cjTL

iTrader: (2)

After 4 years of owning this car, I suppose damage was bound to occur to it at some point. I rear ended my friend yesterday (my birthday, to make it worse). Both were stopped at a light waiting to turn right, he let off his brakes, so me, assuming we were going to both be moving, let off my brakes, turn to my left to check for cars before turning, then bam, my friend hits his brakes to allow a pedestrian to cross the road. Didn't see it fast enough, hit him going like 2 miles an hour if that. Friend didn't really give two shits, nothing happened to his car, and he mostly just laughed at my misfortune.

Regardless, the love tap cracked the paint on my bumper and it looks like shit. I'm stuck though. Do I fix it, or do I just say f-it? My car is a 2005, has 125,000 miles on it, and is in great shape aside from this mishap. I know its going to piss me off every time I look at my bumper now. But is it worth it?


What would you all do in my situation? I'm a college student, so money isn't really growing on trees around here, but I could choke up a couple hundred if I had to. So how much would a respray cost for the front bumper? Or how much would it cost to buy a new painted bumper? Just gathering opinions/ranting here. That's all. Thanks for listening. And yes, I know, I should have been paying more attention, but shit happens and catches you off guard.











At least she's still pretty.

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JJH

iTrader: (1)

I'm getting my whole front clip repainted (fenders, bumper, hood, a-pillars, mirrors) June 24th for $550. My bumper is in worse condition than yours is. A respray will fix this. It shouldn't cost you more than $250.

ff4930

If you are OCD about little things then get it fixed. Otherwise I would leave it as is, doesn't stand out too much because of the silver. So many bug kills tho

EsotericTL

Do what makes you happy. If its going to bother you looking at it I would definitely repaint the bumper. I know It would irritate me looking at that on my car.

anx1300c

iTrader: (2)

That's almost too good to be true at that price. I paid $650 to do the same, minus the A pillars in '09, but I knew the guy and he gave me a decent deal. Fast forward to this year and it was all chipped again (bumper was still ok, as well as the mirrors) and I had a different place paint the hood and tops of the fenders and blend them down, then fix a huge pea sized chip in one pillar. That bill was $600.

OP, you should be able to get that bumper fixed for around $200-250, but you'll find the estimates could run anywhere from $100-$400 +, depending on the shop and your area. Silver is tough to paint match. Be leery of the cheaper places. If they don't use flex additive for the plastic, it'll eventually start to spider web in six months.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Hmpf. Its just frustrating because I know its there and it bugs me, but I'm sure 99% of everyone else won't notice it unless they're looking for it. So I don't know. I'm going to try to get a few quotes this week and see what I'm working with. I found new, painted OEM-equivelent bumpers online for I think $300 or so. As far as I know, the only difference with those is that they won't have the "ACURA" engraved in the front.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

And yeah...cars dirty. SO many bugs and mosquitos out during the night time here due to heavy rain last month.

aIRpeACE

iTrader: (2)

you need a straw, that's it

CLtotheTL32

iTrader: (3)

Get an AMG already

jungy4

I was in college and I have been through this before. When you are in college paying tuition and books, that $150 makes a huge difference.

The damage doesn't look too bad. Your car is aging with high miles. I would just leave it and get it fixed only if the paint starts peeling bad. I bet your car is still nicer than 80% of the cars on campus.

pohljm

That shit is barely broken in No worries! get your education and then worry about your TL

zachlone

I'd say leave it alone for now and fix it later when u get more paint chips and stuff like that, not very noticeable with a silver car as it would with a darker color

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

wut.

I'll keep dreaming! I'm looking forward to the day I own something German.

This is kind of where I'm at with it the more I think about it. Fix something that doesn't need to be fixed, or live with it as my car is 8 years old after all. The couple hundred could be spent on going out with friends, gas, etc...

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Sounds weird but I almost feel sorry for my car. I've neglected it lately as its just sat outside on campus. So I bought some touch up paint for my A-Specs (to fix some curb rash that was on them when I got em), detailed my interior, conditioned my leather, and polished my headlights. Just gave it some babying. Priorities have shifted over the past year and I just haven't been able to keep up with it like I used to.

96SC4

Just painting the bumper will look like crap... It won't match.
They'll hav to blend the paint with the hood and fenders($$$)
Just turn a blind eye to a couple spider cracks. If it was new, I would do it, but....

cpm06wdptl

[quote=cjTL;14522663]

wut.

Suck it up. Lol

quanaman

iTrader: (4)

In in the same boat. 22 year old college student.


Duck school. Fix it! New paint FTW


Edit: autocorrect FTW! Haha

Abe_Froman

iTrader: (5)

Same exact thing has happened to me the last two years. I finally gave it some love again this summer cause its going to sit for two years straight after this summer.

If I was you I would only paint it if I had the money to spend on it. Nobody wants to spend the little spending money they have in college fixing their car.

Very clean car OP. Our cars are almost identical. Especially since I just added 07-08 base tails.

Redsand353

Do yourself a favor and DONT buy an aftermarket bumper. Theres a reason why they are so cheap..

TheLowLife

First thing I would do is wash the bugs

IntactACK

iTrader: (1)

Like everyone else said, weigh the good and bad out, if its really going to bug you then fix it, if its going to be a hassle and hurt your wallet don't bother until you have the extra cash or your birthday comes up again next year and get some extra cash! anyways your car looks great and good luck! My car has some blemishes like that and I have learned to deal with it, I will fix them when I feel like it!

connork53

iTrader: (1)

Sell me your a spec rims and use the money to fix your scratches.....duh

tweeder82o

bog = bondo

daciss

Im a student too....Car comes first then school. Just have to get your priorities in line.

story.customz

Grab some cheap touch up paint for that chip, then put the rest of the money you would be willing to spend towards alcohol and partying. Fix it up when you're done school and just enjoy the college life

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

fix it before it starts rusting...

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Haven't checked A-Zine in a few days...

I decided I'm going to just leave it alone. I've almost forgotten that its there by now, so I can't really even begin to justify fixing it. I filled in the biggest chip with my touch up pen, which helped a little bit.

cjTL

iTrader: (2)

Its plastic.

swoosh

iTrader: (5)

dammit....you Sir are correct....

I have a paint chip on my front fender and I did put some touch up on it which came off eventually and it rusted