Another Bumper Scrape Thread

[Lexus Nerd]

Well, living in Eastwood, it had to happen. Some *$#&$%! backed into my car when it was parked at the local shopping centre. Did you think he/she left his/her contact details on my window? No, I wouldn't have expected it either.

I plan to have it look at by an authorised Lexus smash repairer on Monday, so they will ascertain whether there's more damage than what's obvious with the front bumper. As can be seen in the photo, it's a little too big for using touch-up paint, but probably too minor to consider replacing the bumper ...

... Although I was wondering if anyone could answer these questions:

1. It looks like some members are recommending Curran's at Auburn, particularly after a recent IS F bumper fix. I might go see Curran's too; but does anyone recommend either of the two authorised repairers in Artarmon, Northshore Classic Auto Body or Stow?

2. Approximate cost of respraying something like this (assuming it's only the bumper that's damaged)? ISF_Starlight_Black was offered $440, although his scrape was on the underside of the bumper. Any reason why this should cost any more?

3. A respray job at a repairer just isn't as good as the original paintwork: in my experience, the paint oxidises faster and one is frequently polishing the paintwork to make it match that of the original panels left on the car. So how much would a new bumper be?

4. What's my chances of picking up a pearl white MY09-MY10 bumper second-hand? And for how much?

[ISF-350]

Can't help with recommendations for places but I'd expect to pay upwards of $500 to have that bumper repaired, prepared and totally resprayed (entire bar, no blending) properly.

I'm not 100% sure, but I doubt buying a new bumper through Lexus would see it come painted. Usually they are just raw plastic so you'd still need to have it sprayed.

Is the bumper creased/damaged at all? If not, there's not much point in buying a new one (unless they do in fact come factory painted).

Sucks when this happens and the scumbags don't leave any details. :( I couldn't sleep soundly if I did that to someone else's car and nicked off..

[AndyO]

.

[k2sty1]

aww man :(

when i had my incident, quite a while ago, Lexus Chatswood Service Centre offered to replace the front bumper for 1000$

hope this helps

[DO IT]

Were there any cameras nearby in the car park that could of caught the number plates of the culprits?

[p0c1]

Hey Lance..

Someone keyed my car when I parked in the Sydney CBD (off street parking) during new year weekend,

the damage was on 3 seperate panel..

Went to North Shore Classic One at Artarmon to get a quote, ended up going through insurance (COST too much) and they going to re-paint whole body (minus the roof) which end up costing around 8K + cost of hire car..

The reason they end up re-paint the whole body maybe because our white pearl colour is so hard to match..(brand new vs old paint) i guess..

That's why you go for comp insurance..

ps: My premium won't go up, because it's fall under vandalism... (not my fault)

M

[Lexus Nerd]

Were there any cameras nearby in the car park that could of caught the number plates of the culprits?

Great thinking, I never thought of that! Sadly, that car park doesn't have cameras. I know of a student at UNSW who installed a camera in his carm specfically for tracking down these kinds of culprits. That could be a great kit to sell to Lexus owners ... Ashpoint?

Someone keyed my car ... the damage was on 3 seperate panel..

Went to North Shore Classic One at Artarmon to get a quote, ended up going through insurance (COST too much) and they going to re-paint whole body (minus the roof) which end up costing around 8K + cost of hire car..

The reason they end up re-paint the whole body maybe because our white pearl colour is so hard to match..(brand new vs old paint) i guess..

That's why you go for comp insurance..

ps: My premium won't go up, because it's fall under vandalism... (not my fault)

If I made an insurance claim, and I stuck with the same insurer next year, I'd pay $180 more for one year. So excess + $180 is my point for deciding an insurance versus private repair. The gentleman at Currans said something similar to North Shore Classic: No matter what make of car you have, the paint finish on plastic parts will look different to that on metal panels. It doesn't matter if a resprayed bumper looks ever so slightly different to the rest of your paintwork, as it looked that way when it came out of the factory. (I can just see all our Club members checking out their cars now to see if it's true.) On the other hand, a proper repair on a metal panel will likely mean a new paint job on other metal panels too, because that's the only way you'll get an identical finish on adjoining metal panels. Ouch - $8k!!

[Lexus Nerd]

So I have two quotes so far - one from Exclusive Body Werks and one from Currans. I plan to visit two on the north shore tomorrow.

For the benefit of others looking for repairers of minor bingles, I'll let you know of my experience with each repairer once I get all four quotes.

Thanks for all your responses so far.

[Platinum_Jay]

hey Lexus Nerd. I feel your pain. First I had a cracked rear bumper and then another time, I had it grazed at the side. i can't seem to escape from these !@$^&^# drivers.

Didn't bother fixing it as I fear i might happen again soon after its fixed.

Do let us know how you go with the paint job.

[Lexus Nerd]

Ok, so I got four quotes in total. This is a little detailed, but this may be of benefit for anyone who might seek a smash repairer for minor jobs in the future.

