[MCRacing524]

My wife was sitting in a yield lane waiting on traffic when someone was not looking in front of them but rather looking to see if they could merge without stopping...whammo into the rear. Suprisingly enough it only scuffed the paint in a couple of places, but something in the front of the other vehicle punctured thru my license plate and into the bumper. I called the dealer today to check on a new bumper. They said they only sell primed bumpers and they don't have a paint booth so they take it somewheres else to have it painted. I'm not to happy with this because painters that have done work for me in the past always did shitty jobs leaving (orange peel, over spray of either paint or the clear coat). So does anyone know of any place I can get a stock bumper already painted in the Ti color. I don't want them to try and blend into the rest of the car because this is where they always mess it up. So any idea's?

 

[icspots]

I'm not sure of where you could get a pre-painted bumper beyond maybe a junk yard. It seems like you don't need a pre-painted piece so much as you need to find a body shop that does quality work. I've had body work done on my wife's car, and their painting was good enough that if I didn't tell you it'd had work done you'd never know about it.

Where are you located? Try asking on your local area board for people's suggestions on good body shops. Also you can ask your insurance company as they usually have a list of shops they use. Beyond that shouldn't the other person's insurance be paying for this?

 

[danger mouse]

Try
http://www.car-part.com/index.htm
might be able to find a bumper

 

[MCRacing524]

Yeah the other persons insurance will be taking care of it, the problem is I figured I could have received a bumper painted already since the car is only a couple of years old but evidently that is not the case and they only offer primered bumpers and then you have to match paint the bumper. There is where the problem lies...I've never had a body shop do it to my satisfactory...they either have left orange peel, overspray of either paint or clear coat into the blended body panels. I even had a company tell me the warped part of the plastic body part would work back into shape if I let it set in the sun. I laughed and said BS I work for an plastic injection molding company that makes car parts and once they are warped they are warped...that is the reason why they are sometimes put on cooling fixtures and then packaged a certain way...he looked at me in a stuper trying to figure out what he was going to say next. As far as I'm concerned most body shops are right along side insurance company's as far as rippin people off. Not all but the ones I've had experience with have. Now I know a really really good painter but he works for a Dodge dealership and not sure how that would work out I'll have to get a hold of him and see if he could do it...I guess bottom line is it's up to me where the work is done so maybe I'll just have Mazda do the inspection and the remove and replace of parts, then take it to the guy I know of and have him do the painting if he can do it at work. I know that the body parts of our cars are painted by robots on a paint line so a certain amount of paint and clear coat are used, so it's hard to find a good painter that can match paint body parts. Now if they can just paint the bumper and it match well enough I'd be happy with that...I just dont want them trying to blend it into the other body panels.

 

[No Clue]

I have been down that road as well. I was rear ended about a year ago. I too was concerned about the paint match. I went to several paint shops in my area. I told them exactly what I expected and asked them if they could pull it off. If they couldn't answer me I went down the road. I finally found a small paint shop that had a painter who had been painting for over 25 years that said they could make it look showroom new. I let them know what I expected and if it wasn't right I would be back to have it redone.I told them that I wanted all new parts.The damage was bad enough to warrant them. They had the car for 4 days. I got her back in the evening time so I couldn't see the paint well. So I took her. Well I woke up the next day and the paint didnt match. Don't get angry at this point it will only make things worse. (Go calmly back in and talk to the owner or agent) So you guessed it I went back and as I pulled up the owner was there .The first thing out of his mouth was "too dark isn't it". I said yes it just didnt match. He said no problem and that they would redo it . So I left the car for another 3 days. He called me and told me to come get the car. Before all this I had told him that I wanted to have my engine covers painted soon as well. I showed up and the car was perfect. I mean I couldn't tell. He went over the car with me to make sure I was happy. Then he told me because of the mess up the first time he had my engine covers painted for free. The main thing is find someone you trust. Get to know the owner and BE HONEST. Tell them what you want and they will tell you what they can do to make that happen. If they know you wont settle for anything but perfection they wont try to pull a fast one on you. Don't be in a hurry to get the car back . When you go to pick her up go over all the work done with a fine tooth comb . Stand back away from the car to see the picture as a whole. Preferably with the shop owner or agent so they know what you do and dont like about the job. That way if your not happy they will know why and how to make it right. Hope this helps Good Luck............................. Clue

 

[MCRacing524]

Yeah that's what I'm trying to avoid is the 4 days here 3 days there. This is my work vehicle and normally I don't let anyone drive it because of this exact inncident...but it was one of those moments where her car was buried in the driveway due to company over and I said just take my car. Anyway, I travel a lot with work kind of like a salesman would only I'm in service. So it's my bread and butter because I get paid mileage. Well if I'm in the office all week no problem, but this month is looking busy some driving and some flying. I guess they will just have to provide me with a rental car and I'll either claim the mileage or give an invoice to the insurance company for loss of income since the mileage is mainly for your own personal car...not sure how that works if your using a rental. I guess I'll just do what I have to do to get it done right but done in a decent amount of time. That's the other problem LMAO is it's been cold and rainy here in Georgia so that means a lot of dumbass's running into people so hopefully the shops won't be to backed up.

 

[No Clue]

Well look at it this way do you want fast or good?? The other persons insurance should pay for a rental. So you wont have to deal with no car. My 3 is the only car I have so the rental was a must. but be patient and get it done right. .............. Clue

 

[MCRacing524]

Yeah I know and I totally agree with what your saying...guess more then anything I needed to vent a tad, and secondly to see what routes others had gone. Thanks for the input. I just hate dealing with this shit for this ho bag's ignorance...I hate dealing with this kind of crap because I never know when I'm going to be in town to get things done.

