Some worthless POS hit my car in the office parking lot while I was out of town (despite my parking near security and next to a dead spot so I wouldn't get door dings). She/he/it left this on my front bumper:

<img src="http://i.davidology.com/www/frdamage1.jpg" />

Now, I fully plan to stay late next Tuesday night (the day of week it happened) and search for my paint on someone's bumper at that exact height. Assuming I find it, whether my key stops when it feels paint or raw steel will depend upon my ability to repair my baby without paying some body shop $800 to pull the bumper off and repaint.

I've managed to use some Blue Coral scratch remover and Meguiar's Paint Cleaner (Meguiars worked much better, btw). I've removed a lot of the scratches (or at least they seem much less noticeable so far in the garage).

I'm hoping a lot might be helped by some expert buffing + an expert shop that knows what they're doing with touch up paint. Anyone have any experience with a shop like that (and anyone in L.A. know of such a place)?

Thanks for any help. Not going to sleep well until this is done. sad part is, she's only about a month old... don't even have the plates yet

 

Dude that sucks! Looking for your paint on another car in that lot is a good idea. I'd bring a camera too, so you can take pics. Don't go nuts with your keys just yet - see if you can get the dude/dudette to cough up the dough for your repair!

 

Looks like there was a lot of paint transfer - that sort of thing can be buffed right off, which is good. Once it's buffed off just do some touching up/wetsanding/more buffing, I bet it will look good as new. Is it dented as well as scratched? If it's dented that will be more difficult (more $), but still should come out. I guess worst case scenario is you can buy another bumper cover.

Maybe head over to autopia and see if anyone is in the LA area that can give you a hand.

 

TRY www.bumpermedic.com

 

There's minor indentation... not too bad. If I can get it so that it's not noticeable except to me, I'll be happy. It sucks, but probably not worth spending the money for a new cover since it's going to get little bumps from idiots who can't parallel park. =/

 

Ya, I understand how that is. If you're not comfortable with a buffer yourself check out autopia.org and see if anyone in your area will offer a good rate. It looks like (hard to tell for sure) there is a lot of paint transfer, which should buff right out. Either way, a good buff won't hurt and will be less money than a new cover even if you need to do a paint repair.