Small crack on rear bumper advice?

[cartyre]

Hello all

I just noticed a small crack about 3 inches on the rear bumper.

I spoke to mechanic and he said personally he would not repair it as it doesnt affect the light or any function of the vehicle.
May I ask others a few questions?

1) Can I can a 2nd opinion from others on what others would do? Repair - what type?, leave it?

2) Also if I did want to repair it, what would need to be done? What would my options be? From a patch up to a full repair etc? And likely costs?

3) What are possible ways this could have happened as I really don't know how it happened?

Edited by cartyre on Monday 20th April 12:17

[Derry Rhumba]

I'm not really sure I can help much other than "bump" your post back up the board by saying my 80 auntie year old just cracked her FRONT bumper by driving into a wall.

So maybe the answer to #3 is that you hit something.

Suppose someone with more knowledge will be along shortly.

And they might ask for a picture.

[RedLightGreenLight]

What car is it? A Bugatti, Ferrari F40 or a 15year Old Ford Fiesta which has done 100k miles on the clock and worth £500?

If it’s the later I would buy a pack of ‘Big Boy Fibre Glass Repair Kit’ and repair yourself, with some rattle spray can etc.

Depending on if you are happy with that on your Bugatti or F40 of course….

The damage might have been caused by your chauffeur reversing into the bollards outside the Monaco hotel maybe?

[dunc69]

RedLightGreenLight said:

What car is it? A Bugatti, Ferrari F40 or a 15year Old Ford Fiesta which has done 100k miles on the clock and worth £500?

If it s the later I would buy a pack of Big Boy Fibre Glass Repair Kit and repair yourself, with some rattle spray can etc.

Depending on if you are happy with that on your Bugatti or F40 of course .

The damage might have been caused by your chauffeur reversing into the bollards outside the Monaco hotel maybe?

Very helpful……..

Really?

[cartyre]

Thanks all..thought I had uploaded a pic. Anyway here it is.

[sherman]

A body shop will not fix that.
Its not worth the time and effort when a whole new bumper can be had for less than £500.

[Torquey]

Assuming you're not doing this yourself, you have 2 choices:
A smart repair - they'd probably glue a support behind it, fill it on the front, sand it, then paint it. Total guess at £150.

Body shop - they'd probably replace the bumper and paint it. Total guess at £900.

[Digger]

Is that the rental car?

[Mr Tidy]

If the car isn't anything that special I'd just live with it.

My 2005 BMW got a tap in the rear in 2023 that resulted in a couple of barely visible cracks in the rear bumper cover. A new one was £650 from BMW in primer, but the insurer of the car that hit me decided to make it a Cat N.



There was a similar crack on the other side too but you have to look really hard to see them and as the car still drove brilliantly I decided to keep it and treat it as patina!

[InitialDave]

cartyre said:

Thanks all..thought I had uploaded a pic. Anyway here it is.

I would remove the light, use a cheap soldering iron to "weld" it closed, sand/fill, then touch up.

[cartyre]

Mr Tidy said:

If the car isn't anything that special I'd just live with it.

My 2005 BMW got a tap in the rear in 2023 that resulted in a couple of barely visible cracks in the rear bumper cover. A new one was £650 from BMW in primer, but the insurer of the car that hit me decided to make it a Cat N.



There was a similar crack on the other side too but you have to look really hard to see them and as the car still drove brilliantly I decided to keep it and treat it as patina!

Thanks. That's very helpful.

I think may just treat it as patina,.unless by leaving it as it is will cause any issues? What do you think?

[Purosangue]

InitialDave said:

cartyre said:

Thanks all..thought I had uploaded a pic. Anyway here it is.

I would remove the light, use a cheap soldering iron to "weld" it closed, sand/fill, then touch up.

exactly this , it works

[Mr Tidy]

cartyre said:

Mr Tidy said:

If the car isn't anything that special I'd just live with it.

My 2005 BMW got a tap in the rear in 2023 that resulted in a couple of barely visible cracks in the rear bumper cover. A new one was £650 from BMW in primer, but the insurer of the car that hit me decided to make it a Cat N.



There was a similar crack on the other side too but you have to look really hard to see them and as the car still drove brilliantly I decided to keep it and treat it as patina!

Thanks. That's very helpful.

