Peeling Bumper

Bob Guercio

Hi All,

A small one inch square section of the outer layer of my bumper has chipped off. I imagine that if I don't repair it, it will only get worse.

How do I repair it?

Thanks in advance,

Bob

ukrkoz

what car? what year? most new cars have plastic bumper covers, or fascia, that are so cheap to buy that it's not worth hassle and bustle to fix old ones.
otherwise, it's grind/roughen/fiberglass+resin patch/grind/sand paper/prime/paint.
or get one exact match from salvage yard. good luck, i tried it once.

Bob Guercio

2009 Honda Accord.

I guess it has an inexpensive plasitc cover but is it difficult to change?

Thanks,
Bob

ukrkoz

well, it depends.
yes, you do have bumper cover
you can get them from place like Certifit for about 40-60 bucks. UNPAINTED. black.
well, it depends is referred to a particular model. on Eclipse, the whole bumpre slides out on guides after 8 bolts were removed. I can't tell for your car.
look it up on internet or in library, Chilton manuals.
decent shop will charge you around $300 for repair. the whole bumper needs to be re primed and repainted after patching.
i'd not recommend DIY for an 09 car, unless you doing it all the time. it will turn out bad. it's experience thing.
if your plastic cracked and piece is gone, then yes, it will crack and spread more. been there. there's ways to fix it, but professional is a better choice.

Jackofall1

I think that you will find that the bumper or as it being called a bumper cover is more in the range of 1000 to 2500 if you can get one that cheap painted and mounted.

The front facia's are rather large and have many attachment points, I would take it to a body shop, they are better trained to deal with plastic, prep and paint procedures.

Mark

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Bob Guercio

Mark,

I intend to do that and rather quickly before it gets any worse.

Thanks,
Bob

ukrkoz

Bob, is it just paint with primer that chipped off, or a piece of PLASTIC? makes a lot of difference. can you post pic? tinypic or photobucket, image code.

if it's just paint with primer, it's simply sand papering and re-priming and re-painting. good pro can airbrush this.

as far as plastic is not damaged, fascia itself will not get any worse. paint may keep chipping away.

one way or the other, you'll be better off giving this job to a pro. should you have been here in Seattle, i could have hooked you up. would prolly cost you less than 200. cosmetic repair. good to sell the car.

you hit it or something?

Bob Guercio

Ukrkoz,

I'm reasonably certain that it is plastic and not paint. If I wanted to I could dig my fingernails underneath it and get a piece!

I don't know how it happened but I suspect that it was hit in a parking lot or perhaps by a stone on the road because I've seen the same results before from a similar mishap.

A couple of hundred dollars is certainly worth taking care of.

Thanks,

Bob

ukrkoz

YES, NO NEED TO REPLACE BUMPER COVER. EITHER YOU HIT IT, OR SOMEONE ELSE HIT IT. USUALLY IT'S PARKING LOTS. sorry, forgot caps were on.

but they will have to enlarge the repaint area, as they will have to follow to the last where paint peels off the plastic. that plastic is designed to recover shape, but only to some point. they may end up using some bondo to restore shape.

shop around. couple inches patch should not be more than few hundred bucks. it's a new car, worth fixing.

you, also, know that the very moment you'll fix it, it will happen again? it's like rock chip repair or windshield replacement. from the do not jinx perspective, you might just clean it well with alcohol, methanol or rubbing alcohol, or ether, to degrease, and seal paint edge with super glue. and let it be. fix it before selling car.

ukrkoz

hey, Bob, you got that car new or used?

Bob Guercio

New. We've had it for about a year and a half and it has about 20,000 miles on it.

You're probably thinking of a warranty but I just noticed that the bumper is dented on the bottom. My wife must have hit it while parking without even realizing it. However, the dent is about a foot or so from the peeling so they may very well be unrelated!

Bob

ukrkoz

no. should it have been used, it almost sounds like it was hit and someone did some bondo job on it. paint itself should not be peeling in layers. warranty will not cover mechanical damage, have my word on it. and it's prolly not worth run through insurance, as deductible will be more than repair itself.
was simply curious, when you said that you could pry it off with finger nail.

Wojo

Just because the damage is about a foot away from the peeling paint, doesn't mean that both are not related. The so called "dent" is point of impact & the bumper cover hit the reinforcement. The chipped paint is more than likely where the cover flexed the most. Bondo is no no on the cover, it doesn't flex & will crack. The part that is indented, will come out with heat(heat gun). If the cover is cracked anywhere, you can grind down the sides of the crack & fill it in with plastic. They have plastic welders & different types of either strips or rods of plastic. Paint by itself is not cheap & that's not all that you will need. Sounds like your cover needs to be taken off, reformed with heat, sanded past the damaged area & the rest of it scuffed. The right way that is....
I haven't painted or done bodywork in years. But, for bumper covers & other flexible parts they had flex agent to mix with the paint. Done right, bumper cover comes off. Also, a lot of times it is cheaper & less work to get another cover.

Jwilliams240sx

I paint cars at a dealership and I would tell you don't worry about getting it fixed unless your worried about the way it looks. Bumpers are plastic so it's not like it's going to rust or anything and it shouldn't blow off or get bigger if it's the stock bumper. And if it's aftermarket as long as the person prepped it right it will stick.

Jwilliams240sx

Also they do make plastic flexible filler like bondo and you don't put flex in paint, you put it in the primers and clear.