100 percent sure because im not there to see the actual damage. you can even take it to a detail shop and ask them if they can get rid of those marks.

 

Buff it out, then demand $150 for your time and labor.

 

it'll buff out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bobyahead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i don't want to send you down the wrong path, but if you can find some fine sand paper. 1000 plus. you can wet sand most of the scratches off. when sanding you just let it glide over... don't apply to much pressure.

once that its done... it will look like you messed it up even more... but thats when the polishing compound comes in. if its a factory paint job, this should be able to fix it. i can't say 100 percent sure because im not there to see the actual damage. you can even take it to a detail shop and ask them if they can get rid of those marks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL, recommending wetsanding before he even tried to buff it. brilliant.

 

whats wrong with wet sanding with a 1000? its basically the same thing as buffing with some compound.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bobyahead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats wrong with wet sanding with a 1000? its basically the same thing as buffing with some compound. </TD></TR></TABLE>
No its not....You will remove alot more material with the 1000grit paper....buffing will remove and restore the shine. 1000 grit with add scratches and remove the shine

 

word. you want to try the least you can do to remove it. buffing would do that for you. <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bigblockhatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
No its not....You will remove alot more material with the 1000grit paper....buffing will remove and restore the shine. 1000 grit with add scratches and remove the shine</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

appreciate everybody's input
this guy got all paranoid when i walked over there with a buffer demanding for CASH and nothing else. i figured he tried to set me up with a bodyshop, so i offered him to go get another estimate at a bodyshop owned by a close friend of mine (he didnt know). he got all heated and started jumpin up and down about it. said i'm wasting his time...that's when i flipped..uhhhhhh shut the fuccck up and get another estimate or you not getting nothing but my foot in ya face. who the hell gets one estimate from ONE shop to fix up a car anyways?
DOES THIS FOOL SOUND LIKE HE'S TRYNA PLAY ME OR AM I TRIPPIN?


Modified by doubleshotz at 1:36 PM 6/16/2007

 

$150 is completely resonable for that amount of damage, if it was my car i wouldnt want it 'buffed out' i would want the moulding resprayed.

Weather or not he uses the $150 to repair it is completely up to him.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doubleshotz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">appreciate everybody's input
this guy got all paranoid when i walked over there with a buffer demanding for CASH and nothing else. i figured he tried to set me up with a bodyshop, so i offered him to go get another estimate at a bodyshop owned by a close friend of mine (he didnt know). he got all heated and started jumpin up and down about it. said i'm wasting his time...that's when i flipped..uhhhhhh shut the fuccck up and get another estimate or you not getting nothing but my foot in ya face. who the hell gets one estimate from ONE shop to fix up a car anyways?
DOES THIS FOOL SOUND LIKE HE'S TRYNA PLAY ME OR AM I TRIPPIN?


Modified by doubleshotz at 1:36 PM 6/16/2007</TD></TR></TABLE>

Your "Trippin" . $150 is fair, and yeah like the guy above said it's up to him weather he wants to fix it or keep the cash. Just pay him and be happy it was only $150 in damage.

 

A girl jacked up my rear bumper on my 93 coupe and the estimate was $1,456. He has the right to have it fixed by whoever he wants, and however they decide to do it (spot repair or complete bumper repaint). Pay the $150, or pay your deductable (more than $150) and your insurance rates are going up anyway.

 

if this was my car. You would be paying. Period end of story.

And to the dingle berry who was talking about 1000 grit .

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bobyahead &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats wrong with wet sanding with a 1000? its basically the same thing as buffing with some compound. </TD></TR></TABLE>

are you serious?

dont give out false info when dealing with someones paint.

 

yeah that dude is way off...

 

well, i know its not much, but pretend it was ur car. u would want it fixed and be like before. but then again that dude should've filed a report. he was prolly worried about insurnce goin up or somethin

 

haha he isn't taking you for a ride but the body shop is takin him for one b/c they wouldn't get that much paint for a little molding there just going to buff it out I worked in a detail shop thats what we did those marks are a dime a dozen but its his car and if he said idc its just a mark at the time the cops where there then its over with and nothing can be done but if theres a report u have to pay but since there isn't and he won't leave u alone 150 is nothing to pay for something that could of been really bad its his money tho to fix the car or not if someone hit me I would want it fixed and not someone tryin to fix it themselfs b/c I use my body shop or my shop or myself no outsiders. its one of those "if I was in his shoes" but no ones the same.

 

Judging from the pictures, it looks workable.

It would really need to be determined if the scratches are actually paint transfer, or if the paint has been damaged beyond the clear coat.

Hopefully it is factory paint as it is usually much more durable than you average repaint.

I've taken out some nasty scratches (without wetsanding), so I believe this can be done.

Here's some examples of my previous clients...

 

^ownt

 

I would try buffing with compound first...wetsand if that doesn't cut it...and go down in grit if necessary.

$150 is not out of line for the paint work...and I don't blame him for wanting it refinished.

 

I can offer you a few bits of advice. First off, looking at the damage and assessing it prior to trying to buff the bumper is very important. From the looks of your snapshot it appears that your scratches may be deeper than the base coat and buffing the clear coat will still allow those scratches to be seen. Will the other guy be happy with this? Keep this in mind. If YOU commit to repairing the bumper YOU are held liable should something unforseen happen (sand through, making the damage worse, etc) While I can appreciate saving a bill and a half look at the bigger picture. A new bumper alone is around 150-200 and that doesnt include any labor and/or parts/materials. If you arent able to fix the bumper the first go around you will look to quadruple your original estimate to have someone else fix it should you mess it up. Dont put yourself in that type of risk. If you paying the 150 estimate is something that you and the damaged party agree on then have him signoff that you both agreed to settle the claim by paying the 150 and walk away.