I think may just treat it as patina,.unless by leaving it as it is will cause any issues? What do you think?

Well 3 years later it hasn't been a problem!

But in your case I like the idea of heating it a bit and trying to "melt" it a bit, maybe some filler, then some rattle can action as it does stand out on your white car.

[Lester H]

Either ignore it or, if it gets on your nerves each time you see it, find a small street corner bodyshop and pay in cash .

[Pica-Pica]

Lester H said:

Either ignore it or, if it gets on your nerves each time you see it, find a small street corner bodyshop and pay in cash .

Treat it as a noble war wound.

[DaveF-SkinnysAutos]

Its a crack from either you reversing or someone reversing into you.

I own a bodyshop.

It's an easy repair, the crack would simply be plastic welded and then a small smart repair keeping it local is best value for money. Your other options are:

DIY, if so crack on.
Get the entire bumper resprayed and repaired, as a smart repair 'can' lead to failure in years to come but its unlikely.
Get a brand new bumper and get it resprayed and installed.

If you don't want to live with it, then Its an easy repair for a mobile Smart repairer, send them some pictures, or call into a local bodyshop and ask them to quote for you. Its your choice on how far you want to take it and what your expectations are against budget and value of the car.

[Purosangue]

Torquey said:

Assuming you're not doing this yourself, you have 2 choices:
A smart repair - they'd probably glue a support behind it, fill it on the front, sand it, then paint it. Total guess at £150.

Body shop - they'd probably replace the bumper and paint it. Total guess at £900.

you would be surprised how much they charge


case in point wife managed to reverse into a brick wall

this was the damage





knew the rear bumper was toast , so before i went to a bodyshop i did a bit of research . I found a very good second hand one in the correct paint locally for £150 . the Light replacement from ebay £40 . and colour matched paint £25 ,, plus sundries like bumper clips.

roughly £240 .

then i went to a local bodyshop .I said this is not an insurance claim how much for the repair £3,600 plus VAT so £4,320 .

researched removal of rear bumper , its really not that hard , using a clip removal tool several torx screws 13mm screws and removal of inner wheel liners



the plastic retaining bracket on the far right was cracked , I used a soldering iron to melt the plastic , reform the shape then melted more plastic to fill the bond . it ended up rock solid .



replacement bumper arrived . i rubbed down the paint where it had contacted the wall lightly filled sanded then applied primer and paint

refitted replacement light fitting .

ive still to add top coat , but the paint is an excellent match








saved £4, 000



for the ops damage



I would remove the light fitting
Then from underneath insert a plastic strip under the damaged section and clamp with with mole grips , so the cracked section is flush

. then using a solder mould the new plastic strip into the bumper , soldering underneath and along the crack . then sand , fill , prime and paint , re install light fitting.

Edited by Purosangue on Thursday 23 April 00:37

[DaveF-SkinnysAutos]

Purosangue said:

you would be surprised how much they charge

knew the rear bumper was toast , so before i went to a bodyshop i did a bit of research . I found a very good second hand one in the correct paint locally for £150 . the Light replacement from ebay £40 . and colour matched paint £25 ,, plus sundries like bumper clips.

roughly £240 .

then i went to a local bodyshop .I said this is not an insurance claim how much for the repair £3,600 plus VAT so £4,320 .

ive still to add top coat , but the paint is an excellent match

Edited by Purosangue on Thursday 23 April 00:37

I am going to defend the bodyshop here slightly. The work you have put in, and the end result is amazing and absolute fair play, that is what this community is all about.

But, a bodyshop is a business, they are never going to spend the hours you did in seeking out a secondhand one on eBay and buying aftermarket parts from EBay. They will be quoting on approved parts. In relation to painting, you state you haven t applied a top coat yet? I dont fully understand what you mean, but for example if the damage on the rear quarter panel needed painting then the entire quarter panel needs lacquer, and that means painting all the over the top of the doors and all the way down to the bottom of the A frame, or the lacquer will simply peel off down the road. You have to put lacquer on top of base?

I absolutely admire and support helping, and getting best value, but with that comes some compromises that a business cant give a warranty on.

In relation to the OP s damage, that s absolutely repairable if your a confident DIYer and arent expecting a show finish, it always ultimately comes down to communication with the customer to understand expectations and budgets and what compromises can be made.