Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


Chaitanya

75 posts

Master Geek


#136185 18-Nov-2013 10:39
Send private message

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.

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
ubergeeknz
3344 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Vocus

  #936495 18-Nov-2013 10:56
Send private message

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
8953 posts

Uber Geek


  #936497 18-Nov-2013 10:57
Send private message

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
5288 posts

Uber Geek


  #936498 18-Nov-2013 10:57
Send private message

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
1937 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #936500 18-Nov-2013 10:59
Send private message

Is the other party paying?

xpd

xpd
Geek @ Coastguard NZ
13765 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
ID Verified
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #936502 18-Nov-2013 11:01
Send private message

$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)





       Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

 

                      LinkTree

 

 

 


robjg63
4096 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

  #936503 18-Nov-2013 11:01
Send private message

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
2780 posts

Uber Geek


  #936511 18-Nov-2013 11:13
Send private message

$200 for a bumper respray sounds cheap to me.

 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
plod
272 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #936517 18-Nov-2013 11:23
Send private message

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

Batman
Mad Scientist
29760 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #936539 18-Nov-2013 12:02
Send private message

When i saw the thread my response was $200

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

1080p
1332 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #936543 18-Nov-2013 12:05
Send private message

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
Send private message

 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
1937 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #936673 18-Nov-2013 14:54
Send private message

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
20574 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #936794 18-Nov-2013 17:34
Send private message

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
3946 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #936820 18-Nov-2013 17:58
Send private message

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
20141 posts

Uber Geek


  #936839 18-Nov-2013 18:24
Send private message

$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.

 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.