Advice needed on auto paint gouges

[tbike4]

The culprit is a tree planter on a diagonal in a parking lot. I don't drive a low front end race car but the planter is high enough to grind under the bumper. Arrrggghhhhhhh
At least you can't see the damage unless you get real low. Is this a case of take it to the shop or are there any alternatives?

[C40_guy]

If that lower valence is plastic, then I'd just ignore it. It won't get worse, and it won't be easy to make better (would require special flexible bumper paint.)

If it's metal, I'd probably DIY a repair - sand it with 120, 200, 400, 800 grit sand paper, then prime it and spray a couple of color coats (all light coats.)

You can get matching color coats at sites like paintscratch.com.

Definitely not worth going to a body shop. They'll charge $500+ for something that you can't see.

[tbike4]

Originally Posted by C40_guy

If that lower valence is plastic, then I'd just ignore it. It won't get worse, and it won't be easy to make better (would require special flexible bumper paint.)

Definitely not worth going to a body shop. They'll charge $500+ for something that you can't see.

It is plastic and hard to see for sure. It's one of those things that just stays under your skin since the rest of the car is immaculate and only 1 year old.

I will let it go. Thanks.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by tbike4

It is plastic and hard to see for sure. It's one of those things that just stays under your skin since the rest of the car is immaculate and only 1 year old.

I will let it go. Thanks.

When stuff like this happens, my mantra is "It's a bumper. It's designed to take a beating."

And yea, I might get a can of spray paint from paintscratch.com, sand it and spray just that edge. It will make it look marginally better each time you're laying underneath your car... Again, as it's plastic, that area won't get any worse (rust, etc...)