Rocket254

Well, it happened. After months of holding out, I made a supply run to a Wal-Mart. I parked as far away as I could. This morning on the way to work, I noticed some cuts in the horizontal top part of my bumper. (2008 California Special) Without a doubt key marks. A good 6 inch line in front of my drivers side headlight and 3 straight marks right in the middle that looks as if someone took the tip of a knife and made the cuts. (The paint and plastic is flipped up)

So now, what is the best course of action? Can this be fixed? Is it something I need to do out of pocket or is this an insurance case?

Any help will be appreciated, Thanks.

MustangFirstCar

Ok, here is what you do. First, get a decent camera and post some pictures for us. We can't help without knowing what we are dealing with. Second, try and feel the scratch with your finger nails. If you can feel it (which, if the paint is flipped up, you probably can) then there is probably no way you are going to repair it. If that is the case, find bodyshops (NOT DEALERSHIPS) and get some quotes on stripping and repainting the bumper. If they don't charge atleast 3 hours of paint time, stay away. As for insurance, it won't really be of any consequence to you. Even if insurance did cover that kind of damage, to repaint it will probably be around 300 bucks, and your downpayment will take up almost if not all of the price. Tell the bodyshop that you want them to sand and buff it to match the orange peel or you will end up with mismatched paint.

If you CAN'T feel the scratch, you can definitely save it. Pick up a porter cable polisher (XP) and do some research on polish. My personal favorite is Adams polishes, but you will get different opinions from everyone and their brother. You should be able to correct it with a few passes of a medium-grade polish and pad. You might have to wetsand, in which case you should pick up some 2000 and 2500 grit paper from a body shop and get to wetsanding.

If you can feel the scratch and still want to try and correct it, go pick up the sandpaper I mentioned. Wetsanding is pretty easy, after all, I am a 17 year old kid and I am damn good at it, so read a few tutorials and get to work. You will need a polisher to get rid of the wetsanding damage, but you should buy one anyway just to maintain your vehicle's paint. Be very careful not to wetsand through your clearcoat, but remember that if you mess up, you were going to have to get a repaint anyways.

If you have any more questions about polishing, wetsanding, insurance, dealing with bodyshops, etc, don't hesitate to ask.

07 Stang

That sucks that someone did that to your car! Just makes you want to get one of those Trunk Monkeys!
Keep us posted on your progress.

Art161

If you have comprehensive insurance, then it's covered except for the deductible. Find out if the insurance company will increase your premium if you make a claim. They often do for collision claims, but a lot do not for comprehensive claims.