Stupidity Rears Its Ugly Head...

[SW03ES]

Well guys, I did a really dumb thing the other day.

The parking garage at my office is very difficult to maneuver around in and there are a lot of cement pylons everywhere, almost every space is between two pylons and theres barely enough room to back a car in withour rubbing the mirrors. I have coworkers who have had entire sides of their cars repainted because they scrape them on these pylons. Its terrible. (I think you see where this is going).

Well, the day before thanksgiving I took off because we were getting ready to go up to NJ to visit Carla's family. At the last minute a client called because he wanted some info on a property. No big deal right? I'll just pop in real quick and fax that to him and be on my way right?

Backing out of a space I normally wouldn't have parked in, at least I would have backed in, not paying attention, I backed right into one of those nasty cement poles. The result? right corner of the bumper destroyed. On top of that I had to leave that night for NJ, real downer. I hit it with the buffer and it helped a lot, but a repaint is still neccisary.

So, its at the shop now. I hope they can match that color properly and I hope we don't have any snow since I won't be able to wax the new paint for 30 days...

[Toysrme]

It'll be OK.

Just make sure it's a good bodyshop. At this point, about anybody with experience can match paint 100%. If they spend time doing good prep, even if you pulled the parts off the car you'd never know anything about them!

I've never hit anything (but i did flip backwards off the 20' cliff that one time) parking, but I swear it always happens on the quick trips.

Buddy hit my 'rolla door backing out of his basement.

His mom did the same thing to their new(late model) Bayliner & hit it hard enough to knock it 20' into the neighboors yard!

In college I had to run in the dorm for TWO seconds (really i was 5' in the door)

BANG

Some prick in a truck takes out my rear 1/4, bumper & light. Then runs off & nobody ever sees him again.

No worries, *BLEEP* happens.

[ZINFANDEL22]

Well guys, I did a really dumb thing the other day.

The parking garage at my office is very difficult to maneuver around in and there are a lot of cement pylons everywhere, almost every space is between two pylons and theres barely enough room to back a car in withour rubbing the mirrors. I have coworkers who have had entire sides of their cars repainted because they scrape them on these pylons. Its terrible. (I think you see where this is going).

Well, the day before thanksgiving I took off because we were getting ready to go up to NJ to visit Carla's family. At the last minute a client called because he wanted some info on a property. No big deal right? I'll just pop in real quick and fax that to him and be on my way right?

Backing out of a space I normally wouldn't have parked in, at least I would have backed in, not paying attention, I backed right into one of those nasty cement poles. The result? right corner of the bumper destroyed. On top of that I had to leave that night for NJ, real downer. I hit it with the buffer and it helped a lot, but a repaint is still neccisary.

So, its at the shop now. I hope they can match that color properly and I hope we don't have any snow since I won't be able to wax the new paint for 30 days...

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I know you guys know your stuff so is it 30 days no wax after a paint job? I have heard up to 3 months no wax and I hear ya about winter who wants salt slush and ice on a non waxed car?

[ArmyofOne]

Well guys, I did a really dumb thing the other day.

The parking garage at my office is very difficult to maneuver around in and there are a lot of cement pylons everywhere, almost every space is between two pylons and theres barely enough room to back a car in withour rubbing the mirrors. I have coworkers who have had entire sides of their cars repainted because they scrape them on these pylons. Its terrible. (I think you see where this is going).

Well, the day before thanksgiving I took off because we were getting ready to go up to NJ to visit Carla's family. At the last minute a client called because he wanted some info on a property. No big deal right? I'll just pop in real quick and fax that to him and be on my way right?

Backing out of a space I normally wouldn't have parked in, at least I would have backed in, not paying attention, I backed right into one of those nasty cement poles. The result? right corner of the bumper destroyed. On top of that I had to leave that night for NJ, real downer. I hit it with the buffer and it helped a lot, but a repaint is still neccisary.

So, its at the shop now. I hope they can match that color properly and I hope we don't have any snow since I won't be able to wax the new paint for 30 days...

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correct me if im wrong, but didnt you JUST have that bumper repainted not long ago because of something that wasnt your fault? its a hell of a year for your !Removed! end :P

Good luck and hope it all works out. are you sure you cant wax for 30 days? my body shop told me 48 hours after my car was painted, i could wash, and one week i could wax.

