Before the max was mine, my mom had it and many times when she pulled it in the garage she didn't pull up far enough to clear the metal brackets on the garage door. When that happened she got big, deep scratches in the rear bumper and I dont know what I should do.

Here are some pictures of it.
Thanks for your help

 

Kinda stuck with them, you might be able to make them look better with a clay bar and some good buffing.

 

new bumper?

 

on the clay bar. A good buffing will always help out.

 

I was thinking on a new bumper...but I dont know where I could find one for cheap. Could you guys tell me what I should do with the clay bar.

 

I had the same thing happen recently. Granted it's not as obvious on a white car, but I used Meguire's Scratch-X...helped a bit.
The clay bar comes with instructions - just follow them.

 

Where would I find clay bar?

 

You could find a decent looking sticker and put it on top of the scratches. It's definitely not the best thing you can do, but it'll better than leaving the scratches open... (dpending on the sticker)

 

How about a HUGE Maxima.org sticker

 

Same thing happend to me. Buffing only helps a lil, havent tried a clay bar. I might just buy a new bumper or something.

 

Get some 1500 grit sandpaper wet sand over top of them then buff up (preferably by machine) or by hand if you have to with a quality rubbing compound. you should get some light ones out then touch up the rest you should be okay. You don't need a new bumper at all. good luck hope this helps

 

I might have to give that a try. But what should I do about deep ones?

 

you cant sand plastic fool.

you'll melt it.

 

Well since I can sand it, what do you think I should do?

 

buy a new bumper....

for like what? 150?

 

Would I order it from my local Nissan Dealership? or try to find one online?

 

Wow, your sanding paint not plastic. I see that in a few spots it's threw but trust me you'll get the majority of those small ones out. I run a body shop I've seen this 63 million times. Who feels like the fool now hah

 

i do.

pwnt.

 

Ouch thats what happens when your a manchester united fan.







just joking they are my favorite club team!

 

you got pwned.

so i should try sanding it? then what...get the whole bumper painted?

 

no...thats what happenes when i let my mom drive

 

wet sand it lightly then hand buff it out (labor intesive) but you'll get it then touch it up and clear it ( touch up also)

 

you dont need to buy a new bumper just because of a few scratches. Any body shop will be able to fix that easily. DA it with 80 and fill and primer it sand it and paint it. you won't melt the bumper by sanding it. Don't waste your time with a clay bar or buffing it. Theres no paint much less clear to buff out smooth. I think a rear bumper is around $200 from nissan. IIRC. Your going to have to take it to a body shop eventually to get either your new bumper painted or get your old one fixed so go and see what is the cheapest. depening on how much they charge for labor it might be cheaper to just buy a new bumper, but that can be fixed easily.

 

ok, ill give that a try when i get some free time and ill post later on how it went.
thanks for your help everybody

 

Good thread for me. I have the same issue, same color even. My scratches are less severe though. Thanks all. Will wet sand with 1500 then orbital-buff with some compound, then wax the crap out of the area.

 

Any auto parts store.

 

Why the hell are people suggesting a new bumper? A new bumper costs $150 + paint + labor = $300-400 spent. The bumper doesn't have any dents or holes in it. Just get it repainted at a body shop and don't listen to those telling you to get a new bumper.

 

yeah im not going to get a new bumper... i am going to try to wet sand it and then touch it up with touch up paint. but right now i dont have much free time and on top of that... i dont have any money...have to wait till monday when i get my pay check.

anyways, today i went to get some sand paper and i asked the guy who was working there what wet sanding is. he said that i get this wet sandpaper liquid and use a cloth to sad it. does that sound right?

 

huh? what grit sandpaper did you buy? just get some 1000 and 2000 and use water or soap and water to sand the scratches with 1000 then 2000. Then buff it with rubbing compound and touch it up.

 

i got the 1500. is that going to work?

 

yeah that'll work for what your doing. just dont sand thru the clearcoat but sand enough to get the scratches out of the clear. good luck.

 

not sure where your coming from but you definately can sand plastic. if your sanding fast you can wet sand and youll have no problems. many people have redone their headlights like this, includinge myself, and it comes out great.

 

well i was thinking, wouldnt it ruin the whole bumper when i wet sand it. wouldnt i have to prime the bumper and the paint it...etc.

also, i dont think that touch up paint will look the same as the original painting looks?

i think you would easily notice a difference between the original paint from where i used touch up paint. everybody is just telling me to wet sand it and then buff it. it seems too easy, there has to be more too it than that.

 

you have got to be kidding right?

 

Start with the 1000 grit, but if the scratches are really deep (through the paint and into the olefin), you may want to move to a coarser grit, then move back to the finer stuff. For the best finish, you'll want to finish with 2000. You aren't doing yourself any favors by getting the 1500. It'll take longer than the 1000, but won't give you as smooth of a finish as the 2000. It's half-a$$ed if you ask me.

Given the size of the area, I'd skip the touch-up paint. Even if you get the spray, it'll take eons of buffing to blend with the rest of the bumper. I haven't tried the following technique, but it'd be interesting to see if it works.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=474250

 

Same problem here, those gouges are deep, you can't sand them out. I got a quote to paint the rear bumper for around $300 from a local body shop. With most any paint you have to be careful to colormatch the paint or it will look funny, so go to a good body shop. Good luck!!!

 

I park my Maxima on hills here in San Francisco. With the manual transmission and all my rear bumper has scuffs. Same deal as you white scuffs on my maroon colored bumper. I went to the local Nissan service center for touch up paint. They sold me this product from "AutoVisuals". It was like a felt tip pen with the perfect color match, they used my VIN. I just painted the scuffs. A huge improvement you can barely tell from a distance. Sanding would likely have made for better overall job but I've got a life. It cost like $15.00. I'm quite pleased with result.
Cheers.

 

I really can't believe a new bumper was being thrown around for a couple of scratches. Use touch up paint for a short time and get is rapainted at a body shop, thats the smart thing to do. Why one earth would you need a new bumper??

 

I did the same thing last night with my 3 day old Max!!!!

aaarrrggg!

Although mines not that bad, but the bumper was perfect before it happened.

 

I have very similar damage, only mine is slightly worse. I need to start shopping around for a cheap body shop quote.