Marshjn

Hi all,

This morning I noticed a front bumper damage which I think is caused by lawncare tools or dolly. The car was parked in the garage yesterday but the house owner (my roomate) opened it for the lawncare people yesterday morning. They have put their tools and dolly near the car with the garage open all day. I'm thinking they might have bumped into it when they moved around. Wanted to see what are my options fixing this and the price involved. I'm in Troy, Michigan. Any recommended bodyshops in Michigan ? 🙁😟

vbdenny

I’d just touch it up. Way down there, nobody but you will notice.

Foosh

Any body shop could make that largely disappear without having to re-spray the entire chin and for minimal cost. Spot paint and blending should work on that color, and a minor color variation isn't going to be noticeable in that area.

It depends upon your tolerance level for imperfections. Some would be OK with just touch-up paint and would quickly forget about it. Others would go crazy focusing on it every time they looked at the car.

red62vette

Yellow is easy to touch up so I would try that first. Get some 3M Imperial Hand Glaze and clean up as much of the black mark as you can. Then touch up the scrape. You can use touch up paint from GM, but I find it's better to get a small container of paint from an auto body supply shop. The touch up paint is too thick IMO, but you can reduce the other paint to thin it and layer it on to look really good. If that doesn't look good (you will still have the small dent) or if you don't want to deal with it, I agree with Foosh that it would be an easy repair for a body shop and they would only need to paint that wing. My guess is $150, and it would look perfect. And you should flick the gardeners in the head and tell them to be more careful around your car.

Marshjn

Thanks guys for the information. Touch up would be good option as I'm okay with a little imperfections but it also has a crack / dent kinda damage. Took it a reputable body shop (which I have dealt with them in the past), he quoted 400$. Work involved is removing the bumper as the dent needs to be pushed from inside, repair, repaint to match. Shop has computerized painting equipments and has done great job on my other cars. Is that a right amount ?

Foosh

OK, you didn't mention the structural damage earlier. It can still be repaired like new, but it will require extra labor in working with the filler material. $400 is a good price, and it would have been about $150-200 for sanding and painting only.

vbdenny

Depends on how much you want to spend. Sure a body shop vould make it perfect but maybe a little dab of the fine body filler. Stuff comes in a tube and just enough to fill the crack. Touch up with color matched paint. I doubt anyone would ever notice. Dr. colorchip is one online place to get the paint. Dealership probably sells it as well.

Foosh

Just FYI, the sheet molded compound (SMC) the C7 panels are made of requires a specific type of body filler, and I don't have the spec handy at the moment. You can't just use any old body filler.

Marshjn

Got it. Im going to go with the body shop because of the dent/crack damage. Il ask one more estimate before deciding. Should I inform the shop about the specific SMC compound or would they know it if they have worked in vette's in the past ?

TEXHAWK0

They hit it pretty hard to actually cause a dent on the edge which is fairly stiff. Any filler that will not flex/expand with the bumper material may crack and look worse. I would probably get body shop to fix it.

Marshjn

il check it. I have touched up in the past for the rock chips. This time it's a little bigger and has cracks/dents, dint want to try and mess it up

subsailor74

Please let me know which way you decide to go and how much it costs. I have a similar ding on the bumper of my Admiral Blue Stingray, It happened in a parking lot, but no idea who/what hit it.

Foosh

Yes, have a friendly conversation and ask if they have repaired C7 body panels before. Mention to them that GM is using a new lightweight SMC panel compound and has particular specs for fillers to be used in repairing these panels. Any good body shop will either already be aware of that, or they will check the GM specs for C7 SMC body panel repair.

red62vette

The fenders are SMC but are the bumpers? They may be constructed of a standard bumper material.

Marshjn

I am sorry to hear that. I will let keep you posted for sure

Glenmcp

Stuff happens. It will cost a few dollars to fix. Take it to a good body shop. Trying to fix it yourself is not likely to turn out well.

carsnpars

AORoads

I agree; that's not just a little hit to cause a dent. Quick question: is the/that part of the bumper actually SMC? Doesn't the bumper have to be quite flexible as well as the paint that covers it?

Marshjn

Update: Second body shop quoted double the price. They also said they might damage the emblem or front grille while front bumper removal and if they do, they are not responsible as it's part of the process. I was like wtf. So decided to go with the first bodyshop. Getting it done next Friday. Hopefully it gets fixed like it never happened ✌

Zymurgy

That's unbelievable. Please name the shop that the refuses to take responsibility for damage they cause.