Front bumper repaint... $889.86

[womensecks]

So... I checked out a body shop locally that got such high praises, and was quoted $889.96 to repaint a front bumper... does this seem like a reasonable price?

Given he was going to remove it from the car, remove all bumper panels, repair chips yada yada, respray and clear?

LMK if I'm missing something here... I got sticker shock when he handed me the estimate.

If you're in the Irvine/OC area and know a place you can recommend... pray tell.

[Reelizmpro]

LOL...no. Is that with new fogs/gaskets/lights/bumper tape? Shop around. It's a front bumper, it will chip/scrape anyway, unless you get it wrapped.

[///Mflossin]

That is a "somewhat" fair price. It's hard to tell without seeing the bumper but the last time I had my bumper shot it was $700 and it needed little to no work other than stripping it completely. People just don't realize how expensive quality paint work is. To properly color match and take down the bumper there will be time involved and time is money. They'll probably haveh at least 8-10 hours into the bumper and that doesn't include paint/clear/prime and booth time. I'd tell him you can do cash (if you can) and see what he can do to price. My shop always offers a better cash price.

Keep in mind that includes the time to take R&I the bumper. I would also do that myself and then see what he says for price. He's probably getting you for an hour there as well. All in all....I think the price is fair.

[Carfantiti]

i paid 300.00

[///schwartzman]

Yeah... It can be done for half your quote... Contact Shant. Christian let him know where you got yours done...

[Tom64]

Remove the bumper yourself, this should save you some money as well.

[Freude Am Fahren]

890 is a felony. Remove the bumper yourself (2 bolts). Show him the green bills and start haggling at the rock bottom. My rock bottom is 150 bucks. Stop haggling and take your business elsewhere if you pass the 300 price range.

[///Mflossin]

890 is a felony. Remove the bumper yourself (2 bolts). Show him the green bills and start haggling at the rock bottom. My rock bottom is 150 bucks. Stop haggling and take your business elsewhere if you pass the 300 price range.

I had a laugh reading this. Good luck finding a reputable collision shop that would touch the bumper for a nickel under $500. They would just flat out turn the business away...it's not worth a minute of their time or aggravation dealing with somebody who doesn't want to pay.

[womensecks]

MFlossin, I completely understand where you are coming from in regards to what you've been saying. "Buy nice or buy twice" is my motto, but I just wanted to gauge what the 889.00 price tag entailed. This also includes a written lifetime satisfaction guarantee.

My car was already a repaint, so there are a couple layers of paint on the front bumper. He was going to bring it down due to a corner that was rubbed against in a parking lot, fill chips, replace gasket and bumper strips. Yes, R&I is included in that bill as well. Lord forbid someone paint my bumper while it was still on the car.

As for those claiming $150.00 rock-bottom... as mentioned, a quality paint job actually holds up through the weather. I've had my share of $200-300 hackjobs. I'm not saying that your $200-300 sprays were hackjobs, but in my personal experience they have been.

[///Mflossin]

MFlossin, I completely understand where you are coming from in regards to what you've been saying. "Buy nice or buy twice" is my motto, but I just wanted to gauge what the 889.00 price tag entailed. This also includes a written lifetime satisfaction guarantee.

My car was already a repaint, so there are a couple layers of paint on the front bumper. He was going to bring it down due to a corner that was rubbed against in a parking lot, fill chips, replace gasket and bumper strips. Yes, R&I is included in that bill as well. Lord forbid someone paint my bumper while it was still on the car.

As for those claiming $150.00 rock-bottom... as mentioned, a quality paint job actually holds up through the weather. I've had my share of $200-300 hackjobs. I'm not saying that your $200-300 sprays were hackjobs, but in my personal experience they have been.

Right.....you will be making the right decision. Some guys will come on here and say "oh yeah...the bumper is 2 bolts." Well it's 2 bolts but a bunch of other things. I think we can all say that bumper removal is easy but it takes time. Disconnect parking lights, turn signals and...oh btw, to do that you need to remove the wheels to also remove the undertray. Again, although easy this takes time and time is money. Then, once the bumper is off, the gaskets needs to be removed, the rivets need to be removed so that the bumper reinforcement can be removed etc. This is all part of the doing a correct paint job. a lot of the finish sanding won't be done by a DA but by hand. At the end of the day, there is labor/time involved in all of this. Then, as you mention, include a quality brand seal/prime, base & clear with a warranty and you get up there quickly.

I don't know...when it comes to paint and body work I have always found that you get what you pay for. There are SOOO many people out there that pretend to know how to do bodywork but there is a truly an art to great bodywork. Painting is the EASY part. A paint job is only as good as the bodywork underneath it. If you are overly concerned about the price but think it's fair, see what he will say to $800 cash. It might be worth a shot. Good luck!

[womensecks]

Thanks again for the input. Yeah, I've seen someone that had a 'bumper repaint' and the body gasket was actually painted over. Lazy much? And I've read all about spot-filling, which is definitely not the route I want to go, which is what most places will probably do for me in that lower price range.

[RDCD12]

I had a laugh reading this. Good luck finding a reputable collision shop that would touch the bumper for a nickel under $500. They would just flat out turn the business away...it's not worth a minute of their time or aggravation dealing with somebody who doesn't want to pay.

He'll find plenty of them... but when the color doesn't match good luck bringing that back and complaining. Or better yet when the paint starts to crack in 8 months. We all get what we pay for. $900 would probably leave me with some sticker shock as well, but when you want quality work, it comes with a price.

A great friend taught me a valuable lesson:

CHEAP
GOOD
FAST

Pick two, that's all you're gonna get.

Cheap & Fast = Shoddy work most of the times
Good & Fast = Wallet light syndrome
Cheap & Good = You're probably gonna be waiting a while, but hey it's cheap and good!

That being said, get some estimates from other reputable shops and look for referrals from friends or people on here.

[womensecks]

Yeah, and as I mentioned above, it's not just a simple respray. The bumper is scuffed where the paint actually rubbed off on the passenger side corner.

I know hard work takes time, and time is $$$. Just wanted to see who else knows of places that can do me a quality job, promise me [in writing] that they will match the color, and stand behind their work. From what I've been browsing online on other forums [MBZ / AUDI] an $800 isn't farfetched for quality work for a repair/repaint.

He also had an Aston Martin Vanquish and a Ferrari California sitting in there with front bumpers off... can't be too bad of a place. He also didn't try to sell me and told me I could look elsewhere if I wanted to but he guaranteed me his work would be top-notch!

[womensecks]

This place also has a 5 star rating on Yelp with over 75 reviews... that kinda says something, seeing as I saw no incentives posted in the shop/online for reviewing them.

[MauiM3Mania]

Not exactly the same car or time frame, but six years ago I had a new bumper painted and installed on my 04 M3. Best shop on the island and to this day, looks like factory. $500 for the labor/paint.