 

[krstofer]

I got hit twice with my car and both times the paint was done well. Well, the first time it started to chip, but there was a lifetime warranty and they fixed it. The job came out good as new. The only thing about getting a prepainted bumper is if the color variation is the slightest bit off, it will be noticable because there is not blending.

Call the insurance company and ask who they work with. If the shop is bad, they most likely would have gotten complaints and will not work with them anymore.

You didn't say where you are from?

 

[MCRacing524]

[quote author=krstofer link=topic=65949.msg1131854#msg1131854 date=1167871923]
I got hit twice with my car and both times the paint was done well. Well, the first time it started to chip, but there was a lifetime warranty and they fixed it. The job came out good as new. The only thing about getting a prepainted bumper is if the color variation is the slightest bit off, it will be noticable because there is not blending.

Call the insurance company and ask who they work with. If the shop is bad, they most likely would have gotten complaints and will not work with them anymore.

You didn't say where you are from?
[/quote]

I'm in Woodstock, Ga.

 

[kendalf]

No matter what, it seems like you're going to have to have a body shop or paint shop paint the replacement bumper. Since you mentioned that your car is several years old, some color change has most likely occured, and the color of the rest of your car would not match a brand new factory painted bumper.

 

[someguy]

Here's a tip

nevermind. :mrgreen:

 

[alex2004m3]

i destroyed the back of my car, and i cant post pics cuz i dont know how but, the guys who did it supposedly had a million years expierience and everyone i know goes there, so they managed to match black mica, perfectly. i cant tell where the accident happend at all. u gotta see who uses a computer to match the color, cuz thats what he did. i dont know.

 

[mattleegee]

I bought a OEM bumper from a Mazda dealer for under $500 painted to match the car and shipped to my house. They are a sponser, let me know

 

[Zoom~JC~Zoom]

MC,

We sympathize with you wholeheartedly Read on...
My wife Irene and I were fully stopped at a yield sign a week ago when an 18 year old driver using his cell phone and driving his moms lexus plowed into us at a high rate of speed. He never even hit his breaks. There were no skid marks in the street. He destroyed the back of our M3 (See Before and after pics). We bought the car a year ago and we take excellent care of it. As you can see from the before Pic, we've even had custom painting done. Its really sad that no matter how careful you are, you cant account for what other people will, or will not do. Some people will just do whatever they want while driving and not think twice about the consequences. Unfortunatly, Those consequences involve innocent people more often than not. Granted, accidents can and will happen, but its that much worse when someone is distracted by being on a cellphone or putting on makeup or eating. Pick your poison, The results are usually the same...lots of damage to the car if you're lucky and lots of damage to you and/or your loved ones if you're not. I'm sorry I dont have an answer about the bumper, but Im sure the guys and gals on this forum have plenty of advice for you. I just wanted to drop this post to let you know that you are not alone. I hope all goes well with the repairs. Good Luck. ~JC~

Here is our baby a few weeks ago before the accident. A few parking scratches are visable to the left of the license plate but otherwise pristine

And Here is the result of an Unattentive young driver in his moms lexus ;(

 

[MCRacing524]

Yup well it's going pretty much like I figured a big PITA. I dropped the car off last Thursday, and it should have been done by the end of the next day. Well turned out I had an emergency call that I had to run out of state on Friday. So I called the shop to let them know that I wouldn't be able to pick it up on Friday unless they were going to be done then I'd send someone by themself to the customer. Well, they said we found more damage but nothing major but it was to the bumper filler and they were waiting to hear back from the insurance company. They said we'll call them again to see if we can get approval. So I call back a couple of hours later to see what the insurance company said...and he said they still hadn't called them back. So I call the insurance company and the woman tells me that they probably won't hear nothing back from them because it can take 2 days to get approval. I told her they don't have 2 days...I use the car for work and I travel for work in that car...and I get paid mileage when I do. So I told her with the rental car I cannot collect mileage because it is not my car that I am putting wear and tear or depreciation on. I told her if they wanted to pay me for my loss of wages for having to use a rental car then I'd be glad to send them my expense reports. She called me back a couple of hours later and told me she had contacted the collision shop and gave them the approval. So I call today to see where the collision center is on my car and he said they are still waiting and the insurance co called them last friday to say they were going to send someone down to inspect the damage. Well nobody has shown up, and if they didn't by noon today they were not going to be able to get to my car at all today and said it would be Wed. or Thurs. before they could get to it again. I have to fly to Florida to help out our office down there so now I'll be gone from tomorrow evening until Fri. evening...so now I won't have my car back or be able to inspect for my acceptance until next week, which means if there is something that I don't like it would be another day or so after that. Uggg, and I hate my frickin rental car...it's a Dodge Caliber with some jacked up trans that works like a dang snowmobile...runs like the trans is slipping so it takes some time to get used too. So what should have taken 2 days to take care of...is now taking almost 2 weeks!

 

[MCRacing524]

Well, looks like the insurance company don't know how to get from A to B...I talked to the shop to check the insurance agency story about sending out a inspector to look at the cars extra damage. The shop said...yeah they came out but it was later in the morning then the insurance guy told you...but no worries your car is being cleaned up as we speak and should be ready in about 45mins. So I was pleased, and hopefully I won't find any discrepencies in their work...all will be well hopefully, and I'll have my little 3 to go zippin around in again. yeeeeaaaayyy Did I mention I hate my rental LMAO