Scratch front bumper white car

Question

I have scratched my car tonight reversing in the garage, when I turned the wheel I scratched the front to a concrete column.

My car is a Subaru Impreza Wagon 2007, white

This is a link to a photo.

Should I fix it with WD40 ? The car is white and scratches are black so I am wondering if that's a bit too deep for a quick fix ...

Should I call insurance for that ? Or should I just go to a smash repair and get it repaired ... Would that cost me less than a 1000 dollars ?

Thanks for your answers

Answer 1

You didn't say where you live, so I'm going to use the Finnish insurance system as an example. There is mandatory "traffic insurance" to pay for all damages you have caused with the exception of damage to your own car. There is also optional "car insurance" to pay for damages you have caused to your own car (with the exception of a small sum you have to pay). The "car insurance" generally requires you to pay immediately 200-300 EUR whatever the damage amount is. Furthermore, if you use insurance, your insurance premiums will rise for a few years. I once calculated that for somebody who doesn't use the insurance frequently, this effect is about 600 EUR. So, the total is about 800-900 EUR. There may therefore be a chance that the total costs for you would be less than 1000 dollars (assuming it's US dollars).

I once had a far more serious damage to my bumper cover and they estimated the amount was 600 EUR if bumper cover is repaired (by repainting only half of it) or 1200 EUR if bumper cover is replaced. Turns out there was damage to other parts too, so the total bill ended up being 1200 EUR of which 600 EUR was for repairing the bumper cover and 600 EUR for other damage. But in your case I'm certain the bumper cover is the only damaged component. Therefore, I would consider bumper cover repair as an option.

There's always the option of not fixing the problem. I had a scratch on my front bumper cover that wasn't so annoying I would want to fix the problem given that I knew it is an expensive job to repaint a bumper cover. Turns out somebody carelessly backing up hit my car and I got a new bumper cover (along with the failed structural components of the bumper) for free. Of course, the odds of this happening are low, but it can happen. Bumper covers are made from plastic so damage to the paint won't cause rust. You can repair it anytime you want, so postponing repair is an option. If I had damaged paint on a metal part, I would fix it immediately.

So, my advice is:

• Decide if you want to repair it. You can always postpone repair if you have a tight budget.
• Ask somebody specializing for bumper repair how much it would cost to repair the bumper. They probably can also estimate how much it would cost to replace the bumper. Almost always bumper repair is cheaper for minor damage like in your case.
• Use whatever information you have to estimate how much your insurance premiums would rise and what other costs there are for using your insurance.

Either way, there's a good chance that it costs less than 1000 dollars.

Answer 2

Those scratches cannot be taken out using WD-40. It's a very good cleaner and lubricant, but is not a magic panacea for fixing paint scratches.

You may be able to take it to a body shop where they would have to strip the bumper and repaint it (could possibly blend the area through sanding and repaint as well). They'd have to make the call on that.

If the scratches are too deep, you may end up having to purchase a new front cover and have it painted. With the prices of these lately, this may be the better and cheaper option overall, depending on the amount of time it would take to recondition yours. I'm sure the body shop will tell you which is the better option cost wise, especially if you come to them with cash (not using your insurance company).

If you are handy, replacing the cover shouldn't be too difficult. You could buy a new one yourself, get it painted, then replace the old one.

For any of these three options, I would think you could get it done for under a $1000 (at least here in the States) ... especially if doing the last option. I recently had to replace the one on my Mother-In-Law's car. It was far less than $1000 to do and the color match was perfect. This is subjective though, so may be different in your area. The only way to know is to get a quote from your body shop (or a couple, for that matter).