Repair vs Replace Bumper

[The Critic]

I received a call from the OP's insurer, who accepted liability and confirmed the details of the claim submission online.

One of the very first questions they asked was if there was any damage at all to the bumper, or any prior incidents. This tells me that I should definitely have this fixed, since this damage can jeopardize the outcome of a claim in any future accidents.

I also visited one of the DRP shops in the area, which is a 52,000 sq ft shop with 4 paint booths, couple frame machines, etc. This was definitely a high-volume production facility and was a DRP for every major insurer (Travelers, Hartford, State Farm, Farmers, etc). They use the PPG Nexa Aquabase Plus refinishing system. This shop promised their quote tomorrow, so after some comparison, I will decide where to go.

 

[The Critic]

I took the car to a big DRP shop for the insurance company, and they wrote up an estimate with a lot less "fat," as I expected:

 

[PandaBear]

$600 is a steal for any paint job nowadays, but if you can live with the imperfection, just pocket the cash.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Take the cash and wait for it to get hit again.


+2 my wife's has been hit 3 times.

 

[The Critic]

Got the car back from the body shop. Carwest Elite in Fremont, CA, is truly a top-notch facility.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/car-west-elite-auto-body-fremont

The paint match is great, and the car was returned to me in record time. I dropped the car off yesterday at 8am, and the car was completed today at 3pm.

They repaired the damaged area, primed, and painted/blended a portion of the bumper. The entire bumper was re-clearcoated. Based on the literature in the waiting room, they use the Nexa Aquabase Plus refinishing system (water-based).