So I just backed my shiny red Max SE into a (metal) stake in the ground... and, well, there's a 2-inch dent there now. It's scratched and pushed in maybe a quarter inch in a sort of X shape. What will it take to repair? Do I have to replace the whole bumper? Will that really cost me $1000 like the dealer says? (Yeah, dealers are idiots... I asked the guy if their minivan uses the VQ engine and he's like "the what now?").

 

OUCH man I feel your pain, sorry to hear that.

 

Couple hundred to get it filled and repainted. Certainly no reason to replace the whole bumper. Thats insane.

CM.

 

Take it elsewhere... the dealer will try to hand your *** to you along with the bill. Go get a few estimates.

 

I hear ya....tapped a white Mercedes parking in Manhattan....got that sh*tty paint on my bumper now. These bumpers get marked up and dented way too easily. Stay away from the dealer..they'll kill ya.

 

Not too long after I purchased mine an old lady took her foot off the brake for a moment and ran into the a** end of my new ride. It was slightly dented with few scratches. The repair price was $350 to repair, no bumper replacement. Good luck.

 

man did you yell at the old lady

 

Trust...I was ****ed, but when I saw...I just couldn't do it. She was like 3ft tall and unaware just like "steve urkel"..."did i do that". No worries, done deal.

 

dang no way. that is kind of amusing

 

I had my rear bumper and rear quarter panel repainted twice on my last car. First time was $340CDN a couple years later $380CDN. They removed the bumper entirely, and had some dents to remove on the quarter panel.

You should certainly be able to get just the bumper painted for a lot less than $350US.

CM.

 

That is just sad........

 

People like that should really try to stay off the road. Reminds me of something that happened the first day I had the car. I was coming through a red light here in my town (pretty small) and the lanes opened up to 2 from one, well there is a big grocery store parking lot on my right. As I'm rolling through the redlight, I notice a Lincoln TownCar pull out of the parking lot, but the old woman doesnt cross the median, she starts coming at me head on in the wrong 2 lanes. I guess she thought she was on the right side. Well me and 3 other cars behind me take our time going around her, giving her plenty of honks and looks. Well I notice as I pass by, she acts as if she is doing nothing wrong. She is staring straight ahead just driving. I was like,

 

Sry, this **** forum server is slow, keeps on saying it failed to load the page, so I click reply again, does the same then when I look at the post, I have 3 posts! Ack

 

Anyone see my 2 above posts??? Hrm, it shows that the last post was made by JAKE02. Man this forum is screwy...

 

Surely none of you missed the story last week about the elderly gentleman who drove through the crowded market, killing and injuring dozens of people. Supposedly he confused the gas pedal for the brake (for a few blocks?).

I don't know how many of you caught a similar story where an elderly woman was in a parking lot and reversed her car up through 40 miles an hour (!), plowing through a store and killing 6. Apparently she confused reverse for drive and the accelerator for the brake. Unaware drivers are certainly the worst kind...

Thanks for all y'alls posts on bumper repair too. I'm gonna get it checked out soon as I can.

 

old people+motor vehicle=madcap tomfoolery

 

Yeah so uhh the dealer's body shop quotes $590 for repair (epoxy?) and $690 for a full replacement. Each will take 3-4 days after parts come in! Oy...

 

Wife backed into a pole and just tapped it. The bumper now has a ripple in it and you can see the egg crate under the skin of the bumper. You can't hardly see it unless you are really looking, but it did leave two scratches each about 3/4" long on the paint. The wife went for some touch up paint, but the dealer said next time she comes in for service the will take it to the body shop and have them hit it with some paint rather than the touch up. Her cost will be around $100 for the paint, and I can live with the slight skin blemish. I just couldn't live with the paint looking crappy!.

 

This is an example of why "parking assist" should be another available option for this car along with a STANDARD tire pressure sensor system.

Rear "parking assist" is on my '02 Cadillac STS and it makes backing up so much easier. You can literally do it "by ear." Just line youself up in the space or wherever and back up until the beeping starts. Then you know you're within 12 inches of an object.

With the limited rear visibilty of the '04 Max, I'm looing into having it installed by a local auto accessories place.

 

take a heat gun, take a roller, and flatten it out. the bumper is pliable when hot. after you have straightened it out, sand the bumper down to the plastic around the dent, take bondo and smooth it over any creases left by the roller, sand it again with fine grit, primer, paint, and clear coat it.

its all in a days work. this is what they will do at the body shop, there's no reason you can't do it.

 

ah man, don't pay someone to instal that for you, its really REALLY easy man. if you still don't want to do it, give me a quote, and ill do it for 50% off. you'll be in and out in 2 hours. i've done it on 3 cars, im going to do my max next month.

 

push it out by the inside. I did that to a HUGE bump in my front lower bumper after I hit a pothole so large that the front bumper hit the road. All that was left was a few scratches, I kept it like that.