The Cost of a paint job?

[Gorcman]

Hey, this is my first post on Solara Guy. My car got scratched on the front bumper...... anyone have a ball park range of the cost for a paint job on the front bumper?

[Blazed04]

Depends on what part and how much of the front bumper. For example last winter a snow plow hit my front end (the drivers side front corner) and it was pretty messed up. There were some scratches a little bit down the side of the car to almost the drivers door, also my drivers side view mirror was shattered. The repair cost for the whole thing was just about $375 at my local Toyota dealer. Their body shop did a great job. Although the price was a bit lower because it was paid for out of pocket and my father is friends with the owner. I just happened to find these pics i took last year.

[Gorcman]

i got an estimate from one body shop for $250. The guy wanted to take off the whole front bumper and repaint the whole thing. The scratch (on the front passengers side) was about a foot long and fairly thin. There was only paint damage and no actual dents. I think the guy is trying to dupe me. What do you guys think? There's gotta be a way to fix the paint job w/o repainting the whole thing. The bumper isnt even metal, its polymeric right?

[Blazed04]

Well the reason he probably wants to take off the whole bumper and respray the whole thing is to get an even color match throughout the whole bumper, instead of trying to blend one spot to match the rest of the bumper. If he's taking off the bumper, sanding it down and respraying the whole thing...then $250 isn't all that bad. I'd say go to your local Toyota dealer's body shop and see what they quote you.

[Gorcman]

wouldnt dealers usually charge more than independent body shops?

[Blazed04]

Never know until you try. Other body shops quoted me $600+ for what i needed done.

[Gorcman]

also, if they paint just the part of my bumper that is scratched. will there be a major difference in color due to color fading? keep in my solara is 04 so its not THAT old. plus its garaged.

[slingshot]

I would personally repaint the whole bumper letting them take it off to get an even color match. A good paint job is very important, in looks and in ability to sell your car in the future. Basically, you want the car to look like nothing at all ever happened to it and that's the best way to achieve that.

[Blazed04]

^^agreed