Freakin' Jacks!

[JdsCoupe]

Took my car to the dealership to replace one of my TPMS sensors that was malfunctioning about two weeks ago. When I got the car back, I noticed there was a 6 inch long "scratch" as if the hulk himself had keyed my rear bumper (we're talking DEEP here). After arguing with the dealership claiming they had nothing to do with it and refusing to pay for it to be repaired, I got a quote for repairing it. They want $475. My question: would it be worth looking into an aftermarket rear bumper (if so, recommendations are appreciated) or just paying for them to do it. Also, someone linked me to automotivetouchup.com when I was asking about painting my grille. Would it be smarter/cheaper for me to paint the bumper myself? I have no experience with automotive painting and I'd have to paint outside in my driveway. Thanks!

PS: spotted a white coupe at Montclair State yesterday; debadged except the nissan emblem, tinted windows + windshield, and 5 spoke silver/chrome wheels (almost like the stock 2.5 ones). Wanted to say hi if that was anyone here lol

[DJ_B_Easy]

Automotive Touchup is good for things like grilles, emblems, accent pieces on the interior, small things like that. Painting things to match the OEM color that were NOT that color to begin with. It matches very well, but I personally would not paint my rear bumper with it, and especially not in my driveway. Ive used it for the chrome mustache and all of my emblems, nothing that already has a clearcoat and OEM paint. Its not like you just spray the damaged area and are done with it. You have to prep the entire area around the damaged area and blend the paint. Not to mention you are probably going to need some body filler if that scratch is as deep as you say.

I would go back and fight the dealership. Mind me asking which one? Why are you referencing Jacks? Are they claiming that a jack is what damaged it? Lets get some pics.

[JdsCoupe]

Automotive Touchup is good for things like grilles, emblems, accent pieces on the interior, small things like that. Painting things to match the OEM color that were NOT that color to begin with. It matches very well, but I personally would not paint my rear bumper with it, and especially not in my driveway. Ive used it for the chrome mustache and all of my emblems, nothing that already has a clearcoat and OEM paint. Its not like you just spray the damaged area and are done with it. You have to prep the entire area around the damaged area and blend the paint. Not to mention you are probably going to need some body filler if that scratch is as deep as you say.

I was talking about buying a new bumper and painting it. Not the damaged one.
In otherwords, should I
A. keep OEM bumper and let them fix it
B. buy AEM bumper and let them paint it
C. buy AEM bumper and paint it myself
obviously B and C depend on the price of the AEM bumper. Trying to spend as little as possible.

I would go back and fight the dealership. Mind me asking which one? Why are you referencing Jacks? Are they claiming that a jack is what damaged it? Lets get some pics.

Whoops totally forgot to put that in there. Well it's the only thing I can imagine that did it. It's almost as if they weren't paying attention and just dragged the jack against the bumper and pretended nothing happened. Anyway, it's dark now so I'll take some pictures in the morning. Dealership is a bunch of a-holes (not the first time I've had problems with them) and I will NEVER buy another car from them, let alone allow them to service it again. I went to Nissan of Hawthorne, the old O'brien one. The O'briens sold it to the people who own it now and it's gone downhill since.

[DJ_B_Easy]

Im going to wait to reply further until I see the pics...

[SanoSuKe]

Which dealer was it?

[JdsCoupe]

Im going to wait to reply further until I see the pics...

Here ya go:

Which dealer was it?

Nissan of Hawthorne

[DJ_B_Easy]

Yeah thats pretty deep man, looks like you are right down to bare plastic. And that is on the back of the rear bumper? Not the side of the rear bumper? Reason for asking is because if its on the back, I find it more unlikely the dealership did it. I would hope they dont use a regular floor jack but instead a scissor lift (much faster, if the dealership doesnt have one thats a little ridiculous) and they dont contact the rear of the car but instead sweep in under it from the side. But, if you are sure they did this I would raise all hell. Contact Nissan Corporate, get some big wigs in there.

If it doesnt work out, I would definitely NOT try to fix that yourself. I would also NOT try to paint an entire new rear bumper with Automotive Touchup rattle cans. Who quoted you $475? That seems a bit high to resurface the damaged area and reshoot it.

[SanoSuKe]

Okay after pics, I think imma go with option B

[JdsCoupe]

Yeah thats pretty deep man, looks like you are right down to bare plastic. And that is on the back of the rear bumper? Not the side of the rear bumper? Reason for asking is because if its on the back, I find it more unlikely the dealership did it. I would hope they dont use a regular floor jack but instead a scissor lift (much faster, if the dealership doesnt have one thats a little ridiculous) and they dont contact the rear of the car but instead sweep in under it from the side. But, if you are sure they did this I would raise all hell. Contact Nissan Corporate, get some big wigs in there.

