Prius Damage

I have damaged our Prius in the same general area, only more extensive.

Happily, the bumper is plastic. I expect to bang it up some more over the next year or two, and then will think about replacing it from a junk yard.

After all, it is a *bumper*, right ?

 

I haven't looked but maybe that black valance is separate. If not I bet you can polish the plastic to minimize the look and make it all black again.

 

Hurry, drive your car to France. Park it on the street, and in one day just turn it in as total loss to fire. Collect insurance and get a whole new car.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Harper,
I know it looks bad but it is in an area that is really not too obvious. I had a similar scratch on my bumper and removed most of it with fine rubbing compound and used touch-uppaint on the rest and it is not noticable.

Check out this site for touch-up paint.
http://www.brandsports.com/paint_code.php

 

You don't have to drive so far. Parking the car in a ghetto at any major US city will have the same effect.

 

A "Hillary in 2008" bumper sticker would cover up those scratches.

 

That hillary idea was a good one, but rather don't use a sticker. Just run over her with that corner of the car and trade out that scrape for one that will get you national hero status.

 

I really feel for you, Harper. Last Friday night -- cold, wet, and rainy -- backing out of a parking space with a high curb I couldn't see, I got a deep scratch in the same place but on the other side. Just over 6 months old, just under 10,000 miles, and my beautiful Silver Cloud is tattered and worn.

I just keep telling myself, It's ONLY a car! but I know exactly how you feel!

 

Hi Bill,

I know you have the 3M Protection Film on your front bumper. Did it minimize the damage?

Oswaldo

 

Ouch I understand I still have that little dent on the passenger side rear door with a bit of red paint on it. I would like CSI to analyze the paint chip and find the perp and put him or her in a hurt locker FoooorEvvvvver!!

 

i have a similiar mark... mine aint that big but mine happened from parking in a hole at a picnic. pulled in a parked and didnt realize i was in one...not too deep mind you. now if i would have backed out, i would have been fine, but i plowed forward and there was a rock about the size of a softball on the other side so i heard it scrape and the rest is history...

it is plastic but mine does have a small amount of deformity.

i cried for days... but then i realized that if i didnt look at it, i didnt notice it and after all... i was still getting 60 mpg... so it didnt hurt the car none

 

i have a bra on mine- the one time i bottomed out on a bad driveway the vinyl took all the damage. as far as your car goes, looks like it's time for a very nit-picky job with some touch-up paint to me.

 

Or, you could just install a black bra on the front, hide the damage.

 

Paint scrapes deposited from another car are pretty easy to remove. Start with clay, and if that doesn't work, move up to a mild polish. I've used Menzerna Intensive Polish and a Porter Cable 7424 to get white paint off the bumper of another vehicle, but it could just as easily be done with Meguiar's ScratchX and some elbow grease.

 

Take it to a detailer and see what they can do with a buffer, I've repaired worse just with my Porter Cable to where it looks MUCH better. I bet you can reduce it to where it won't bother you anymore in that spot. The only other option is to have it repainted completely which would cost between $300-$800 probably.