twister

This morning on a way to work some idiot standing behind me at the traffic light decided to drive forward because he saw left lane (left-turn) moving. From a stop, probably at 2-3 mph, he tapped my rear bumper. Very light tap. I experienced something similar a few times with my previous Altima, and that usually resulted in a bumper flex that went back out. Here, I got a crack in the rear bumper. Last summer I had hit'n'run in the parking lot when someone probably put their car in drive instead of reverse and tapped my front bumper. That resulted in crack too, and the bumper replacement.

2 weeks ago A/C stuffed with effen acorns and today cracked rear bumper, just gotta love it But the question is, why are these bumpers so fragile? Isn't this supposed to be just foam-filled in a plastic shell? This was not a collision or a big hit, just a small tap - and bam! crack in the plastic bumper on the level of the other guy's front license plate (Ford SUV). How flimsy are these things?!?

flipside909

The bumper cover is made of a thermoplastic polyolefin. There is a foam absorber that covers a metal impact bar which is usually made of aluminum or stamped metal. Because of the way cars are designed nowadays, bumper covers are just cosmetic pieces to help accent the car's design. The actual bumper itself is under the plastic cover. It is not foam filled.

lexusgs408

Wow... thats good to know when I installed my bodykit I notice how flimsy the bumper felt.

twister

That is the whole point, you tap it and it cracks. Probably a shopping cart can easily crack it. Just came back from a body shop, it will cost $580+tax for the replacement bumper, paint, and labor. The other guy who tap my car will pick up the tap. Cosmetic or no cosmetic, you want to keep your car nice and shiny, and don't wonna think that every little tap gonna cost $600

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol i would love to see a shopping kart cracking it. it will crack, but not THAT easy. sometimes the bumper cracking might be a way to help take out the forces of impact. it also have to do with the angle of impact as well.

auto repair is always expensive these days, especially luxury cars. if you think our cars are expensive to fix, infiniti is even worse

our sc430 was rear ended, bumper and rear lip damaged (no cracked though, and it was a 10-15mph impact). total repair bill? 5k body + 1k injury

whlkev

check out this study from insurance institute of highway safety on the high cost of low impact collisions and yes, lexus is right up there on the top

http://thepassionatepursuit.com/2007...ct-collisions/

IIHS link

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr080207.html

tjp74

What was outside temperature at the time of accident? Plastic bumper is more likely to crack during winter or colder night as it gets very brittle as temperature drops. It's plastic! In hot summer, it's pretty hard to crack it and it will stay in one piece even in a hard hit.

twister

Yeah, temps are in low 30s. True, this can contribute to the crack vs the flex. BTW, I looked closely into the estimate, the bumper (plastic cover, that is) will not be replaced but rather repaired. That explains such a small cost which mostly for the labor. They reassured me after the repair and blend-in painting, I will not be able to tell it apart. Will see... When its done, I will take and post before/after pics.

tjp74

Repairing plastic bumper cover (mostly made from polyurethen) is a common practice due to high cost of new part. There are several companies that buys cracked bumpers and repair and sell them back to body shops.
You won't be able to notice it once it's painted and it won't crack in the same spot if done right. Good luck.

flipside909

Blend in painting on a rear bumper? You have Mercury Metallic (silver) right? That along with bieges and pearl whites are the hardest colors to match. Anyone that is a painter can tell you this. I would demand to have the whole bumper refinished instead of just "blended" in.

flipside909

Here's a little more background on reconditioning or remanufacturing a bumper cover. It's not just filling a crack or repairing a hole with plastic filler (bondo). It involves melting down plastic pellets (how your bumper cover first starts off as at the factory) to fill in surfaces that are damaged.

Check this link and click on "BUMPER REMANUFACTURING" on the left side.

http://www.keystone-auto.com/corporation/index.html#

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes, i agree with flip. really "repairing" bumper could be very time consuming and troublesome job. that's why a lot of times it's a better thing to just replace the bumper (most good body shops when the see a cracked bumper they will just ask for a new one).

using bondo and stuff are usually quick, but they are bandage fix. often over time the flexing on the bumper will cause cracks and such. it's not recommended

and flip also hit the point about the silver. definitely repaint the whole bumper

twister

I will definitely ask them to paint the whole bumper, and assume the blend in was supposed to be with the rest of the body. Regarding repair vs replacement. It was other guy's fault, and he just asked his insurance body shop to do repair and pickup the bill without insurance involvement. Either way, they will not replace the bumper, and if I insist - I will have to pay the difference if its done through my body shop of preference. Dealing with auto insurance in NJ is the major pain in the ****

2thfixr

Sorry to hear about your string of bad luck Alex.

flipside909

Being your car is fairly new, 2007 model, I don't see why they can't replace it with a new cover. Sometimes it's more cost/time effective to buy a new bumper cover rather than recondition it and take a few days more to have it fixed. Plus if you're in a rental, it just equates to more time in a rental if that is the case.