Garage Damaged my Car

[ET16]

I had my car at a shop for state inspection and some small repairs and was told by them today that they dented my bumper. They're a good shop and have already been up front about things. They sent me a picture of the damage.

What happens in cases like this? Does it depend on the state?

 

[SatinSilver]

Can you post a picture? They should fix it. Didn't they offer to do so?

 

[Kool1]

I wish all shops were truthful and honest like this.

 

[bdcardinal]

Unfortunately it does happen as a part of being a shop. Never intentional, just happens. We have a body shop that we use for repairs and give the customer a free rental while it is going on. We don't have a body shop on side, thank God, but the one we use does a good job. Sometimes we send them to the shop that I have used for my personal cars or another one that has a bunch of magazine covers if it is a Shelby.

 

[ET16]

There's a big gouge in the bumper cover--the type that doesn't repair well, to my knowledge. When you fill such things, any subsequent impact cracks or pops the filling material. The best repair would be a new bumper cover, but my fear is that they won't want to pay for it. The original cover was pristine.

 

[eljefino]

Bumper covers are often really easy to replace. Can you have them follow up in a couple weeks and fix it at a mutually convenient time?

 

[SatinSilver]

The shop should have insurance to cover this sort of thing. If they told you about it like they did and are a good repair shop then they should fix it the correct way. Plus it's only plastic. Not like a metal panel was involved.

 

[eljefino]

If I were the shop I'd self-insure this little incident.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
The shop should have insurance to cover this sort of thing. If they told you about it like they did and are a good repair shop then they should fix it the correct way. Plus it's only plastic. Not like a metal panel was involved.


Hopefully they are bonded, too.

 

[ET16]

I got another message from the garage. They said that they will repair the damage at their cost. I just need to make sure that they give me a good bumper cover and that it's prepared well. I'm not sure that I want to agree to used cover.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.

 

[ET16]

Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.


How do I make sure that it's prepared well?

 

[KingCake]

Originally Posted By: ET16
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.


How do I make sure that it's prepared well?


Attend a technical school. Work as an apprentice body man. Become ASE certified. In 4-8 years you should have a nice looking bumper cover.

 

[Leo99]

What kind of car is it?

To you and me, it's your baby that you park in the shade and take good care of. To a shop, it's just another patient.

Sounds like a shop with integrity, you can either use their body shop or have them cut you a check and deal with it on your own.

 

[aquariuscsm]

What kind've car is it? Apologies if I missed that somehow.

 

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: KingCake
Originally Posted By: ET16
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.


How do I make sure that it's prepared well?


Attend a technical school. Work as an apprentice body man. Become ASE certified. In 4-8 years you should have a nice looking bumper cover.
That's pretty good! Better than most of the "Humor" section!

 

[ET16]

Originally Posted By: KingCake
Originally Posted By: ET16
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.


How do I make sure that it's prepared well?


Attend a technical school. Work as an apprentice body man. Become ASE certified. In 4-8 years you should have a nice looking bumper cover.


What I'm getting at, is that there are many ways to repair a bumper. What techniques or products work well, techniques and products need to be matched to the type of plastic, no?

I say all this because another car of ours was lightly tapped on the bumper last year and the paint cracked and elevated. It turned out that the bumper had been replaced and had not been prepared well.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

Originally Posted By: ET16
Originally Posted By: HoosierJeeper
I'd honestly take a used OEM cover in good shape and painted nicely over a new Chinese one.


How do I make sure that it's prepared well?


Look for orange peel, fish eyes, waves etc in the paint and look for buffer haze in the finish. Any decent shop will know how to use a rotary buffer correctly and avoid buffer haze. Or they'll clean it up with a DA. Make sure you get a warranty too.

 

[demarpaint]

It sounds to me like they did the right thing. Odds are they're going to pay a shop to do the repair and not do it in house. Ask what kind of guarantee they give for the repair to the bumper. I have a friend who has a local body shop and guarantees his repairs for the life of the vehicle. His work isn't cheap, but if you have a problem with the paint, or a part he installed as part of a repair rot out he will fix it free of charge as long as you own the car. Maybe their repair shop has a guarantee as well.

 

[Silverado12]

Bumper covers can be repaired good as new and it's not really hard to do. A friend of mine has a body shop and he has a plastic welder and the filler for plastic bumpers and I've never seen a comeback. He fixed a gouged bumper for me on my son's Cavalier and it still looks good.