Plastic bumper dent repair using heat gun

[JeffKeryk]

My grand niece is a really good driver; better than me anyways! She had backed her '15 Mazda 3 into a large rock/boulder in a lot where she was off to a nature run. She's very athletic.

The dent was minor, maybe 8-10" x 6" but no real creases. The scratches are through the clear and deep blue paint.
So I watched YT and bought a HF heat gun. Peeled back the fender liner and commenced to blow heat around the perimeter.
The fender seems to be pretty thin plastic; I felt the back start to soften and give way; I just pushed around the perimeter.
I guess the molded plastic has memory; it was really easy. Even a programmer can do it!

Dunno if I will touch up the long scratches or may have my paint guy do it right. This car is really nice.
The moral of the story is, if you get a plastic fender dent, no worries. You can make it better.

 

[The_Jeff]

Good to know! I took 90% out of a metal dent once by stuffing a deflated basketball between it and its backing structure then inflating it in place.

 

[fantastic]

Good deal, I watched one YT video about using a torch to turn old whitish gray plastic back to a darker black color. I thought it was a neat trick but one would need to be cautious. Heat can help !

 

[repairman54]

I popped out a large indentation on my sisters old '03 Malibu's rear bumper with a heat gun. Parking lot damaged head sized indentation.
Heated it up, not hot enough to blister paint but enough to soften it and the plastic and right out it came.
Torch is not the way to do it.
Damage happened in summer so plastic didn't crack on the initial hit.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Buddy fixed a dent in his Cobalt once with a toilet plunger. DIY to the rescue!

 

[PWMDMD]

I've used the boiling water trick on the plastic bumper of the Kia Soul (corner was collapsed after a kid bounded it off of something) and on the right front quarter panel of the Tundra along with some small suction cups (looked like someone leaned on the panel and pushed it in with no creasing). Both worked beautifully.

 

[Nukeman7]

I've used the boiling water trick on the plastic bumper of the Kia Soul (corner was collapsed after a kid bounded it off of something) and on the right front quarter panel of the Tundra along with some small suction cups (looked like someone leaned on the panel and pushed it in with no creasing). Both worked beautifully.

What is the boiling water trick? Can it potentially damage the paint on the bumper?

 

[PWMDMD]

What is the boiling water trick? Can it potentially damage the paint on the bumper?

Does not damage paint. Just pour hot water, slightly below boiling (whatever it cools between the stove top and the car), and in the case of the plastic bumper I pushed it out from the backside, and for the fender I used little suction cups that I bought on Amazon for $8 to pull it out.