Cost to Repair a Car Bumper

BUMPER REPAIR COST

Assume that your car was crashed, has bumper damage and now it needs to be fixed. How much does it cost to repair a bumper? $200? $400? When the payment bill comes you will surely get surprised.

Subaru Bumper Paint Scratch

This happens because of the outdated understanding of a car bumper. In the past, the bumper was a piece of wood, bolted onto metal at the ends of the car. They provided protection if a car bumped into nearby objects. Furthermore, it was easily replaceable, just unscrewing the bolts allowed it to detach.

Now bumpers are more complex. Today, bumpers are integrated with components of the vehicle and have more functions than just protecting. This causes the bumper repair cost to rise. In order to know the cost, you need to understand a modern bumper’s purpose, and the process of fixing or replacing one.

Today’s system of repairing or replacing is much harder than it was in the past. Before taking out the bumper, professionals need to disconnect it from numerous vehicle systems. It does not only consumes time but it also takes trained skills. You must be wondering what kind of systems are in the bumper, below is the list of all systems:

  1. Lights
  2. Trim
  3. Warning Systems
  4. Airbag Sensors
  5. Air Intakes

Removing all the above parts takes almost 2 – 3 hours and sometimes even more. The average labor cost is $100 per hour.

Paint Labor

After the removal of bumper, it’s time for the paint job. This job starts when the damage to the bumper is repaired. It also includes using body filler(putty), plastic repair material or other materials to repair dents and cracks. The primary objective is to create an exact copy of the original bumper.


After the repair job, sanding is done to the surface of the bumper. Before painting, trim or cutouts are removed. Now it’s time for painting and this includes laying a base coat, coats of colors and clearcoat.


The average time spends in this whole job is around 3 – 4 hours. The paint labor cost almost $100 per hour.

Paint Materials

This includes masking tape, plastic repair material, basecoat paint as well as body filler. You must be thinking that the measuring tape and paint also includes in cost? Yes, auto-body shops charge a flat rate for materials. They charge around $45 per hour on average.

Parts

In any collision, there must some part or component that was damaged. In the worst scenario, because of high damage, a replacement will be made. A replacement of bumper will cost you around $300 – $700. If sensors, lights, cameras or any other component are damaged, then you can expect an increase in overall cost. Even a low-speed collision of a new car could cost up to $1,000.

Overall Bumper Repair Cost

Car bumpers have changed from very simple to complex. Not just tools and parts cost but also time and effort the person whom you hired.


If we sum up all the expenses, you can easily see why car bumper repair costs so much.

  • Labor Time: 2 – 3 hours (rate= $100/hour) will cost= $200 – $300
  • Labor Time: 3 – 4 hours (rate= $100/hour) will cost= $300 – $400
  • Paint Materials: 3 – 4 hours (rate= $45/hour) will cost= $135 – $180
  • Parts: Average cost of parts = $300 – $700

The average bumper repair will cost between $935 and $1,580.


Does this blow your mind? Well, you are not alone. Do you know you can fix a damaged bumper yourself? If you have small scratches or dents then you can easily fix it yourself, but if the bumper is heavily damaged then consider getting it fixed by a professional.


IN THE END, WE KNOW YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF.
 

How Much Does it Cost to Paint a Car Hood?

If you have decided to get your car hood painted, you have two choices to get this paint job done, either you can do it yourself or you can hire a professional to do it for you.  Having it done professionally can cost upwards of $500, but the do it yourself method could cost as low as $70. Read on for an in-depth view on the differences of the cost to paint car hood by yourself and professionally.


When you go in for car paint repair, you should be aware of the cost for common types of paint damage. It doesn’t matter whether you simply need to have touch-up paint for a small scratch or you need the entire body painted. Always having an idea of how much will that job cost you is valuable knowledge.

Cost to Paint a Car Hood the DIY way

Most people consider doing the paint job themselves because this method costs less. The materials you will need are primer, basecoat and clearcoat. You can get these supplies easily at ERAPaints.com and the cost to paint car hood won’t be more than $100.