If it doesnt work out, I would definitely NOT try to fix that yourself. I would also NOT try to paint an entire new rear bumper with Automotive Touchup rattle cans. Who quoted you $475? That seems a bit high to resurface the damaged area and reshoot it.

The problem is I know it wasn't there when I dropped the car off, but I didn't notice it until I got home. They're claiming it happened while I was driving home, which in my eyes, is absolutely impossible. Yes, it's on the back of the rear bumper, just above the right exhaust tip. I'm not 100% sure it was a jack, but it was something heavy enough to get that deep into the paint. I've tried raising hell to the manager of the dealership but he didn't want to hear anything about it. I suppose I'll try corporate, but I'm not holding my breath. As far as automotive touchup, I'd use a spray gun, not the aerosol cans.

Quote is from Bergen Passaic Collision, I've had work done there in the past and they do a real quality job.
The quote is as follows:
Remove and install: 2.2 hours of labor @ 50$/hr
Repair the bumper: 1 hour of labor @ 50$/hr
Supplies for repair: 3.2 hours @ 2$/hr
Paint bumper: 2.8 hours @ 50$/hr
Add clear coat: 1.1 hours @ 50$/hr
Paint supplies: 3.9 hours @ 28$/hr

When I added it up it came out to like $470.60, rounded it up to $475.

And Sano, any recommendations? I saw the ED rear and I'm not a fan. Can't find anyone else who makes an AEM offering.

[DJ_B_Easy]

The quote is as follows:
Remove and install: Remove the bumper yourself and bring it to them, reinstall it yourself when they are finished: Knock $110 off the estimate
Repair the bumper: 1 hour of labor @ 50$/hr
Supplies for repair: 3.2 hours @ 2$/hr
Paint bumper: 2.8 hours @ 50$/hr
Add clear coat: 1.1 hours @ 50$/hr
Paint supplies: 3.9 hours @ 28$/hr

FTFY. Unless your paint is rather old and faded and they are worried about matching to the OEM color, they wont need the entire car there.

All the other costs seem reasonable, as long as they are repainting the ENTIRE bumper and not just blending in to the areas that werent damaged.

Id still put a boot up the service manager's backside...

[JdsCoupe]

Suppose I could do that as well. I'm getting a dent on one of my doors fixed as well though (Freakin' Shopping Carts! ), so it might be worth the extra 110 to just let him do it since the car will be there already

[alphapig]

Quote is from Bergen Passaic Collision, I've had work done there in the past and they do a real quality job.
The quote is as follows:
Remove and install: 2.2 hours of labor @ 50$/hr
Repair the bumper: 1 hour of labor @ 50$/hr
Supplies for repair: 3.2 hours @ 2$/hr
Paint bumper: 2.8 hours @ 50$/hr
Add clear coat: 1.1 hours @ 50$/hr
Paint supplies: 3.9 hours @ 28$/hr

When I added it up it came out to like $470.60, rounded it up to $475.

Stick with the stock bumper.

You can take it off and put it back on yourself.

I paid ~$400 to have my Stillen fascia painted when I had it. If the shop REALLY needs to color match, you can leave your gas cap cover with them.

Hopefully that can save you ~$100.

Honestly though, I would just live with the scratch. It's not that noticeable, and if the repair is coming out of your own pocket you may as well wait for more scratches/dents to accumulate.

[JdsCoupe]

Quote is from Bergen Passaic Collision, I've had work done there in the past and they do a real quality job.
The quote is as follows:
Remove and install: 2.2 hours of labor @ 50$/hr
Repair the bumper: 1 hour of labor @ 50$/hr
Supplies for repair: 3.2 hours @ 2$/hr
Paint bumper: 2.8 hours @ 50$/hr
Add clear coat: 1.1 hours @ 50$/hr
Paint supplies: 3.9 hours @ 28$/hr

When I added it up it came out to like $470.60, rounded it up to $475.

Stick with the stock bumper.

You can take it off and put it back on yourself.

I paid ~$400 to have my Stillen fascia painted when I had it. If the shop REALLY needs to color match, you can leave your gas cap cover with them.

Hopefully that can save you ~$100.

Honestly though, I would just live with the scratch. It's not that noticeable, and if the repair is coming out of your own pocket you may as well wait for more scratches/dents to accumulate.

You can notice the scratch standing ~5-10 feet back from the car, moreso when the car is clean and it's sunny out. I'm not one to leave my car with imperfections of any kind. I'm thinking I might as well just buy my fascia and have him paint that + my grille/bumperettes while I'm there. Have to sit down and crunch some numbers and such, but I think I'm just going to get it fixed ASAP. Rather have my car look immaculate than have a scratch as horrible as that and be 500$ richer. I'll look into taking as many pieces off and putting them on as I can, but for 100$, it might be smarter to let them do it just in case the paint gets scratched or something breaks.