Having misjudged the length of my 996 when parking, I've scraped the bottom of the front bumper up pretty good. Aside from having the bumper professionally repaired, are there any DIY fixes or remedies for this?

Is there an add-on lip that might cover the scratches?

I've also noticed that parts that show through the grill are looking like the color of oxidized aluminum. Are these supposed to be black? Can these be painted or should they be replaced?

 

If you can drag your finger nail over the scratches without it catching, you can most likely polish it out. If they are deeper scratches or gouges, you can use a bondo glaze coat on it and sand it and touch it up with paints from places like www.paintscratch.com. Luckily, it's in a lower and not too noticeable area. If you did it professionally and it got scraped up again, you would be throwing your money away vs. spending $40 or so for DIY.

If you are scraping now, I don't know why you would want to get a lip that would even lower your height of the bumper.

Also, the black plastic area looks to be oxidized. Based on experience, I wouldn't waste my time on temporary products like "Back to Black" or similiar products as they eventually fade. I usually just get matte black spray paint or some clear coat to bring those areas back to black.

Another notorious area is the windshield cowl which I plan on doing this summer.

My $.02

 

Some of the higher, more visible marks might be yellow paint and might come off. The lower stuff is definitely scratched pretty deep. I guess this is another project to add to the list. I'll do radiator clean-out, daytime running lights, and the touch-up together.

My idea about adding the lip was assuming that I've learned my lesson about how low the front is, but your right, it's probably a bad idea.

 

I hit a pot hole at night and mine was worse than your's with paint chipped off. I just repainted the whole front bumper.
If you want an addon kit....sponsor gt3tek does have a lip kit that looks similar to the mk1 aero...but I think it'll make the front lower...

 

BTW, based on your plates, aren't you suppose to be driving one of these instead?

 

Regarding the plates....The latest New York plate colors are pretty hideous (pumpkin orange and navy blue), especially on a dark green car. I bought the Nascar-themed plates because of the neutral background color.