Repaint old bumper or buy new?

[stulaw11]

Situation is over the weekend the side of the read bumper on my 09 V6 got scratched pretty bad in a parking lot when I wasnt in the car. Of course the gracious driver drove off and didnt leave any info

Anyways, I have one Ford Racing Stinger in place of the stock v6 muffler which I love, and was planning to get an H-pipe put in and the driver side muffler to have duals at a shop.

So I was going to have to cut the v6 bumper I guess eventually. But now that the bumper is scratched along the side, my dilemma comes to buy a bumper with dual ports primed and have them repaint that, or strip the stock bumper and repaint it.

My plan was to get a GT500 bumper, theres a place online with OEM remanufactured ones for $280, which is a really good deal, and Im assuming they come primed like the new ones.

My theory here is the labor to sand all the paint off the old bumper and prep it may end up coming out to 1/2 the cost of the new bumper anyways, so now is the time to do the swap.

I havent gotten any estimates yet for either route, but any thoughts from anyone with paint shop knowledge?

I presume sanding/prep is easily a 1-2 hour process so the labor for that alone could run $150 vs shooting color and clear onto an already primed new bumper and swapping the side markers and what not onto the new one (prob will be stripped before paint anyways)

 

['08GTcaRED]

Plus if you do decide to paint the old one, will you cut it now or after you paint it? A new one would certainly be the easiest, but maybe not the cheapest. You gotta pay for convenience

I would get a quote from a shop first and then decide which route is most beneficial for you. I don't remember anyone saying anything about their bumpers, but a hood painting usually runs between 150-250$ that may or may not include sanding or priming...

Sorry I'm not much help

 

[stulaw11]

Well I figured if I saved them all that prep since the new one comes primed ready for paint, it might be a cheaper price for paint offsetting some of the bumper cost, if that makes sense.

Unfortunately they got me right at the seam between the bumper and the side fender so the side of the car will need to be sprayed too Thats the rough/expensive part.

I know its going to be in the hundreds of dollars either way, just trying to justify the cost of the new bumper in the total (seeing as I wanted it anyways but wasnt paying $280 plus the paint cost of 2-300 when I had a perfectly good bumper). But now that it needs paint anyways its the time to decide on the swap since either way one bumper has to be painted.

 

[Mustanglvr2006]

Of course the gracious driver drove off and didnt leave any info

Man that really stinks, thats the kind of crap I hate about some people, I have a saying tho, what goes around comes around!! I'm sorry to hear that happened to you man I do not have much knowledge with paint and prep and all that, BUT, it kinda sounds to me like it might cost you just a little more for the new one, all it will need is paint right? You will be able to do the side markers and the install and everything else yourself right?

It might cost you a little more in the long run for the new one, then again it might not be more at all, you should definitely get a few quotes on fixing the old one (by old one I mean your previously perfectly good bumper, no thanks to the very gracious driver who clipped it and drove off ) it could very well cost more to sand it, prime it, paint it, clear coat it.

Best of Luck man