Stone Z

Well, a piece of flying metal slammed into my bumper on the way to work today . It was raining and I was following an older van (about 3 car lengths back) when all of a sudden I see a shiny, twisted piece of what looked liked reynolds wrap coming towards me in my lane....there's was nothing I could. I hear and feel a big *thud* as it hit the front of my car. I looked in the rear view mirror but didn't see it behind me, so I knew it was bad. I immediately pulled over and saw the damage. Of course it's probably not as bad as I think it is, but I definitely need to get it fixed. What's the best option? Buy a new bumper for $219.00 and have it painted, or just get this fixed?

Let me know what you'd do?

Stone Z

With flash

Stone Z

Closeup of bottom gouge

Stone Z

Top scrape

90260Z

Get a spare bumper....

djkern

touch up paint. that looks like typical scratches. i was thinking it was going to be a big dent or crack or something. was this the first little bump or scratch? if so...i can see why you are super pissed. i had someone in my apartment complex open his door into mine and there's a small dent. i was pissed...super pissed!! but...life goes on. i couldn't prove that it was him...it could have been another car (even though i know it was this certain car). don't worry...get some touch up paint. you are going to spend 400 bucks otherwise. but, if you have the money...why not just replace it with a body kit?

Stone Z

Most of it is just scrathes, but the top and bottom scrapes, are gouges. The plastic is peeled back (like an orange) and there are voids. Touch up paint won't make it look any better.

I'm not into body kits all that much, and the ones I do like are mostly the lip kits, so this would do me any good anyhow.

ares

iTrader: (2)

youll spend closer to 500$ to get a new bumper with paint(hoping they match it) and that doesnt even include instalation, I would say touch up paint unless you got money to blow.

djkern

damn.....didn't realize those scrathces were that deep. guess the picture doesn't do the damage justice! any way you can take it to a body shop and have it sanded down and repainted in that area?? would something like that work???

Montez

I agree with ares just use touch up paint, those scratches are barely even noticeable. The first ding or scratch always hurts but I couldnt justify spending 500-600 bucks on that and not to include a few hundred more for labor and materials.

ares

iTrader: (2)

if it is that bad, go to a body shop, a little bondo here and there, some sanding, and an airbrush, youll never know it was ever there. shouldnt cost more than 100$, alot less money, and alot less invasive than a whole new bumper. specially when you just go and get a rock chip in the new one, youll pull your hair out again.

Stone Z

After looking at these pictures again, they certainly don't do the damage justice. The scratches and gouges are defiintely noticable in person. Believe me, if I was able to patch this up with touch-up paint, I certainly would. I've already used my touch-up pen quite a few times already, so I'm definitely not afriad of a few rock chips.....this is a lot worse than your normal rock chip.

I'm taking it to a body shop tomorrow and see what they say.

This sucks

Zsilverstone13

Yup, road debries are definetly my number one enemy on the road. I got hit twice in one week. First one broke my windshield, and second one(happened the day after I replace the windshield) hit the windshidld wiper(very close call). I learned my lesson and always stay as far away as possible from the car in front, and don't stay behind any SUV/VAN/truck.

Old Skooler

Yes it sucks, but just keep in mind it could of been a LOT worse...

Stone Z

Definitely.

That's the thing that pisses me off the most......I could have, or someone else, been injured. I'm sick and tired of seeing trucks out on the road with their beds laden down with unsecured garbage and debris that could, at any minute, be ejected from their vehicle. Construction trucks with their ten ladders are the worst. There should be a law about covering the contents in the bed of a truck. I'm not saying that this is what happened to me today, but I see it all the time, along with cars that have **** literally hanging from underneath them. It's all just accidents waiting to happen. Unfortunately, a lot of people just don't give a ****, nor do they take the time to comprehend that they are endangering other people with their carelessness.

n8vz

sorry that your Z got scratched. Here in CA, i notice there are big rigs that on the freeway that are hulling dirt and not all of them are covered, so who ever drives behind them will get their front end splattered with pebbles. which totally sucks.

Stone Z

Took it by the body shop this afternoon and it's going back on Tuesday to get fixed. My body guy said it would be easy to fix and it will look as good as new.

$150.00 isn't too bad....could have been a lot worse.

FLY BY Z

I think it would be easier to assess the damage if you posted pictures further back so I can get an idea of what a SS Z looks like with those sidemarkers.

Stone Z

Here's a pic with no damage