[Kowalski]

Don't you just hate those pylons that jump out in front of your car. :chairshot:

Been there, done that. Merry Christmas

[lexusk8]

correct me if im wrong, but didnt you JUST have that bumper repainted not long ago because of something that wasnt your fault? its a hell of a year for your !Removed! end :P

Good luck and hope it all works out.  are you sure you cant wax for 30 days? my body shop told me 48 hours after my car was painted, i could wash, and one week i could wax.

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The "30 day no wax" deal is usually what dealerships tell to their customers when they sell new cars.

SW03, sorry to hear about the bumper incident. I ran into a similar incident before (back-in parking on an angled spot and ended up rubbing against the cement wall). My rear bumper is already banged up when I bought the car, so I guess I'm not worried so much about repainting it immediately hehe :D

[Icemaninlv]

30 days no wax is because the paint is to soft and will asurb the wax and distort the color.

If you leave the bumper in the sun for a few days or even color sand and polish it then you can wax it.

30 days just covers the bodys shop liability in case the paint did not cure correctly. Giving them 30 days for it to cure, just leave it in the sun for a few days 2-3 and you will be good.

[Lexusfreak]

Sorry to hear SW :( Is it a Lexus dealer's body shop your taking it to for the fix? They can do wonderful things these days to match the paint up so it looks like it never happened. Considering how well & often you detail the car, I'll bet it will look good as new. Big bummer I know.........these things happen unfortunately. I'm sure whatever place you take it for the fix will look as good as it did bud.

Do they have to replace the bumper cover itself, or just the repaint?

[SW03ES]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys LOL Its a very good bodyshop and I've seen their work firsthand and its amazing. They had a CLS500 in there in a dark pearl blue that had the whole side redone and I couldn't see any differences between the panels that were painted and the panels that weren't. Looks like it would be as hard to match as mine.

Its not a Lexus shop, but they do a LOT of Lexuses. They had 2 ES's, an IS, and a GS in there when I dropped mine off. Lexus dealers around here don't have bodyshops. I'm confident they can do it. Still nervous though.

Army- I didn't have the bumper repainted that time, I've touched it up and buffed it out twice from people bumping me.

[mburnickas]

I would just put some bling bling over it and call it a day! :P

I would never do something that dumb!!!!!! :D :D :D :D :D

kidding!

I, umm a friend, only backed up in a garage with my door open; hit the side and it opened the opposite way...Pretty cool if you ask me.

[91L3xus]

Sorry to hear about that. I know that the dealer does a pretty good job with colormatching the paint. A while back when I took my 4Runner into Alexandria Toyota they backed my car over another in the service bay, completely tearing off the right rear fender flare and causing damage to the lower part of the back bumper, as well as the bottom part of the right rear quarter panel. The match was almost identical, but the new parts seemed slightly lighter than the original paint. This was because I usually parked it outside when we only had a 2-car garage, and the sun took its usual effect on the paint. Since then, I've moved and the ES is the only car to sit outside now.

This is from the dealer.

But just last week my mom took my car out to get gas for me (the 4Runner) and crushed the bumper at the gas station in the exact same place as before.

Wow, my new cell camera sucks. <_<

[ArmyofOne]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys LOL Its a very good bodyshop and I've seen their work firsthand and its amazing. They had a CLS500 in there in a dark pearl blue that had the whole side redone and I couldn't see any differences between the panels that were painted and the panels that weren't. Looks like it would be as hard to match as mine.

Its not a Lexus shop, but they do a LOT of Lexuses. They had 2 ES's, an IS, and a GS in there when I dropped mine off. Lexus dealers around here don't have bodyshops. I'm confident they can do it. Still nervous though.

Army- I didn't have the bumper repainted that time, I've touched it up and buffed it out twice from people bumping me.

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Oh, well it needs a repaint anyways then right?

LOL, I'm just kidding man. Sucks still, and its Still a hell of a year for your bumper.

Is this insurance? I woudl assume not since your Deductible is probably $500, and they can paint with the bumper still on the car.

[91L3xus]

Oh yeah almost forgot, Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria has a body shop if you don't mind the drive from GBurg. B)

Lindsay Lexus

Click "Contact Us", and there is a list of #'s, body shop is at the bottom.

[ArmyofOne]

Oh yeah almost forgot, Lindsay Lexus of Alexandria has a body shop if you don't mind the drive from GBurg. B)

Lindsay Lexus

Click "Contact Us", and there is a list of #'s, body shop is at the bottom.

