Check Out These Mystery Scratches :(

[jda8]

So I bought a 2009 Genesis 4.6 on July 27, 2013 - less than a month ago. I washed it by hand this past Sunday, August 11, 2013. Yesterday, four days after I washed it, I happened to glance at the bumper and saw random, unexplainable scratches!! See the attached picture. It's so infuriating. There is no explanation for them. I know they weren't there on Sunday because I spent a long time cleaning off dead bugs by hand using a soft cloth and I would have noticed them if they were there. I have no idea what could have caused them.

I've taken my car to two different body shops (one at a Hyundai dealership) and they have both quoted me $400 because they say the entire bumper will need repainted. A "patch job" will only make it look good for a couple of years, and then the paint will start to haze over. Just my luck. I wonder if $400 is reasonable.... I just had to bitch to someone who will care.

 

[WowCool]

That's sad..Cost is relative to how much pain' you have..
B U T::-- My bro drove his New Jaguar Sedan from London to Le Tourquet via the Chunnel' ..
On his return the the parking area (Le Tourquet) someone had reversed into the front of the Jag" (possibly with a tow bar attached) extensive damage
AA (read AAA) lifted it onto a flat bed, he & the Mrs sat in the cab all the way back to North London..

 

[PMCErnie]

No mystery, really. Seems pretty obvious that these scratches were caused by either another driver of your car, or by another person. If you are the only driver and you didn't hit something yourself, your car was damaged while it was parked somewhere. By the way, landscapers do a lot of damage to homes and vehicles. Maybe you got swiped by a lawnmower while parked at a mall.

I'm not a clairvoyant, but I play one on TV.

Good luck with the repairs!

 

[shagnat]

So I bought a 2009 Genesis 4.6 on July 27, 2013 - less than a month ago. I washed it by hand this past Sunday, August 11, 2013. Yesterday, four days after I washed it, I happened to glance at the bumper and saw random, unexplainable scratches!! See the attached picture. It's so infuriating. There is no explanation for them. I know they weren't there on Sunday because I spent a long time cleaning off dead bugs by hand using a soft cloth and I would have noticed them if they were there. I have no idea what could have caused them.

I've taken my car to two different body shops (one at a Hyundai dealership) and they have both quoted me $400 because they say the entire bumper will need repainted. A "patch job" will only make it look good for a couple of years, and then the paint will start to haze over. Just my luck. I wonder if $400 is reasonable.... I just had to bitch to someone who will care.

Ouch! And it's on a dark color too, which makes those issues worse than if it were a light color. I'd pay the $400 and get it fixed right.

 

[GenesisCaptain]

$400 is a good price. I would get it done.

I had a very similar repair on our Honda Odyssey a couple years ago. Someone backed into the car in a parking lot that caused similar paint damage. I just pulled the bumper cover off myself and the body shop charged me about $300 to fix it. Then I just reinstalled it when they were done. Almost no inconvenience and no overspray.

 

[Philth]

Black is the EASIEST color to blend and match. I don't know about the whole bumper being painted. I guess it depends on the condition of the rest of the bumper.

 

[WowCool]

Find your local Motor/Body Tech Training College, speak with the top guy,
they will do a bang up job, less bucks & you would have made friends for life...
They might even Lower & add a Supercharger!!!!!!

 

[homeofstone]

Price is about right. Looks like a tire scrubbed across the bumper, just a guess.

 

[jalanjalan]

Would polishing it with compound take those marks out? I can't tell how deep they are

 

[thebells]

Looks to me like you hit something while driving....maybe a piece of tire tread or something like that.

Be thankful it's just on the plastic...every professional used car buyer today expects the bumpers to have been painted as so many are actually painted by the auctions, but if it were a fender or the hood, you'd have some splainin' to do when you are ready to sell.

Good luck.

PS - $400 sounds pretty reasonable if they do a good job. Make sure they remove the fender and paint it away from the car so you don't get overspray anywhere and for heaven's sake, don't let them "blend" the paint or clearcoat onto the fenders.

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[my2wins]

I recently got a tiny (2 inch?) scratch on my lower front bumper fixed for $200. I scraped the curb while moving the car out of the driveway so the kids could shoot hoops, and my bumper hit the curb as I went in at an angle that didn't register with the damn parking radar.

Went on Yelp and picked 3 places nearby with best rating average, and the first guy quoted me $700 for a blended repair restored to factory original "perfect" condition, or $200 to just make it nearly impossible to see. I went with the $200 option and its invisible unless you get out a microscope, assuming you know where to look.

Very happy to have it behind me. Mad to waste money but it was worth the expense to move on.

$400 seems well worth the cost to make a daily frustration go away. Go for it!

 

[jda8]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I went to a third body shop and was quoted $382. I'm just going to have to quit moping around about it, pay to get it fixed, and move on. Shit happens. Last night my friend took Meguiar's buffing polish and a power buffer to the scratches. Didn't really help much other than get rid of some of the white spots on the surface of the scratches. Anyway, thanks again. I'll be sure to post some before and after pics.

 

[WowCool]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I went to a third body shop and was quoted $382. I'm just going to have to quit moping around about it, pay to get it fixed, and move on. Shit happens. Last night my friend took Meguiar's buffing polish and a power buffer to the scratches. Didn't really help much other than get rid of some of the white spots on the surface of the scratches. Anyway, thanks again. I'll be sure to post some before and after pics.

Try a little "Good Old KIWI Shoe Polish" black of course, it will not repair, but will certainly help cover if you do not want to have it repaired asap..