repainted bumper chips way too easily???

It's a bit confusing - did you paint it yourself - or did you contract a paint specialist shop to repaint it?

Is it metallic - and more importantly, is it red?

You mention "... I recently repainted ..." and "... I did the painting ...", but then later you're talking about a bodyshop doing paint prepping and painting. Or have you done it twice?

I've never painted plastic - I believe it needs special preparation, different primers and paint. And with modern cars with water-borne paints, they're different from the old days when I did a little re-spraying.

 

Does the repainted bumper look like it has a clear coat on it? Clear coat protects the paint.

 

Bumper being a flexible plastic part requires special prepping and I believe an additive added to the paint to work correctly.

 

No, they don't chip easily - but they aren't as straight forward to repaint as the old solvent based (or enamel) paints.

But a paint shop should know what they're doing - and if they're not doing it right, keep taking it back.

I don't have the USA colours, but I thought that BLIZZARD WHITE was a metallic (PEARL) - and will have a clear-coat. Someone from USA might confirm that.

 

There's Blizzard Pearl, and a non-metallic white, forget what the latter is called. Blizzard pearl is a metallic finish with clear coat. The white is not metallic, just regular white.

 

The two white colors for fourth-generation Prius cars are identified by paint code 040, called “Super White” or “Super White II”; and paint code 070, called—as @Mendel Leisk kindly mentions—“Blizzard Pearl” or “White Pearl Crystal Shine.” The latter is a three-stage paint system, with base, pearl, and clear coats.

Paint suppliers provide specific instructions on how to achieve high-quality finishes using appropriate combinations of their products and surface preparation techniques. The processes for plastic parts, however, are often designed for use on surfaces that are unprimed (raw)—as on the bumpers Toyota sells as service parts—or pre-primed, but not necessarily completely painted.

Did the body shop remove or sand the old paint first?

 

I doubt that it would need no primer - but as I said, I've never sprayed water-borne paints. I'd ask the paint-shop.

 

That’s possible, but if they scuffed or sanded it, it might have been fine to leave the old paint.

Exactly what has to be done depends on the paints and other chemicals used by the body shop. The paint supplier’s manuals and data sheets explain the required preparation steps. PPG’s Custom Restoration Guide, for example, has a general procedure for used plastic parts on page 52; depending on the condition of the old finish, it might have to be removed, or it might just need to be sanded, scuffed, cleaned, and sealed before the new paint is applied. If any raw plastic is exposed, those areas usually need adhesion promoter, too.

 

Sounds like a poor body shop to me.
When I cracked my old Gen 3 front bumper I took it to the dealers and a quote for prep, repair and paint the old one was almost as much as a new bumper fitted and painted and they couldn't guarantee the repaired crack wouldn't crack again, so I went for a new one.

 

I had to get my rear bumper replaced on my FOCUS when someone hit it. The bumper was about $800, and the painting was $300 - back in 2011. The only complaint I had was that the paint finish (they were the BMW dealership) was far better than the original South African paint job!!!!

 

My new one, prepped, painted, old one removed and new one fitted was £450 back in 2012, to repair the old one was quoted as £370. At the time I had a £350 excess on my insurance so not worth claiming.