Nasty Scratch on my new RDX!

[aaronhere]

I just noticed a jagged scratch (2" x 1/8") on my front bumper that's down to the plastic! I'm really pissed (my RDX is less than a month old).

I'd rather not report it to insurance to have the entire bumper painted, so I'm thinking of touching it up myself and I have a couple of questions...

- In addition to the basecoat (Carbon Bronze Pearl) should I use a primer and clearcoat?

- Where should I buy the paint and about how much should it cost?

I've never done any car touch-ups before, so any advice would be appreciated.

[spyder5786]

You can get the paint and clearcoat from your dealer. They should give it to you for free out of goodwill.

You need to be very patient and very gentle when applying it. I couldn't do it myself properly, so I had a body shop do it and they fixed it perfectly.

[aaronhere]

Originally Posted by spyder5786

You can get the paint and clearcoat from your dealer. They should give it to you for free out of goodwill.

You need to be very patient and very gentle when applying it. I couldn't do it myself properly, so I had a body shop do it and they fixed it perfectly.

Thanks for replying. Sounds like doing a decent touch-up isn't easy. The two reputable body shops I went to refused to touch it up; they would only paint the entire front bumper. The estimates were $800 - $900, so even if I report it to my insurance co., it would still cost me my $500 deductable. Furthermore, both shops told me that they wouldn't guaranty that the refinished bumper wouldn't be slightly ligher or darker than the rest of the car!

I'll drive to my Acura dealer after work on Monday and see what they suggest.

[spyder5786]

Originally Posted by aaronhere

Thanks for replying. Sounds like doing a decent touch-up isn't easy. The two reputable body shops I went to refused to touch it up; they would only paint the entire front bumper. The estimates were $800 - $900, so even if I report it to my insurance co., it would still cost me my $500 deductable. Furthermore, both shops told me that they wouldn't guaranty that the refinished bumper wouldn't be slightly ligher or darker than the rest of the car!

I'll drive to my Acura dealer after work on Monday and see what they suggest.

Wow, that's absolutely outrageous. I had a very long scratch on my door that ran pretty much into the metal - i scraped it on a brick wall trying to pull into a really narrow space - think I had it fixed for $300, and they did an absoutely perfect job.

[integra_guy]

I had to use touch up paint before, it was only a small scratch, but even thought it was less then a inch (I was going to use it on other scratch I had around the car) but I couldn't apply it correctly, so I bought a touch pen, which worked pretty good, and it was a lot easier to use vs the touch up with the brush.

[SinCity]

Are there any dedicated bumper repair only shops in your town? We have a shop called "Bumpermedic" and they only repair bumpers. Much cheaper than a bodyshop.

[mav238]

I repaired a 0.5" x 1/8" scratch on my right side rearview mirror, using touch-up paint, 200 grit sandpaper for wet applications.

steps.
1. clean the area with car shamppo to remove any extra grit and dirt.

2. Mark off the area with sanding masking tape

3. Apply the touch up paint in thin layers over the scratched area

4. Make sure the paint layers are above the scratched area. Allow for ample drying time in between layers.

5. Make up some car shampoo solution and dip the 2000 grit sandpaper into the soap solution and very gently sand the area down. Stopping every 10 secs to wet the sandpaper again. Do this until you see that the touched up area is "level" with the unscratched area. This takes practice. So if it;s not perfect the first time, start from the beginning again.

6. Finally, the sanded area will look a little scuffed up, don't worry, simply get some Meguiar's Scratch-X and polish it out. The scuff marks will not be seen. Make sure you apply wax over the finished area.

It worked for me, if you are willing to spend 3 hours to get it done properly.

[OrangeMarlin]

I had a BMW M3 where I just kept hitting the front bumper against curbs. It was looking pretty nasty, so someone suggested Aerocolours, which is a franchised outfit that was located near me in California. They drove to my office, and they have some cool computer paint system. My bumper was perfect. I then asked them to repair some chips in my hood. Perfect. I think it cost me around $300 a couple of years ago. You can find them here:

http://www.aerocolours.com/services.html

I'm not endorsing them or anything, it just worked for me. I don't do my own touch-ups anymore. I've had everything from my BMW R1200C to a Porsche touched up by them.