When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Unfortunately on our marvelous celebration of America, my wife rear ended someone whom made a abrupt stop. The damage is minor as highlighted, and I dont think she needs to replace her bumper. However there are cracks in the chrome trim as well that definitely needs replacing. I want some advice on how you all would handle this. I believe it is best to leave the insurance out of this one, would you all agree? The scratches and cracks are highlighted There is also a break in the bumper
It's your call if you leave insurance out of it but be sure it's not worse than it looks. My wife barely tapped the rear of a jeep with the nose of her Prius a few years back and damaged the laser unit behind the emblem. What we thought was going to be no more than a $1,500 repair turned into a $4,000+ repair.
We had her Prius bumper replaced again last year due to cosmetic damage caused by her parking by the Braille method - on our own dime this time. We were going to have the bumper cover repainted but it was cracked. We were told that a new bumper cover cost only a little more and that the results would be better than a repair of the existing cover.
The body shop - owned by the same company that owns the Lexus dealer and the dealership where we bought the Prius - ended up eating the small extra cost of a new bumper cover - maybe because we've given them a LOT of business over the years. It's pretty bad when you go into a body shop and the receptionist calls a service writer and says "Guess who's here again."
Always gets a couple of body shop estimates before deciding whether or not to involve insurance. Be sure to tell the body shops your plans as prices will change depending on if insurance is involved!
Depending on where you live, there is a new type of business as an alternate to body shops ,,, listed under "bumper repair". They only fix the front and back bumper. I would not visit them if there is any structural damage.
If you live in the Raleigh area of North Carolina, take your vehicle to Lloyd Lind at Colors On Parade out near Knightdale and get an estimate. He has long been a wizard at repairing these quirky plastic bumpers. He did perfect repair jobs on my wife's previous 2000 RX300 (front bumper) as well as my previous 2005 Jaguar S-Type sedan (rear bumper) when trailer hitches punctured the plastic bumpers of both vehicles (my wife was behind the wheel both times - trailer hitches seem to gravitate to her). Lloyd is a perfectionist and charges significantly less than any conventional body shop.
Forgot to mention that the real bumper is behind the cosmetic plastic/chrome. A good repair place will examine the real bumper and the shock absorbing material (foam and other things) and fix those before addressing the cosmetic stuff. This why it is hard to estimate actual repair cost until they open up the thing.
There isn't any structural damage behind the bumper and the bumper has a couple cracks. It may be cheaper just to repair them. I'm going to explore the options.
07-06-19, 02:03 PM
Advice on minor accident repair
