Long story short, some woman backed into my TL on Friday night in the rain--hit the corner of the front bumper and popped it out of place. Unfortunately, there is a crack in the bumper so it probably has to be replaced.

The car is in today for an oil change and the dealer's service department said I would have to call a body shop about the bumper. Is this normal? It would seem that an Acura dealer should be able to pop the bumper off and put a new one on. Thought I'd inquire here before spending the time calling other local dealers.

(I know someone will ask for pictures....I haven't taken any yet, haven't had time, and they aren't really relevant because I know the bumper has to be replaced.)

 

My guess is they don't have bumpers in their parts dept and they would have to order one, or whatever body shop they use would order one. Kinda weird they told you to call the body shop. I would take it to a dealer that is a little bit more proactive at helping their customers.

 

The bumpers don't come painted. Where body work is concerned, the dealer, unless he has his own body shop, would rather you take it directly to the body shop, where they can examine the car, determine the extent of damage, order the necessary part or repair yours if possible, and install the new bumper if necessary.

The dealer was actually being helpful here. If you don't have a body shop you like, you could ask the dealer to recommend one. If the dealer was to take your car and then send it to a body shop, you would have a middle man involved (the dealer), who might add on to the price for his trouble, or, if there were problems, you would have to take it back to the dealer, who would have to take it back to the body shop, etc. You get the picture. He was doing you a favor by telling you to go directly to the body shop.

 

Thank you. I do have a body shop I have used in the past and was satisfied with, so I'll give them a call. I didn't realize that they don't come painted. I figured that they could easily requisition one, pop off the old one, and pop on the new one. You are right about preferring to deal directly with the body shop!

 

Not only do they not come painted, I found out with the ABP (my car) it was very difficult for them to match the paint. They had to get a guy to come in from dupont to scan my vehicle and custom generate a batch of paint to match the car because their computer couldn't generate the right paint match. I believe the cost was around 600 bucks covering the part, paint, and labor.

Kevin

 

It cost me $1000 to replace my TSX's bumper, If that help. $600 is kind of low.