Exclusive Body Werks, Granville: They are a Lexus authorised repairer, although they heavily advertise their ability to repair McLaren and Porsche. I saw a DB9 and a DBS while I was there, but no Lexus cars. If anything, Ron Goodman from Exclusive is courteous. He immediately wiped down the affected area immediately to get a better idea of the repair job at hand ... and "so other people don't think it's you who can't drive". He recommended repainting just the affected

area, visually matching the exact shade of colour against the rest of the paintwork. $400-$500 for the job, or $500

including the repainting of underside scrapes and removing a dent from my right fender. So good extra value, although

I'm not sure about just painting the affected area. I forgot to ask when it could be fixed.

Currans, Auburn: Unlike Exclusive, Peter from Currans spotted a slight misalignment between the bonnet and the bumper/grille surround. He suggests repainting the entire bumper for $550 - assuming, of course, that there's no damage behind the bumper - plus $150 for the fender fix. I'm a little surprised at the $150, plus the implication that they would have to get someone in that does "no-paint repairs" - surely someone on the permanent staff would know how to do that? I didn't ask about a hire car included in the cost (see elsewhere on ISF_Starlight_Black's experience at Currans), but Peter did say it could be scheduled in about two weeks.

Northshore Classic, Atarmon: Yes, they seems to service a lot of Lexus vehicles, and they have adopted the Lexus standard of service, with complimentary coffee and a toy LS600hL for kids to play with. The guy who spoke to me is, according to his business card, an Estimator. But I guess you are paying for the extra service and staffing, with the estimate for the work being $605, plus $200 for the “paintless dent removal”. That would get me white paint over the affected areas, then a clear coat over the entire bumper. Following the “discovery” at Currans, I asked him whether he saw a problem with the alignment of the bumper in relation to the bonnet, to which he replied, “Maybe; I mean, these things just clip in – we’ll have a look at it for you.” That would suggest that Currans’ idea of “adjusting” the alignment of the bumper is flawed. NSC could start the job within a week. Their Visitor’s log shows a lot of sign-ins from IAG and Suncorp representatives. That alone could mean that they are either competitively priced, or that they economise on the repair work. Given that they were the most expensive of the lot for less overall paint coats, it could mean the latter.

Lexus of Chatswood: Unlike the others, Joe looks young and presented like he was the actual tradie who would do the job. He therefore appeared very knowledgeable, stating that a complete respray was the only way to do the job. As for the alignment issue – he instantly knew that an adjustment to the rubber stoppers in the engine compartment would adjust the height of the bonnet with respect to both the fenders and the bumper and – voila! – problem solved. It doesn’t look like the gap (or lack of it) was caused by another vehicle, after all. Total cost: $450, plus $120 for the paintless dent removal – which he admitted may not remove 100% of the dent, due to the dent’s location on a sheetmetal crease. Unfortunately, they are super-busy and won’t be able to start the job until early March.

Verdict: While all of the people I spoke to were courteous, not all of them knew their Lexus cars. That didn’t give me the greatest confidence that their suggested repair methods would be the best methods. Two repairers insisted on a complete respray, while the other two didn’t steer me away from the option to respray the entire bumper; so I will have to trust that a resprayed white pearl bumper is going to look just as good – and last as long – as the paintwork out of the Lexus factory.

Subject to a further check on the warranty that each repairer provides, I will go with Lexus of Chatswood. They seem to know what they’re doing; a loan car is available, should I want it; and they’re doing the most amount of work for one of the lowest prices. I’m not sure how sophisticated their facilities are for repairing major bingles, but I’m looking forward to the finished result after they fix this minor one.

[imoo6170]

Mate of mine uses Lexus's in his Hire Car Business. He has used Lexus of Chatswood for paint repairs and cannot recommend them highly enough - he absolutely loves his cars and would not go to anyone who was not good.

[chris_e_fresh]

some ass hole ran into me today - looks like off to the repair shop for me as well

[k2sty1]

yep, happened to me aswell

i wasn't at fault in the crash (the dumb *BLEEP* was going the opposite way, ran across double lines and didnt indicate and didnt look either, police came and decided i was not at fault), so no excess for me to pay which is good, but no car for a while :(

[chris_e_fresh]

got one quote back almost 2k

the f**kwit scratched my rim as well

[Lexus Nerd]

got one quote back almost 2k

the f**kwit scratched my rim as well

Ouch. What part of the body got damaged - the metal body near the wheel (what we now call a "fender")? Or is the sheet metal OK, and it's a bumper replacement for $2k?

BTW, I went with Lexus of Chatswood, although they won't be able to do the respray until the second half of March.

[Atlantis]

"fender" ... bah, American speak :P

Front quarter panel here in Oz ;)

[Lexus Nerd]

So Lexus of Chatswood finally repaired my bumper. It took a little over two days, with the car being kept inside on the second night to avoid the rain. On the third morning, the car was given a wash and driven back home to a waiting family member, while I was interstate.

They've done a great job. The bumper looks brand new, with even the scrapes on the bottom of the bar - from multiple run-ins with kerbs and parking chocks - having disappeared. Two dents were also removed for $120 each: one from my fender ... um, front quarter panel (history here) and one from a rear passenger door (some idiot threw a can at the car one night).

You never know how long a respray job will last but, for now, I'm pretty happy.

[JUZBLAZE]

Good news mate. Any pics of the repaird bumper?