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Actually, i havetn figured it out, but i have noticed ALOT of silver cars different shades of grey, ahve bumpers that dont exactly match. I think it has to do with the fact that the paint interacts with certian agents of the plastic, or it has to do with how it adheres to metal vs plastic, im not sure.

but i know my car has it, and duffany's (the people who painted my chipgaurd) said even a repaint of the bumper wont match. for the reasons stated above. only happens with silver's or grays. sometimes gold too.

[SW03ES]

Lindsay has a body shop, but my dad had the front bumper of his old 98 LS painted there and the paint peeled off in a few years, so I won't be back lol.

Naa, I'm just paying cash its about $500. They do remove the bumper to paint it.

As for the hell of the year for the bumper, oh yeah lol. The touchups were good but not perfect. Hopefully it'll be perfect now.

[ArmyofOne]

Lindsay has a body shop, but my dad had the front bumper of his old 98 LS painted there and the paint peeled off in a few years, so I won't be back lol.

Naa, I'm just paying cash its about $500. They do remove the bumper to paint it.

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Really? thats good. alot (and i mean ALOT) of shops wont. mine said they do, but this is the first (now yours is the second) time i have heard a body shop say they do this...and i have been through a few body shops LOL.

[Lexusfreak]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys LOL Its a very good bodyshop and I've seen their work firsthand and its amazing. They had a CLS500 in there in a dark pearl blue that had the whole side redone and I couldn't see any differences between the panels that were painted and the panels that weren't. Looks like it would be as hard to match as mine.

Its not a Lexus shop, but they do a LOT of Lexuses. They had 2 ES's, an IS, and a GS in there when I dropped mine off. Lexus dealers around here don't have bodyshops. I'm confident they can do it. Still nervous though.

Army- I didn't have the bumper repainted that time, I've touched it up and buffed it out twice from people bumping me.

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Not sure about your colour, but believe it or not pearl white is one of the hardest colours to match, but I understand you being nervous because of the dark colour. I'm sure it will look awesome. B)

[ZINFANDEL22]

Thanks for the words of encouragement guys LOL Its a very good bodyshop and I've seen their work firsthand and its amazing. They had a CLS500 in there in a dark pearl blue that had the whole side redone and I couldn't see any differences between the panels that were painted and the panels that weren't. Looks like it would be as hard to match as mine.

Its not a Lexus shop, but they do a LOT of Lexuses. They had 2 ES's, an IS, and a GS in there when I dropped mine off. Lexus dealers around here don't have bodyshops. I'm confident they can do it. Still nervous though.

Army- I didn't have the bumper repainted that time, I've touched it up and buffed it out twice from people bumping me.

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Not sure about your colour, but believe it or not pearl white is one of the hardest colours to match, but I understand you being nervous because of the dark colour. I'm sure it will look awesome. B)

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I dont know swo3es it's a brand new year coming up and now you will have a perfect bumper? I think your just askin for trouble... lol I would keep it quiet myself. jk , good luck with your clean bumper I wish mine was chip free.

[SW03ES]

LOL.

Army, any good bodyshop should remove the bumper to paint it.

LF, white in general is really hard to match, I think if anyone can do it these guys can do it. They have computerized paint matching and tinting etc.

[Lexusfreak]

I hope it's as good as new sw! B) I can imagine you must have been just 'spinning' when that happened too.

[LexKid630]

God, that really sucks :(

I had to have the whole side of my wife's blue es330 re-painted because someone keyed it. They did a great job!

I have NO idea what it looks like anymore since we no longer own it.

Good luck, i hope it turns out well!

[SW03ES]

Got it back!

The work they did really is extrordinary. The match is perfect. Theres one small spot right at the edge of the bumper above the rear wheel where the peel of the paint is a little rough, they're going to wetsand and buff that Thursday. Other than that its perfect!

Also, they're the only people other than me that have ever washed it without swirling the paint!

Impressed and happy. Now I've got a complex about backing up...

[91L3xus]

Where did you get this work done at? I need to repair some left front damage. If they hear they got a good report and it's being advertised, maybe I'd get a discount? (crosses fingers)

[SW03ES]

Rockville Auto Body in Rockville. Great job, don't know if they'd discount although I doubt it. They're prices are pretty high and they seem to have plenty of business.

[91L3xus]

Wow, passed by that place on my way to Dave and Buster's today.

Thanks I'll look them up, maybe they can work on my 4Runner too.