While taking the car out of our garage, I rubbed the front left corner of the bumper against the garage door frame. There are now some very shallow scratch marks on the bumper that are visible (overall area is probably around 2 in^2). Couple of questions:

a. since it is only on the bumper, it doesn't pose a risk in terms of rust or further deterioration. When I talked to the body shop, they said that they probably have to repaint the whole bumper. Is it even worth doing it now (I can live with the cosmetic blemish )

b. if they do paint the bumper, do they have to remove it fully? Obviously it depends on the shop, but is the fit and the paint match between the bumper and the rest of the car going to be good when it is done, if they have to remove it?

Bummed...

 

I had some minor scratches on my '01 CL which was Agean Blue, a hard color to get right. They did take the bumper off, but the place was legit and did a great paint match.

With the car being new, a good paint match shouldn't be an issue.

If you can afford it, why not fix it??

 

Sorry for your bad luck. We all get that first scratch or ding eventually. I thought I got my first door ding the other day, but it turned out to be a feather stuck to my door. How happy was I when I flicked it off the door? I said to myself "nope, not yet!"

 

Thanks. I feel like a serious chump since it is the front left corner which is obviously very visible from the driver's seat. I think that I am not yet used to the extent of the "overhang" beyond the visible end of the hood... bad way to get educated though .

 

I understand how you feel, and have gone through the same in the past.

The best looking solution is to get the bumper repainted.

Here's some advice, dont repaint it yet. Its not worth it. You WILL get more scratches in the future. Wait till you get more, then get it repainted. Its not worth repainting for one set of scratches.

 

You gotta get the FIRST scratch, and then it takes the pressure off! My wife backed her TSX into a low pole the SECOND day she had it!

Can the scratch be felt with a fingernail? If NOT, then you can probably buff it out with one or more polishing compounds.

IF you repaint it - YES - the bumper MUST be removed. If you don't , the edges look very bad, like a really cheap paint job. It is not suitable for a car of this stature.

Don't worry about paint matching. If the repair shop can't match it, get a new shop.

 

That was my rationalization too!
A portion of it is. I was hoping that they could touch it up only around the problem spot. Based on the feedback from this thread and some googling, it looks like a repaint may be needed. Well, I think I'll bite the bullet and get it done.