I don't know why people like to park so close behind you in parallel parking, it's like they have to feel that they tapped you to know where the position of their car is. Well, I finally joined the group of bumper tapping. Parked my car on the side of the street, and walking out only to notice a small circle and a couple chips on my rear bumper. That is for sure the license plate of the front bumper of another car. I've only had my car for about couple month, and this has to be the worst feeling in the world. How can I fix this now? Should I buy some touch up paint and fill it up? I've attached 3 pictures of where the chips are, some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thats looks like it needs to be reshot at a body shop. Sorry man. Why don't people take responsibility for hitting other people's cars??!!

 

Body shop.
Spot filled and sanded.
Spot blend painted.
Whole bumper cover cleared.
$350-$400.

 

Sorry about what happened to your, I can sense your frustration, especially that it wasn't even your fault.
Here is what I would do: If you don't know a particular body shop that you can trust, go to your dealership and see who they work with. Call them, and ask them what their approach in fixing this. The repair person should mention keywords like filling, sanding and blending paint. It might not be the cheapest option, but it will likely be a reputable company that your Lexus dealership does business with, and will do a good job to match your paint. It will never be a 100% match as the age of the factory paint on the rest of the car will slightly vary due to aging ~this should be hard to discern though. And this is even if body shop uses the original factory paint.
Second I recommend you contact your insurance company to see if having the body shop costs will impact your rates (insurance companies milk you anyway they can.) If they say it will cause your rates to increase slightly, I recommend that you pay for it from your own pocket and get it over with.
Once again, I am sorry some inconsiderate person did this to you, and I hope the repairs will get your car as good as new.

Regards,

 

Thanks guys for your replies. I still have that sick feeling, but I guess that's life and it's bound to happen. My question is, if I don't get it fixed, and continue to drive through winter, will there be any negative effects? It's on the bumper so it's not like it will be rusted, but again, there are couple of very small pieces of paint chipped off. Thanks

 

Nothing that will cost you any more when you decide to fix it.
Too bad that happened.
If it was me,it would drive me nuts till it's fixed and then some.

 

I have had this happen to me on all of the cars I have owned and it just is really annoying since it is nearly impossible to prevent. Most recently it happened on my SC. I live in a Los Angeles area notorious for "uncareful drivers" so I just left it alone. I figure if I get it repainted the chances of it happening again are likely. I would suggest to first try some touch up paint. If you don't like how it looks or it still bothers you, then you have no choice but to repaint the bumper.

 

The bumper is purely made of plastic so no rust issues are expected when the rainy season starts. I agree with Joeb427, fix it and put it behind you as that feeling of your spanking new car damaged in the back will constantly nag you. We Lexus owners are proud of our cars, and we like to keep them looking like new always.
Now as for that angry feeling that is lingering, I recommend that you pretend you were there when the person bumped your car, the most he/she would have done is appologize and give their insurance company info, you would have taken it and shaken their hands and they would have gone their merry way. Pretend it happened that way, so that angry feeling gets purged out of your system as fast as possible.
Crap happens to all of us, we just need to overcome it as fast as possible Take care and be happy since you are okay! And that's the most important thing!

 

just paid $750 to repaint my bumper.

 

750? wow. how much is it new from lexus? do they come already painted as some manufacturers do?

yeah

at least that is a small dent. i had my bumper repainted on another car. one week later, some idiot drove his bumper straight through the left side. scraped off a huge chunk of paint. one of those old rubber bumpers. mad as heck. that was 10 yrs ago. the bumper is still messed up over there. along with dozens of new dents (none of which i did).