I thought I would ask the prius community in SF bay area: Are there any repair shops in santa clara county, or enthusiasts, custom repair, not very expensive and fast? Underneath my front bumper has cratches from the occasional parking too close to the curb. I try to use the paint pen for my car color. Is not noticeable, unless you are really kneel down and look closely , you will see paint scratches. I learn my lesson, now I don't try to park too close anymore. One improvement suggestion: why in all these years, no auto manufacturer neither make the bumbers higher than the curbs nor install proximity sensors in the front bumper so it won't ever scratch! We already have back up camera, we need front park camera Online, I found some bumper putty or bumper scratch repair kits, too many to choose, and I don't want to do it myself. Are there anyone/shop who can do it for me? The thing I hate the most about auto shops, they charge by the hour. I don't like that, I want pay a flat fee, what would be a reasonable fee for that? Thanks
How would a shop that did custom repairs for not a lot of money ever stay in business? When you find this place, it sure won't be open long before the owner starves.
I have never scratched a front bumper because i run into things. Just stop doing it like you said. They can put the bumper higher because they would need to make the car sit higher or you would still hit the curb. A truck doesn't have this problem, it will run over a curb.
If it's under the bumper and only noticeable if you kneel down and look closely, my advice is to...wait for it...not kneel down and look closely. Seriously, it's not metal so you don't have rust issues. I'd leave it alone. Plus--custom, cheap and fast generally don't apply to most things, particularly in the bay area. FYI--the front bumper is low for aerodynamic reasons.
There are three different items involved with Custom, Fast and Cheap. You can have two of them. NOT three. Custom and fast will not end up cheap. Fast and cheap will not look custom. Custom and cheap (if you can get it at all) will take forever. Take your pick!
I know you said you didn't want to do it yourself. Maybe I can change your mind. I assume that you only have scratches, and no repair needs to be done. Go to your nearest auto parts to find some matching spray paint. The store will also have some filler (assuming you have deep scratches), and fill the scratches. Mask off the parts where you don't want any paint to hit. Sand the area with 220 grit sand paper, just to roughen up the surface, then spray paint the area under your bumper. You said you have to kneel down to see the scratches. So, with a quick bit of spray paint, I think the scratches will virtually disappear, at least to anybody who isn't kneeling down to look under your bumper. But I think the only trick is to sand it first (you might need coarser sand paper than I said), then put on 3-4 very thin coats of paint. And if you want to get a better finish, after painting, use 400 (or even 600) grit sand paper for a smoother finish. If you don't trust yourself, get some old plastic from your garbage can and practice. And if the part comes off (I haven't looked, yet), then take it off first. It'll be real easy if it comes off. I'm adding: I looked underneath the bumper. I'm sure you aren't talking about the black inspection cover. So I think you will have a problem with painting just the underside of the bumper because I don't see a clear "line" you can mask off to just paint the underside. And I think it will cost a lot of money to have somebody else paint the entire bumper. If it helps, you might start with just taking your car to a local body shop who offers free estimates, and keep shopping around. But if you are trying to keep the costs down, I'd still just use some filler and touch up paint. I'd go to an autoparts store and ask around. It's real hard to see underneath there, so nobody will see it except for somebody crawling around the ground. If you cracked the bumper, that's a different story. Dumb Mike
