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Newbie needs help!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Care, Maintenance & Troubleshooting' started by papercranes, Jan 22, 2014.

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  1. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    I am new to the whole hybrid ordeal.. I upgraded from a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta and I'm loving my Gen III Prius. Got it with about 37k and I'm seriously enjoying it.. Especially the mpg since I drive 50+ daily.

    I am more of a reader than a poster in the forum but... I need someone's/everyone's advice! I recently scraped the bottom right corner of my bumper as I was pulling into a parking spot at school and now it's not so much dinged as it is scraped - and nastily! From the looks of it the paint just rubbed off.

    [​IMG]

    My question is.. Can I get that bottom corner fixed or do I have to replace the whole bumper? And would any one know around what price range it would be??

    Thanks in advance!!





    iPhone ?
     
    #1 papercranes, Jan 22, 2014
  2. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    Search your area for a bumper repair / paint touch up service. Something like:

    Bumper Repair - Willow Glen - San Jose, CA | Yelp

    An auto body shop will likely want to repaint the entire bumper cover for you for like $600.
     
    #2 mediahound, Jan 22, 2014
    elementnomore likes this.
  3. rorystewart

    rorystewart Junior Member

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    I don't think you'll need a new bumper but they will need to at least repaint the entire bumper to fix that. Take it to 2 or 3 body shops for quotes and pick the cheapest one. I would guess it could be $500 to repaint the bumper.
     
    #3 rorystewart, Jan 22, 2014
  4. mediahound

    mediahound Active Member

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    Just some sanding and painting of the spot and then some blending should do the trick. Not painting the whole bumper.
     
    #4 mediahound, Jan 22, 2014
  5. matt b.

    matt b. Member

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    the dealership does cell touch up paint for the exact color of your vehicle which appears to be a pearl white.
    if you think that you need more than touch up paint you might want to take it to the Toyota dealership and let them look at it and, advised you further.
    I happened to scrape the same right front as you did yours looks worse than mine and I just used and bought $8.00 bottle of touch up paint from the dealership, problem solved.all the little rock dings now gone as well
    and I still have almost the entire bottle left.
    let me know how you solved your delema and what it cost you.
    good luck and welcome to the forum. :)
     
    #5 matt b., Jan 22, 2014
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i scraped my left rear quarter panel and the local body shoppe blended the whole piece for $150.
     
    #6 bisco, Jan 22, 2014
  7. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Ahaaa! Damn it's more than I thought. I really appreciate your advice. I am gonna shop around and ask at the dealer.. See what they suggest. I was kinda hoping it wouldn't come to painting the whole thing... But oh well.

    Yes the scrape was bad.. Look pretty bad but sounded so much worse! And yes it's the pearl white..

    Is that a common thing? Scraping the bottom of the lip like that?? Now that I know I have it, I've seen a lot of Prii with the same corner scratched.

    Please kill me.. Lol. And thanks! :)



    iPhone ?
     
    #7 papercranes, Jan 22, 2014
  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    they run a bit lower than some cars, you have to be careful pulling up to parking curbs.
     
    #8 bisco, Jan 22, 2014
  9. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Wow that sounds like something I'd look into. I'll see if they suggest anything like that.

    Yeeeaaaa, no kidding! Learned my lesson the hard way.


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    #9 papercranes, Jan 22, 2014
  10. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    welcome aboard and enjoy the ride!!

    can of plastic dip. :)
     
    #10 spiderman, Jan 22, 2014
  11. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Thanks a lot! I'm certainly enjoying it.. Minus the ding.


    iPhone ?
     
    #11 papercranes, Jan 23, 2014
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  12. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    Yeah, they sit low and scrape a lot, I'd just live with it if I were you. It's gonna happen again, and then again.
     
    #12 Munpot42, Jan 23, 2014
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  13. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Well that's certainly honest... Do you just live with it? Or it hasn't happened to you just yet? How do you handle deep dips and driveways?


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    #13 papercranes, Jan 23, 2014
  14. xliderider

    xliderider Senior Member

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    Best to avoid them. ;)

    If you can't, then you have to try and take it at an angle so only one wheel drops down at a time. Just like those cars with dropped suspensions.

    If it makes you feel any better, my Super White Camry SE has a front left corner that looks like yours. I just live with it, but I notice it everytime I walk up to the car. :(

    SCH-I535
     
    #14 xliderider, Jan 23, 2014
  15. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Believe me I've tried! And there are some driveways that don't look that low until the car just taps the asphalt. Thanks! I will try the angle thing. :)

    Haha! I know... I'll avoid making eye contact with that corner until night time. I guess I just have an issue with it cause of the Jetta I drove for 3 years with slanted bumper and the black inner plastic just became loose to the point where it would just drag. Horrible!

    Gotta love those cement parking stoppers too... *side eyes*.


    iPhone ?
     
    #15 papercranes, Jan 23, 2014
  16. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    I spent a lot of money even replaced the front bumper, the problem is my driveway, might have been cheaper re doing the driveway.
    If I had it to do over I would have taken my own advice.
     
    #16 Munpot42, Jan 23, 2014
  17. papercranes

    papercranes Junior Member

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    Oh no.. So I'm guessing it's scraped again? Damn! Yeah I feel you on this one.. The apartment complex I live at has an old gate with a railing that insists on curving up. I'm always paranoid that one day my front bumper will just be latched on there since I reverse out.


    iPhone ?
     
    #17 papercranes, Jan 23, 2014
  18. retired4999

    retired4999 Prius driver since 2005

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    Don't feel bad I did the same thing. I got lucky tho just scratched on the bottom black portion on mine but was a wake-up call for me. I try harder now to be carefull.
     
    #18 retired4999, Jan 23, 2014
  19. Munpot42

    Munpot42 Senior Member

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    Not scraped again, sold the car and replaced it with a new Avalon Hybrid, now I have scraped the bottom of it already, I'll let this scrape ride as long as I can.
     
    #19 Munpot42, Jan 23, 2014
  20. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    Everyone is going to run over something or encounter a curb or driveway that's going to leave a scuff. I know I have some damage on the bottom of mine. I vote for touch up paint & do it yourself. Very cheap & some shade of white is better than black.

    When you scrape the black spoiler you'll want black touch up paint to cover the white.

    Stuff happens. If that's your biggest problem then you are in good shape.
     
    #20 JimN, Jan 24, 2014
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