I own a body shop & the truth is this is pretty much typical of what to expect with an aftermarket fiberglass bumper. it is 100% up to the shop itself to either make it work or not, & also it is up to the shop to determine how well this is actually done. when I get asked a price for "replacing a painted bumper" the answer would be ~$350 for an oem style direct replacement & as far as a fiberglass custom then it all depends, you can't price it ahead of time because you can't know just how much extra work will be involved, the only thing I could tell you is it will def take extra work, it can be anywhere from just a little more all the way up to 2 & 3 times the cost....

if I had an insurance est for a collision repair & some kid brings me in a bumper like this instead, expecting me to just use that instead, I guess I would tell him the same thing as what your shop told you, the bumper is crap & going to take a lot more work & cost a lot more to get to work, BUT, the truth is just about ALL fiberglass bumpers are crap compared to a direct factory replacement style urethane... that's NOT the bumper vendors fault, that's just the nature of the beast when you start playing with fiberglass bumpers... if anything it's your fault for expecting a shop to just pop an aftermarket fiberglass bumper on instead of the direct replacement that they were paid for...

fiberglass bumpers are fiberglass bumpers, they will not fit right & they will take a lot of extra work & even after there all done & even done well they will STILL be fragile & much more prone to cracking & not being aNYWHERE NEAR AS DURABLE as a stock replacement type period. there nice for a show queen or a trailer queen but they are just crap on a street car, again, NOT the fault of the vendor, he is just providing a fiberglass shell of a bumper which is nothing more than a starting point & something to work with, it's again all up to the shop to either make or break the install... when a shop is just getting paid for a direct replacement then that's where your going to get crap work, sheetrock screws holding it on, wavy as all hell, etc... I'e done front fiberglass bumpers that have cost WELL over $1,000 just to get them on right & blocked & worked to the poiint that they don't look like a crappy fiberglass bumper, but even then, you have to realize the limitations of a fiberglass bumper to begin with, there is a reason why no manufacturers ever use fiberglass bumpers from an OEM...

don't blame the vendor for your ignorance, & it would be very ignorant to expect to get a fiberglass bumper that is just going to go on as easy as a stock one, if the body shop has to question where to drill & how to mount then they are not qualified for the job at hand, this is CUSTOM work, not collision repair...

 

oh, & as far as the other minor imperfections, also not abnormal at all, should always expect to have do a bit of extra work when it comes to fiberglass, including going over all edging, sometimes needing to remove extra material that makes it strong enough to ship, often times needs a lot of blocking & body work, finessing whatever minor imperfections come through like that bubble or whatever... many times even needing to break out fiberglass mat & resin even just to perfect it, this all goes with the territory of dealing with an aftermarket fiberglass part....

 

Agreed 100% I have been working in the industry for a while and seen 10k body kits, where I have had to cut them in half reglass them to make it fit. So to answer your question yes this is typical, and when you are saying de-laminating that does not seem to be the case. Looks like a possible air bubble under the gel coat which any body shop that works with fiberglass would know how to repair. Also Turbocad brought up many valid points if you are trying to use this with allotted insurance money it will cost more to fit a fiberglass bumper than an oem unit.

 

I would have never bought fiberglass had I known all this beforehand. but having said that, the quality between the fenders and the bumper was like night and day. I don't know if it is an air bubble or delam, but it doesn't look good. Did it develop after manufacture? Are more going to continue to pop up? How come you never see air bubbles in the pictures of the products?

I guess I had unrealistic expectations. I dunno. Again, this was not a well thought out, planned upgrade by any means. The car got wrecked and I was presented with a now or never opportunity to upgrade. I was scrambling to get parts. You see all these parts advertised, but when you ask, they usually cannot ship within 5 days.

BTW, Ins just pays for OEM replacement time, anything over and above comes out of my pocket.

So, it looks like I will just cut my loses and buy a poly front, I'm still going to try and use the sexy Strafe fenders though. we will see how that goes. So I am looking for a poly front that will look good with those fenders. Any suggestions on poly front bumper for 03 sedan? BTW, I have a StrafeSpeed Sedan FG front bumper for sale, like new condition- AS-IS!! On second thought, I may just save it for a back-up with a 16 yr old driver and all.

i am serious about a poly front. suggestions and links appreciated. Also looking for a gialla style grill for sedan.

 

OP I am going to close this tread, if you see any reason it needs to continue please pm me.