Painting the car hood is an easy job, just check out our blog by clicking here. All of the instructions are written in steps and are very clear. The blog will help you paint your car hood and do a quality job.

Cost for a Professional to Paint your Car’s Hood

Hiring a professional has its own advantage, by hiring a professional for a paint job will assure you of high-quality. This means that the result will most likely be perfect. On the other side, it can cost a lot of money.
A rough estimate for a professional to paint a car hood ranges between $300-$500.  

What method should I use?

It depends upon the car as well as the damage. If your car contains high damage such as big dents, the full paint job on the hood then better go to a professional. In other words, he will repair your car hood with dedication and skill. Not only that, he will repair paint damage as well. Without compromising the quality, he will work flawless and guarantee to make the car hood as if you bought a new one.


If your car hood has little scratches then you should do it yourself. Don’t worry, we believe that you will do an amazing job while following our instructions. With little effort the DIY route will save a lot of money and time too. You can get the paint and touch up paint kit from ERA Paints. This won’t take more than a couple of hours and you will be spending about $30 to $60 for the whole job. Check out more about DIY vs Autobody by clicking here.

We pride ourselves on quality products, competitive prices and outstanding customer satisfaction.

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Some interesting Trends in the Auto Industry – SEMA 2018

Hey we just returned from the 2018 annual SEMA show (Specialty Equipment Market Association) in Las Vegas, Oct 30-Nov 2 2018. If you are looking to customize your new Ford F100, Jeep Wrangler or want to throw $100K at a restomod project with aftermarket/specialty stuff, this is the place to come to find what’s latest & greatest. Believe it or not 150K people attend this weeklong spectacle, second only to the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) @ 250K people… HUGE doesn’t really describe it. Take a look at their website here. “The SEMA Show is the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world. It draws the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to one place, the Las Vegas Convention Center”. Sema is all about add-on accessories for your ride.

And if that’s not enough, there’s a sister show called AAPEX  – Automotive Aftermarket Product Expo – which occurs at the same time a mile or two away at the Sands Convention Center. Here you’ll find every vendor known to man who makes aftermarket parts like replacement alternators and LED headlamps.

So we attended a SEMA ‘future trends’ seminar, hosted the SEMA Director of Market Research. Here are some industry stats:

The Specialty aftermarket market segment is worth $44Billion (healthy growth at 4% annually) in the US. How do people buy parts? 38% of these sales are done online, while 62% are purchased instore (these numbers are not changing). Pickup upgrades are the largest sector of the specialty-equipment industry (29% of total). Following behind are SUVs & CUVs (crossovers) at 22%, and mid range cars (15%). The Jeep Wrangler is the most popular accessorized vehicle.

Some Trends:


-We will continue to see more & more smaller turbo-ized engines (4 cyl, lower dispacement engines, & <3 liters), as this is a good equation for better fuel economy & performance for smaller cars.

-Speaking of smaller cars, the Crossover market (smaller 4wd vehicles build on car platforms) is a very popular, ever-growing segment. Most crossover ads are about getting outdoors and being active.

-It’s true that teenagers aren’t getting driver’s licenses at the same rate as 10 or 15 years ago (it’s costly for teenage drivers – I KNOW ALL ABOUT IT!@!!$%@), but by their 20’s this population is buying cars as they need transportation for jobs & families. A third of 16-24 year old segment is personalizing their ride.

Probably the two most talked-about industry developments are:

-Electric: by 2025 18% of vehicles will be electric. Impediments to market penetration are charging station availability and consumer habits (people don’t like having to wait for an hour or more to charge the battery).

-Autonomous (self-driving) cars: way over hyped, too many manufacturers, very low consumer adoption for now. $80 billion has been invested in R&D in this space to date! Auto ownership is a big human hurdle to mass adoption of autonomous autos (interestingly currently only .5% of all trips are made via Lyft n Uber).

You can download the entire market research report from the sema website: https://www.sema.org/market-research/