Minor Bumper Damage w/ pictures - see for yourself

My plastic bumper portion on my Honda Fit was similarly damaged. Unfortunately in less than 8 weeks from purchase a woman decided to rear end me at a stop light. I had the faintest outline of her front license plate frame, indented onto my back bumper. A lot of people just in passing wouldn't even see it.

All I can tell you is I think your estimate and what you are hearing is correct. To REALLY fix it, it requires removal, refinishing and repainting blending. My initial estimates were in the $500-$650 range for what appeared to be very minor superficial damage to the bumper. In my case, once started I was told there was additional damage to the bumper support, final bill to the person who hit me's Insurance Company was near to $1000.

Your damage seems more superficial, but a mark is a mark is a dent....my guess is it would still result in the same steps being taken to remedy, whether it's a huge gouge, dent or mark, or a subtle one.

If subtle enough? The cheapest route might be ignoring it if possible and using a great quality wax/polish to make it look as good as possible.

 

I think that the repair estimate is reasonable. Based upon the photos the damage seems very minor and any DIY effort is likely to make the damage worse. I suggest that you either resign yourself to the $500 cost required to repaint the entire bumper cover; or else live with it as-is.

If you need to park on the street frequently (which is how I assume this damage occurred) then you'll probably experience more of this, so it may be reasonable to leave it alone.

 

If you fix it, you will get another dent in it. If you don't, you won't get anymore. Spend your money on something more useful, it is minor damage, and looks a lot better then my bumpers.

 

When my car was new (before I had made the second payment), I was hit at low speed from behind and had indentations in the bumper cover from the fasteners on the license plate of the car that hit me. Total cost to remove, fix the indentations, repaint and replace the protective decal (the clear "Prius" one on the top of the bumper) was just over $600 (the initial estimate was $550).

 

Didn't you post a few months ago about something else happening to your car while at work?