Help! Bumper scratch!

[therealcbar]

OK, I'm kind of fuming here...just now I noticed a pretty big scratch in my rear bumper of my '13 Civic Si. I have no idea on the who / what / where / when! Maybe best, because whoever did this...not cool. All I know is that on Saturday afternoon, I had it in a car wash bay washing winter junk off and did NOT notice the scratch (I wouldn't have missed it - you can't miss it!). Then today, I saw what's shown in the pics below. Ugh!

So I'm looking for opinions...Scratch X 2.0? Ultimate Compound? Or body shop?

[Detailing by M]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

you can polish some of it but your missing paint, you can't polish what isn't there.
get some touch up paint, sand and buff.

[Blueline]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

What he said, ^^^^^^^^^ or a body shop. Doesn't look like something that can be polished out.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

Well, before you throw in the towel on this one, tell us a bit more about this scratch. Pictures can be very deceiving when it comes to this sort of thing. Can you feel this scratch with your fingernail? Have you tried anything at all on it yet? While Mario's suggestion to "get some touch up paint, sand and buff" may actually be the only cure here, let's not be too hasty, especially if you've never sanded before and have no solid means of buffing out your sanding marks!!

The first thing we would try is some Ultimate Compound applied with a soft foam wax applicator pad. You don't want to scrub like crazy in a very tiny area but you do need to put some elbow grease into the process. We recommend working an area roughly 1 foot square around this scratch, using moderate pressure (enough to actually get the panel to slightly deflect when pushing on it) and work until the compound has become just a very thin, translucent film on the surface, then wipe off the residue. If you need a second or third application, do it. You should be able to dramatically reduce the visibility of this scratch, even if you can't eliminate it completely. Obviously you want to do the above on a clean surface, so remove all loose dirt and dust, road salt, etc first. Give that a shot and then come back and let us know how you got along.

[mis3]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

If you can feel the scratch with your fingernail, it is probably too deep to be polished out.

The dealerships usually have someone to paint bumpers for them. I know of one and he fixes bumpers only. I use him a few times and he does amazing works. He would repair the scratch, primer, paint, clear coat, polish, all in an hour. He does use heat lamp to speed up the drying process. He usually charges $120-150can.

[The Guz]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

Well, before you throw in the towel on this one, tell us a bit more about this scratch. Pictures can be very deceiving when it comes to this sort of thing. Can you feel this scratch with your fingernail? Have you tried anything at all on it yet? While Mario's suggestion to "get some touch up paint, sand and buff" may actually be the only cure here, let's not be too hasty, especially if you've never sanded before and have no solid means of buffing out your sanding marks!!

The first thing we would try is some Ultimate Compound applied with a soft foam wax applicator pad. You don't want to scrub like crazy in a very tiny area but you do need to put some elbow grease into the process. We recommend working an area roughly 1 foot square around this scratch, using moderate pressure (enough to actually get the panel to slightly deflect when pushing on it) and work until the compound has become just a very thin, translucent film on the surface, then wipe off the residue. If you need a second or third application, do it. You should be able to dramatically reduce the visibility of this scratch, even if you can't eliminate it completely. Obviously you want to do the above on a clean surface, so remove all loose dirt and dust, road salt, etc first. Give that a shot and then come back and let us know how you got along.

I agree. I would try ultimate compound first.If you can feel it with your fingernail then it's a deep scratch that polishing won't fix. You could fill it in with touch up paint as well.

[GuessWho530]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

You may "possibly" have to use a tiny dab of body filler, sand it, prime it and then touch up paint. Then you would have to go in again and sand down the high spots on the touch up paint and then protect it with wax or sealant.

But if it's possible, and if you can check if having moisture on it will cause it to look like it isn't there [test by misting water on the scratch] from afar then just wax that spot and it should slightly hide it temporarily for a while until you need a new coat of wax.

[YUSUF_1977]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

Hi Friends,

I have this scratch on my plastic bumper and i will try to fill it with paint and after sand with 3000 grid . This picture is after the first layer of filling process.
My question is ,is there any other filler product that i can use instead of adding multi layers with paint?

thank you,

[GuessWho530]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

There is always the good ol bondo.

[billddrummer]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

Have a similar situation with my bumper (an unfortunate encounter with a wooden bear proof trash can holder).

Will go with ScratchX and yellow MF, touch up paint (2 coats, 30 min apart), clear coat and wax next weekend.

If it looks terrible, will do the dealership body shop. I trust them.

[billddrummer]

Re: Help! Bumper scratch!

Have a similar situation with my bumper (an unfortunate encounter with a wooden bear proof trash can holder).

Will go with ScratchX and yellow MF, touch up paint (2 coats, 30 min apart), clear coat and wax next weekend.

If it looks terrible, will do the dealership body shop. I trust them.

As it turned out, was able to bring it back to nearly pristine condition with the ScratchX and touch up paint.

My cheap AutoZone polisher gave up the ghost though. Using the Chicago Electric variable speed DA Polisher from Harbor Freight now. Seems better.