hi everyone, just wondering if i could get some thoughts. my 997s cab is perfect, has 10k miles on it. i was rear ended last friday, but the speed was very low, and the damage is extremely light.

the little bumpers around the license plate need to be replaced, no option there, but my question is about the rear bumper cover. it is basically fine except for two small nicks. one is about 1/4" long, and about as thick as a fingernail, and the other is very small round nick about 1/8" round. i've taken pictures to show a future owner how light the damage was.

so it's a 100k car, and part of me wants it perfect again, but the car guy in me says "just touch up the bumper cover because unless you're 6 inches from it you'll never know."

do you think i am better off with the original bumper cover and paint? my instinct is that i am, especially when it comes to discriminating buyers. or do i just pull it and replace everything and make it perfect again?

 

id rather buy a car that has had touch up paint on it rather than one with paint work (new bumper painted to match)


but thats just me

 

Take it to the best shop around, get them to guaranty the work, and get it painted. It will always bother you when you look at it.

I know where every scratch on my car is, and I always see them first!

 

if you have to pay, then a good touch-up is fine.

if the other party's insurance is paying, then fix it to perfection.

 

Ask a good shop what to do. They will need to pull the bumper to make sure there is no underlying damage.

My vote is a new bumper with new paint. In reality the bumper is "disposable", and a new owner will not be able to tell the difference.

 

get new bumper cover.........with a good job nobody can tell .........you cant put a paint meter to a plastic bumper cover

 

I had my 05 997 rear ended to. I had the same problem. Since the other persons insurance was paying for it I got a new bumper cover and bumperettes.
It Sucked when a I got hit, but now you can't tell.

 

I'd be just as happy having the small nicks repaired and having the bumper repainted. There are tons of places that specialize in repairing plastic bumpers. Just make sure they use the proper Porsche paint.

 

Getting hit sucks... If the person who hit you didn't take off.. and you have there info, then they need to repair it on THERE dime, No questions asked.
Get there insurance info and go to a good bodyshop.. im sure there are a few in your area. It is no problem to fix bumpers, but if there insurance in paying then replace it, and matching the paint is easy, the body shop will get a paint breakdown from your paint code and if they are good, you will never notice a difference.
If you want to come to Toronto, I have a bodyshop and will be happy to fix it..

 

Painting sections of a car has very little to do with resale value. A dealer may try to knock the car down with less of a trade-in value (that's their job) but a private party won't care if they are interested in the car. There are so many cars on the roads these days it's almost impossible not to have some kind of fender bender. If the other party is paying re-paint the bumper cover. If you are paying, re-paint the bumper cover. In the end, nobody care's what your car looks like except for you.

 

Sorry to hear about the little mishap. If such a minor repair, I would try to find a body shop that can touch it up - rather than repaint. A professional touch up a longer process to can involve layers of paint and buffing. But if shop is real good it should come out nearly perfect and/or non detectable.

 

thank you everyone. i honestly thought, given the passion most have for these cars, the advice might be to leave the original paint.

the incident wasn't my fault, and the other party's insurance is paying for it, so i am going to take it to the best repair shop in town. since the damage is so light, they said i should have it back in about 7 or 8 days.

thanks again to everyone for their advice.