Time for a respray I think

[WhipE350]

Originally Posted by Perfectlap

I've done both.

In this neck of the woods where paint shop labor can be expensive, I paid a grand total of $250 for the respray after a minor brush with the back bumper of another car. There was a long gash acrros the top but it didn't damage the plastic at all. Just paint that had to be removed/sanded.

The clear bra I had as well. Excellent. The previous owner who only clocked 9K miles on the car had it done by dealer. Partial hood, full bumper, and partial fenders. I looked up the price list and holy cow did he pay a lot. Well over $1500. But of course that's the dealer where everything is twice or three times as expensive. I called a local shop about a quote after I had the bumper repainted and they quoted me $600. Which I still thought was kind of steep since I presume they'll do the job in less than two hours. The film on Ebay for a car of this size goes for about $200 or less. So $200 an hour labor is nearly twice what my Porsche mechanic with 30 years experience is charging for labor. I'm tempted to try and install it myself after doing a vinyl granite project on the kitchen counter of a rental property, tricky but doable.. looks just like the real thing for $100 and a heat gun. With the clear bra on the car since you use lubricated water and the film is pre-cut to the exact shape of the bumper I can't see how this isn't anymore than a trial an error thing.

I agree how hard can this be. I've watch the young man do it at the dealer, and trust me I wouldn't let him polish my car. I've put a reflective film on my windows in my house and it came out great.