Hi everybody, this is my first post. My name Jerry and I own a 2008 Sonata Limited. Yesterday while sitting at a stoplight a lady ran into the back of me damaging the bumper. While it's not cracked, her license plate frame and screws that hold it on made an imprint on my bumper. The screws put two small gouges in it. My question is what would be the suggested repair? Replacement of the bumper or repair of the bumper. I know in the past painting these flexible bumpers was always a problem in that it the paint would eventually crack and peel and flake off. I don't know if they have finally come up with a way to repair and repaint these bumpers or not. Any advice would be appreciated.

I see a new bumper in your future. No repair here. Is she going to pay?

Welcome Jerry!

If I were paying out of pocket...I would get a new bumper skin and have it painted. There is no reason paint should be a problem.

If insurance is writing it up, they will likely replace the whole bumper.

We had the exact thing happen to us 3 weeks ago. A pickup truck ran into the back of us while stopped at a RED stop light. The license plate screw from the pickup actually penetrated the car bumper. I am going to have it repaired tomorrow. I was told repairing the bumper is as good as new and is guaranteed for life of the car.

Jerry, 1st welcome to the forum.

To answer your questions...

1. IMO, based on the photo, it doesn't look as if the screws penetrated your bumper although I can almost tell you where she bought her car. If it is going to go through insurance, it will most likely be repaired as the damage isn't enough to warrant replacement. Materials and labor to repair will be far less than the cost of a new bumper. Even if the bumper was pierced by the screws, it can be patched from the inside and noone(except you) would know by looking at it. Again, this is just from viewing the photo, so I could be wrong.

2. As far as the paint, use a quality bodyshop and you shouldn't have a problem. Like aerostar said, repair should be guaranteed for life of the car. In today's paint systems, there are adhesion promoters to help keep the paint on the bumper, also, flex agents to keep the paint from cracking. The bigger problem is in the actual color match. Hyundais are notorious in the paint world for being difficult to match. But again, if you use a good shop, you won't have a problem.

Another thing is to make sure they check the mounting brackets as they may have bent from the impact.

I've got one just like that, but not quite so deep.

Bumper cover was around $500, paint would cost $100-300, then install....
I ended up taking pity on the poor kid who ran into me, he was 17, just fresh driver and felt so bad.

I figure when I get the whole car repainted with duck and beaver killing paint I'll ebay some front and rear bumper covers for $100 each :)

I went through this myself recently.

My initial thoughts were that if I had it repaired they will make it look as good as new. The downside is that if you bang into the bumper with something (hopefully not another car) the bonding agent that they use to fill the holes may crack easily. (I guess its not as flexible as the rest of the bumper)

In the end I found out that if the bumper is torn or ripped, then it can get replaced by the insurance company. The cost for the whole thing was around 700.00 for the repair. To simple fix the bumper was around 500.00 (there's more manual labor that has to be done by the shop

I got an OEM bumper and paint. Looks good as new and should last for the life of the car.

I would NOT recommend bringing the car to the other person's insurance company. Let your body shop deal with them after you discuss what you'd prefer as the repair of the car. :thumbsup:

Tom

Thanks everyone for your help and input. I'm taking it Thursday for estimates to two shops that came highly recommended. We'll see what they say.

Thanks again,

J

Cuj,
I personally would settle for no less than a new cover. As long as she is payin'. :thumbsup:

I just had my rear bumper repaired and painted. It looks as good as new.

I just got two estimates yesterday. To repair it would be $492.87. To replace the bumper would $771.00. I have to call the girl today. I'm going for the replacement. The car only has 7800 miles on it. I want it to look like new not patched up. Thanks again everybody.

Jerry

with less than 10k miles on it, i would want it replaced instead of repaired too!!