Fender .. Bender

[themadnewfie]

Hey guys

So the wife ran out on Monday and .. while stopped in traffic .. some dude backs into the front passenger side corner (i still dont know how ..)

The dude was like "its just a scratch" .. she looks at it and the bumper cover is split and pushed in to the point where the headlight gap is clearly not right

Now for the questions ..

My car is a canadian version .. its a pearl white .. but i dont know exactly what color - how can i find out for sure?
The garage quoted me 1400 for the repair with "tri color" - should i be looking for spot repair or paint the whole bumper?

This dude is going to pay for it and all i want is for it to be repaired in tne best possiable manner

 

[GEE50FX]

He is correct it is a tri-colour (you did not say what year you have) and definitely paint the whole bumper with it off the car.

 

[themadnewfie]

He is correct it is a tri-colour (you did not say what year you have) and definitely paint the whole bumper with it off the car.

Its a 2009 - what about this self healing paint that i read about .. any chance that i have it?

 

[GEE50FX]

Its a 2009 - what about this self healing paint that i read about .. any chance that i have it?

Yes you will have it, it was on 09's. I would not worry about that, I had a 09 that I had the fender replaced after a guy hit me and I did not get the self healing paint and you could not tell.

 

[themadnewfie]

Yes you will have it, it was on 09's. I would not worry about that, I had a 09 that I had the fender replaced after a guy hit me and I did not get the self healing paint and you could not tell.

So if you look really close above the finger you will see a rip in the white part .. my quote is for new black pieces but not a new bumper cover

My new question .. should i be asking for a whole new cover? .. or can they properly fix that rip?

 

[fxlr8]

Good body shops can repair that no problem, the mixes (sem, duramix) they use can bond rips, tears whatever. Just make sure they are a well rated. As for the paint, since it is a tri-color white pearl they are going to need to blend the paint job into the surrounding panels or it will be noticeable if they just do the bumper itself.

 

[FXMontreal]

Great advice...since it is a 2009 i would also suggest a blend-in method

I would highly recommend to do a complete professional compound, buffing making sure the overall paint of the car is decontaminated and free of any minor swirls, pig marks..etc seal it like i did with a ceramic coating
I say this because it is already hard to have a perfect paint match and then fresh paint vs old paint will always stand out...hence why a complete detailing will solve the problem with a nice even glow, depth and shine!

 

[themadnewfie]

Just wanted to update everyone on the repair .. and the headaches

So after 2 trips to the dealership .. im still not happy but tired of the swearing that it has triggered

The list

• They tried to do the repair with the bumper not fully off the car (pulled the passenger side out enough to do the work)
• The paint .. as another body shop said "looks like a botched repair job"
• My headlamp .. doesnt fitinto the fender like the drivers side any longer (dude was like we didnt touch it .. but clearly it was different than before the "repair"
• The proximity sensor .. yeah thats a different color now
• One of the 2 "deer whistles" was broken off durning the repair .. which they did fix on round 2
• The bumper where it meets the fender above the headlamp .. now has paint missing where it joins the fender .. which they tried to fix on round 2 .. and i do mean tried
• The bottom part where the crack happened in the buper cover .. sticks out a few millimeters more than the drivers side .. which was part of the 2nd trip .. as the first time it was sticking out a very noticeable amount
• The headlamp actually is pushing down on the bumper cover .. so the join below the headlamp and the black moulding is clearly more open than the drivers side

Moving forward

• I would never recommend that anyone take a car to be repired @ Gus Revenberg Infiniti in Windsor Ontario - absolutely terriable work on so many level
• Im going to attempt to take it apart so that i can put the headlamp in properly .. so that it is back where it started before i went to those clowns
• Ill add pics when the wife gets home ..

 

[GEE50FX]

Wow, what a sad experience. All of this hassle after some dickwad hits your car.

 

[cynot]

Sorry to hear. It's hard to get quality work these days. So many shops have that 'turn and burn' mentality. Get it out and forget about it. My FX has been in the shop for 3 weeks now after someone blew a red light and nailed my passenger side. It's about $3K away from a total loss right now. Mostly body work. Luckily, no frame damage. I did my homework and visited several body shops before I picked one. They're telling me 2 to 3 more weeks. Getting tired of my crappy rental car...

 

[Kanedean]

Wow, that's a lot of damage.
The amount of labour going to replacing parts isn't high. It takes forever for parts to come in, specially for older models.

 

[FXMontreal]

I am really sorry to hear that...especially since you went to your Infiniti dealership NOT an aftermarket body shop!
You should take it to Infiniti Canada and see what they have to do and or say this is not acceptable and certainly not by Infiniti's standards

As i said it before, not a single aftermarket body-shop including dealership's body shops will never have the same quality and or result as OEM. They cannot match the OEM's High-Bake systems no matter what...
Just that you know, I have worked for Groupe Gabriel one of the largest automotive dealer hip in Montreal with over 25 dealerships and 14 brands and they have one single body shop to increase profitability and let me tell you it does not make any sense that an Audi or Porsche Prestige customers who require body work are done at the same place by the same men who fix, paint generic brands...you should see some 911 back from the body shop with overspray, fumes, drips...etc. Horror stories but your average consumer would not even notice that is a shame

All of this to say that regardless of the body shop what matters is the trust you have with the owner since they all use the same equipment
In your case you went to your authorized Infiniti dealership to AVOID such potential issues...they must and should make it up to you one way or another!

 

[FXMontreal]

Wow, that's a lot of damage.
The amount of labour going to replacing parts isn't high. It takes forever for parts to come in, specially for older models.

Car looked minty!!
Looks like the 2 panels need to be repainted, maybe blending into the rear panel...make sure they inspect carefully the rear axle, shocks/suspension & alignment...etc

 

[cynot]

Thanks. 2006 with only 60K miles, garage kept. Body shop is up to $9K today, minimal suspension damage. Replacing both doors and rear qtr panel. Fuel filler neck, lower control arm, radius rod and suspension link. Of course, 2 rims and tires as well as alignment. AWD, so the CV joint allowed the wheel to go full travel but wont know about any damage there until they get the suspension put back together, align, and road test it. No body work until that's done. Fingers crossed.