What is reasonable price to charge for bumper scratch.

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Chaitanya

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# 136185 18-Nov-2013 10:39

Someone scratched the corner of my bumper while they were parking next to my car. The scratch was quite a big one and is visible from a distance. The paint has come off entirely showing a ugly black patch. The mechanic says they need to paint the entire bumper at a cost of $200. However my bumper is not entirely immaculate. It has a insignificant scratch to the other side.The bumper also has a scratch free dent that I believe is by design.

Could you please suggest how should this be sorted? Thank you.

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Vocus

# 936495 18-Nov-2013 10:56

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They should pay for whatever it takes to restore it... $200 is not a lot imo, actually it sounds cheap for repair/respray bumper.

Or just claim it on your insurance and let them sort it with the other party, assuming you have full cover.

RunningMan

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# 936497 18-Nov-2013 10:57

From the technical point of view, your mechanic is right - you get a far better result by painting the entire bumper, rather than doing a patch job - it it also doesn't take that much more time or effort to do, so the difference in cost wouldn't be that much.

A cheaper alternative would be one of those paint pens used for scratch repair that you can DIY.

Or try a company like this that do scratch removal work
http://www.touchupguys.co.nz/

Ultimately though, there's probably not much point in doing an insurance claim for the value, might be better to negotiate a reasonable outcome with the other party (if they are that way inclined).

surfisup1000

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# 936498 18-Nov-2013 10:57

actually, that sounds like a great deal to me.

But, you have to ask yourself the question : is it worth bothering if not covered by insurance?

ahmad

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# 936500 18-Nov-2013 10:59

Is the other party paying?

xpd

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# 936502 18-Nov-2013 11:01

$200 is probably right.... was quoted between $6-800 from multiple panelbeaters to remove a ding from our rear door a couple of years ago.

Will also depend how deep it the scratch is, color, filler reqd, prep work etc etc. Its not just a case of slapping some paint over it. (well..if you want it done properly anyway)

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robjg63

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# 936503 18-Nov-2013 11:01

Sounds cheap to me as well.

If you want it fixed then they probably need to remove the bumper - fill/sand/whatever.
Undercoat and repaint the whole thing.

If you want it bodged then do it yourself or put up with it.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

Inphinity

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# 936511 18-Nov-2013 11:13

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$200 for a bumper respray sounds cheap to me.

plod

265 posts

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# 936517 18-Nov-2013 11:23

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If the person who hit your car is paying, I would go halves with him, as you are getting prior damage fixed.

Batman

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# 936539 18-Nov-2013 12:02

When i saw the thread my response was $200

Yeah everyone else seems to be making more money than me lol

Involuntary autocorrect in operation on mobile device. Apologies in advance.

1080p

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# 936543 18-Nov-2013 12:05

plod: If the person who hit your car is paying, I would go halves with him, as you are getting prior damage fixed.

Why? The same amount would be paid if the bumper was in perfect nick. The fact that there was other damage is irrelevant.

Chaitanya

75 posts

Master Geek

# 936557 18-Nov-2013 12:14

Why? The same amount would be paid if the bumper was in perfect nick. The fact that there was other damage is irrelevant.

This is my point too. Other damage is negligible, doesn't make my bumper look ugly and doesn't attract raised eyebrows.

I would not have bothered if that same level of damage was done by other party.

Personally, if I had done this to anybody, I'd fix it to the satisfaction of the other car owner.

Thank you very much awesome GZers, I am aware of what to do now. Cheers.

ahmad

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# 936673 18-Nov-2013 14:54

So the other party is highlighting other pre-existing damage to your bumper?

I'm guessing the other party is not insured?

Not sure this would be a big issue if it the other party was insured and their insurance was paying. Unless it actually added to the cost of the overall repair (which I don't think it would here).

timmmay

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# 936794 18-Nov-2013 17:34

To have a side door panel or two repainted I was quoted around $800 last year. $200 is cheap to the point I'd wonder why it was so cheap. Though I did get a friend of a friend to repaint my entire car (corolla) for $1500, though I know that was basically at cost.

Dratsab

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# 936820 18-Nov-2013 17:58

There's a bit of labour involved too. For a variety of reasons, they take the bumper off to respray it. I agree with the others - $200 is quite cheap.

mattwnz

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# 936839 18-Nov-2013 18:24

$200 sounds reasonable. That is the sort of fee you get charged when insurance is not involved, as there is none of that paper work for the panel beater to fill in which takes them more time, and they have to wait for payment. Just make sure that the paint colour matches. The last bumper I had repainted the colour was way off, and the finish was slightly matt. They had to redo it to get it right.

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