1ST POST! Question about bumper replacement.

[graphikg]

Hello All, Glad to join the community. I am joining because my G/F has a Solara and I might be able to get some info for her and help her out with her car at times. She had a bit of bad luck and she received a hit and run parking lot hit that dented the right side of her front bumper, and then today while in a mechanical car wash, the washing machine's scrubbers tore a portion of her bumper. SO now there is a dent and the bumper same side of the same bumper is ripped and portruding from the car. We are thinking of replacing it and painting it, but where can I get the best deal on a bumper? Autopartswarehouse.com has them for 255 and free shipping, partstrain has them for 175 with 70 dollars shipping, but is there a better price some where else? Thank you all.

[woa_its_j3ff]

junkyard? lol.. its hard but you might find one in decent condition and with luck the same color? but I have no idea how much jyards charge you for those

[BadAngel]

I had to replace my front bumper... its a not an expensive part to buy from Toyota if I remember correctly it was under 200 (with body shop discount) but our cars don't really have "bumpers" per say ... they are called bumper covers, and thats why they are so cheap. They are only plastic and they really don't absorb ANY blows like the old school metal bumpers. Under the bumper cover is Styrofoam, and that is what absorbs the impact. If you cant get the bumper cover from a junk yard, then just contact Toyota or a body shop they can get the part and paint it with Toyota paint so it should match ALMOST perfectly (depending on what color the car is... i know my 'arctic frost' or metal flake white was a pain in the ass to match... they had to blend. But a simple color like red shouldn't give you too much trouble)

[Black Bob]

...(depending on what color the car is... i know my 'arctic frost' or metal flake white was a pain in the ass to match... they had to blend....)

^^^^Crap, I didn't need to hear that!


BadAngel-
If from the dealer, much did it run you to get the bumper repainted?

graphikg-
I'm in the same boat --just a word to the wise, make sure whoever is painting your bumper that they prep/sand it right before painting and are using an adhesion promoter. My bumper cover was replaced by the original owner and I now have paint flaking off a poorly prepped surface. Seriously, it looks like ass! That being said, if you buy the bumper yourself you should be aware that some sellers sell "prepped" and some sell "unprepped" bumper covers. Also, try to find an expoded view of the front of the Gen 2 Solara somewhere, you'll greatly appreciate what BadAngel is talking about and be very careful not to hit any deer, pedestrians or go through very overzealous car washes. The graphic shows literally the thin bumper cover, strips of foam and then frame--you definitely do not want to hit anything (even midly) head-on in this car!

[BadAngel]

...(depending on what color the car is... i know my 'arctic frost' or metal flake white was a pain in the ass to match... they had to blend....)

^^^^Crap, I didn't need to hear that!


BadAngel-
If from the dealer, much did it run you to get the bumper repainted?

graphikg-
I'm in the same boat --just a word to the wise, make sure whoever is painting your bumper that they prep/sand it right before painting and are using an adhesion promoter. My bumper cover was replaced by the original owner and I now have paint flaking off a poorly prepped surface. Seriously, it looks like ass! That being said, if you buy the bumper yourself you should be aware that some sellers sell "prepped" and some sell "unprepped" bumper covers. Also, try to find an expoded view of the front of the Gen 2 Solara somewhere, you'll greatly appreciate what BadAngel is talking about and be very careful not to hit any deer, pedestrians or go through very overzealous car washes. The graphic shows literally the thin bumper cover, strips of foam and then frame--you definitely do not want to hit anything (even midly) head-on in this car!

Yes thats because the front and back bumpers require a flex agent in the paint because the paint is made for metal. And as you know metal doesn't get affected that much in cold and hot weather, where as plastic... shrinks and enlarges... also if u lean to hard on the bumpers they dent and then return to their normal shape, so without the flex agent the paint will flake and crack.

I looked at my receipt and the bumper was like 200 with the dealer discount ( I am friends with the auto body shop that fixed the car) as for painting it, i can not help you there because my car needed to be blended... they ended up painting like the bumper and the quarter panel, plus i had them take a ding out of the door so they hadda paint that and the rear quarter panel too soo... I do know that with arctic frost you need two paints... you need the white and then the metal flake goes on with almost like a clear coat that has metal flake in it, and then the true clear protective coat goes on after. The paint was like 60 bux a pint...

[michaels artic frost]

This is so true about the 3 stage paint, especially our pearl. I love the color, but probably would not get it again due to paint work mismatch and it's more expensive than the normal 2 stage.

As far as locating a cheap bumper, usually ebay or car-parts.com is pretty good.

[Black Bob]

Wow, I learned something new!! I assumed the metallic was in the base paint. I used to work for PPG-Powder Coatings Division and I didn't have any contact with the Refinish Division, but I still should have known the paint application wouldn't be a cakewalk. Even in powder coatings, just formulating a metallic flake powder coat was a pain, applying it whereby it matches a previous spray out was a sonuvabich!

[PXLpainter]

Wow, I learned something new!! I assumed the metallic was in the base paint. I used to work for PPG-Powder Coatings Division and I didn't have any contact with the Refinish Division, but I still should have known the paint application wouldn't be a cakewalk. Even in powder coatings, just formulating a metallic flake powder coat was a pain, applying it whereby it matches a previous spray out was a sonuvabich!

Trying to match powdercoating is like trying to repair a slice in fine leather!

It takes a good mixer to truly match some of these 3-stage colors now days... usually takes blending of some kind, which I hate because it always shows after a couple years in the sun.