Body coloured bumpers
Poll: Body coloured bumpers
Total Members Polled: 65
Discussion
The body coloured bumper consider it for a moment.
Isn't a frankly stupid idea on many cars.
It has taken the low speed touch from a moment of tiny inconvenience to a body shop job and a day off work.
The wifes Forester has lovely grey plastic bumpers and its great as you can knock gates open with it, reverse up to trailers etc and so on without a worry in the world as if you get a scrape on the bumper its grey plastic it won't make a difference.
The new forester has body coloured bumper and if you even thought about doing any of the above it would be a phone call to the bodyshop.
So should the body coloured bumper return?
But i will admit an Aston would look silly with grey plastic
Isn't a frankly stupid idea on many cars.
It has taken the low speed touch from a moment of tiny inconvenience to a body shop job and a day off work.
The wifes Forester has lovely grey plastic bumpers and its great as you can knock gates open with it, reverse up to trailers etc and so on without a worry in the world as if you get a scrape on the bumper its grey plastic it won't make a difference.
The new forester has body coloured bumper and if you even thought about doing any of the above it would be a phone call to the bodyshop.
So should the body coloured bumper return?
But i will admit an Aston would look silly with grey plastic
I think it should be an option on most cars. I would prefer the Jeep to have grey plastic but that would look daft on the MR2.
It's annoying that people seem incapable of parking next to the jeep without hitting it. My ideal would be heavy duty off road bumpers with a steel serated edge to teach the feckers!
It's annoying that people seem incapable of parking next to the jeep without hitting it. My ideal would be heavy duty off road bumpers with a steel serated edge to teach the feckers!
What's a bumper?
Is it something you need to mitigate for other people not being terrific at parking?
Etid to add: My MX5 has a rubbish satin black paint job. When I returned to it while It was parked on a street I found the back bumper on the floor behind the car. I cable tied it back on and blew over some more satin black from a rattle can - total cost less than 10p and 5 minutes. I was very gald I hadn't parked the Elise there.
Is it something you need to mitigate for other people not being terrific at parking?
Etid to add: My MX5 has a rubbish satin black paint job. When I returned to it while It was parked on a street I found the back bumper on the floor behind the car. I cable tied it back on and blew over some more satin black from a rattle can - total cost less than 10p and 5 minutes. I was very gald I hadn't parked the Elise there.
Edited by Captain Muppet on Wednesday 23 January 08:26
Unpainted plastic bumpers used to look good on older cars which tended to have slim bumpers. Eg;
New cars however, have very large bumpers, which when not body coloured, look terrible. Case in point, the small new Dacia Sandero. The front bumper alone is as large as an entire mk1 Golf.
Personally, I think unpainted bump strips are best on modern cars. You can still nudge gates open or park ineptly, and since the unpainted bits are most prominent, you don't damage the painted surfaces. The small area of unpainted plastic is not too unsightly.
PS: can we have a "unpainted bump strip" option in the poll?
New cars however, have very large bumpers, which when not body coloured, look terrible. Case in point, the small new Dacia Sandero. The front bumper alone is as large as an entire mk1 Golf.
Personally, I think unpainted bump strips are best on modern cars. You can still nudge gates open or park ineptly, and since the unpainted bits are most prominent, you don't damage the painted surfaces. The small area of unpainted plastic is not too unsightly.
PS: can we have a "unpainted bump strip" option in the poll?
In fairness, when I had an R5 GT Turbo, the grey parts were easily kept shiny and new with a weekly application of something like back to black. It's only when you stop putting protection on them that they fade.
Good tip too is that faded bumpers can be brought back to life by rubbing peanut butter on them.
Personally I prefer paint as plastic bumpers tend to scuff up/melt so look even worse than scratched paint.
I'm all for the rubber strip inserts being used.
Good tip too is that faded bumpers can be brought back to life by rubbing peanut butter on them.
Personally I prefer paint as plastic bumpers tend to scuff up/melt so look even worse than scratched paint.
I'm all for the rubber strip inserts being used.
If you've got black plastic trim that's gone a bit faded, rather than keep using back to black etc, try some of this stuff: http://gtechniq.com/shop/3s-for-cars/exterior-coat...
Great results that last for ages.
Great results that last for ages.
thinfourth2 said:
Codswallop said:
New cars however, have very large bumpers, which when not body coloured, look terrible. Case in point, the small new Dacia Sandero. The front bumper alone is as large as an entire mk1 Golf.
I'm odd as i like thatA certain charm
"Weird Crushes - PistonHeads"
jamei303 said:
My Focus (body coloured bumper) was hit side-on at the rear and at very low speed by a Transit Connect (grey plastic bumper)
Focus repair bill: £1600, inc £400 for rear bumper of the right colour.
Transit Connect repair bill: £0
Have you thought carefully about whether this proves anything at all?Focus repair bill: £1600, inc £400 for rear bumper of the right colour.
Transit Connect repair bill: £0
Large commercial vehicle strikes "designed to be hit" front onto small car from the "not really designed to be hit" side where it doubtless damaged the panel and tore off the bumper.
I found that a new Mondeo painted bumper was around £450 but respraying the old one was £250. Ultimately, I didn't bother with either and have endured the scrapes. It's only vanity....
I'm surprised we haven't started impregnating plastic with colours by now, especially on bumpers. Fiesta's, Corsa's etc. could have a handful of basic colours on the lower-spec 'shopping' models, minimising costs in a low-speed prang.
I appreciate that a colour match between painted metal panel and coloured plastic isn't wonderful, but this would be on cheap low-end cars and vans, where the owners often wouldn't give a flying fig about colour matching!
I appreciate that a colour match between painted metal panel and coloured plastic isn't wonderful, but this would be on cheap low-end cars and vans, where the owners often wouldn't give a flying fig about colour matching!
C.A.R. said:
I'm surprised we haven't started impregnating plastic with colours by now, especially on bumpers. Fiesta's, Corsa's etc. could have a handful of basic colours on the lower-spec 'shopping' models, minimising costs in a low-speed prang.
I appreciate that a colour match between painted metal panel and coloured plastic isn't wonderful, but this would be on cheap low-end cars and vans, where the owners often wouldn't give a flying fig about colour matching!
They did this on Citroens in the 80s. BXs and AXs got colour-close bumpers which improved things although I can't quite recall if the white ones got whiteish bumpers or grey. My guess is that it is cheaper to make them all one colour and spray them (as cars have to be painted anyway)than to try and supply different colours.I appreciate that a colour match between painted metal panel and coloured plastic isn't wonderful, but this would be on cheap low-end cars and vans, where the owners often wouldn't give a flying fig about colour matching!
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