Earlier today my Focus suffered a damaged bumper in a car park.

Mrs Pitmonster was using the car today and was preparing to leave work, when a colleague manouvered their car and scraped ours (Mrs PM was sat in my car but was stationary at the time).

The driver of the other car was a colleague of Mrs PM's, and she was driving her father's company car.
It was completely their fault, and they have admitted full liability.

I've spoken to the father on the phone, and he was very nice about everything. He wants to pay for the damage himself (to both vehicles) rather than go through insurance.

This actually works out better for me, because even though the repair wouldn't cost me anything either way (and my no claims is protected), when shopping for insurance in the future I would have to declare that I'd made a claim and my insurance would go up, regardless of fault..
(I checked this on a comparison site. Filled in the forms as normal and then went back and did it again, when it got to the box saying "have you made a claim in the last 5 years" I said yes and the price went up by £140, even though I specified "not at fault". Over the 5 years that I'd have to keep saying yes to this question that's £700)

The damage itself is on the left-rear corner, just behind the rear wheel. No metal was damaged and the wheel is fine.
The bumper is dented (see pic 1), and the gelcoat is cracked (see pic 2). Because the bumper is plastic I figure it can't be filled (when the plastic flexes the filler would pop out) so a replacement is needed.

[img]http://i47.tinypic.com/2n7edyv.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/2cqmp2t.jpg[/img]

I'm going to ring around a few body shops and get some estimates, but I've no idea how much they'll charge. Anybody got any ideas?

I know I shouldn't really care as it's not me who's paying, but I was wondering if this is something I could do myself?
How easy is it to remove & refit a bumper? My main reason for possibly doing this is that I wouldn't be without the car while it's in the shop, as I doubt I'd get a courtesy car.

I've found a supplier of a brand new bumper, for £120 including painting & shipping (see [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150635397648?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2304wt_1032"]here[/url])

What do you reckon? Or should I just leave all it up to him to do?




Notes:
The car is a 2006/56 Mk2 Focus 5-dr hatch (non facelift) in the light blue metallic.

That appears to be a crease so filling won't work as you say.
eBay is good for parts but try to get OEM parts not pattern parts as they tend to need a lot of fiddling to make them fit.

You should be able to find a tonic blue (your car's colour) rear bumper secondhand from a breaker for a very reasonable sum. No painting required. Tonic is a bugger to match.

[quote name='Pitmonster' timestamp='1336173049' post='180913']
The damage itself is on the left-rear corner, just behind the rear wheel. No metal was damaged and the wheel is fine.
The bumper is dented (see pic 1), and the gelcoat is cracked (see pic 2). Because the bumper is plastic I figure it can't be filled (when the plastic flexes the filler would pop out) so a replacement is needed.

I'm going to ring around a few body shops and get some estimates, but I've no idea how much they'll charge. Anybody got any ideas?

I know I shouldn't really care as it's not me who's paying, but I was wondering if this is something I could do myself?
How easy is it to remove & refit a bumper? My main reason for possibly doing this is that I wouldn't be without the car while it's in the shop, as I doubt I'd get a courtesy car.

I've found a supplier of a brand new bumper, for £120 including painting & shipping (see [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150635397648?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_2304wt_1032"]here[/url])

What do you reckon? Or should I just leave all it up to him to do?

Notes:
The car is a 2006/56 Mk2 Focus 5-dr hatch (non facelift) in the light blue metallic.
[/quote]

If you were to fit some ford mud flaps they wrap over the bumper and by looking at where the damage is,
they would probably cover the full dammaged area.

but on the other hand,
i have currently no bumper on my focus, and its the same chassie as yours so i can guide you on removing the bumper panel if you decide to fit it yourself, i have also had to purchase some ford rivets to re-fit the bumper when i get it back from the body shop i only need 10 rivets and they come in lots of 50 so if you need 10 i can post you 12 when they arrive with me.

also when estimating the dammage,
their is a bracket in that area behind the bumper panel that may also be dammaged so id check it out too,
here is a picture of what lies beneath:

[img]http://i575.photobucket.com/albums/ss192/lennymanwoods/Image1910.jpg[/img]


and here is a link to purchase a set if needed
[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Focus-rear-bumper-brackets-/140736218452?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item20c4884554"]http://www.ebay.co.u...=item20c4884554[/url]

i reckon around £70 in the body shop to spray and repair mate.
but if you removed the bumper yourself and brought the panel to the body shop it would be cheaper because you would be fitting it yourself.

when removing the bumper for repair, you dont need to drill out all the rivets like i did on mine,
you can simply drill out two rivets under the bumper behind each wheel on the flat space that faces the road under the car.
then remove the two screws from below the bumper.
open the boot and pull the rubber seal from the bottom of the opening next to the bumper.

next step is the rear arch liners,
undo the two torx screws from the rear of the two back wheel arches and fit your hand inside the liner,
you will feel a little nut i think its an M8
remove the nut from the bolt on both sides of the car,

finally remove the bolts from either side of the boot opening but take care when reomoving these because they are the only ones remaining that are holding up the bumper.

and when your bumper is in the body shop mate, get yourself two empty 2ltr coca-cola bottles, some PVC black electrical tape, four cable ties and check this out [url="http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/32690-reduce-reuse-and-recycle/page__fromsearch__1"]http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/32690-reduce-reuse-and-recycle/page__fromsearch__1[/url]

when the bumper is removed from your car,
you will have the bumper brackets attached to it via 3 rivets on the top on either side, and one on the bottom on either side. so if the bumper support bracket isint dammaged then you can leave the support brackets in place, and then you wont need to drill out any rivets or replace them neither,
just bring the bumper to the body shop as it is.
hope this helps mate.

on plastic dents try boiling the kettle with water and pour it on the dented area and it may pop back out to its original shape, worth a try too mate, then it would be just a matter of getting it sprayed.

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.

Stoney, I didn't see that the ebay ad was for a non-OEM part, I'd better keep looking. Guess I was just impressed by the price for a new part.

Nigel, Is it really that difficult even if the chassis number / paint code is available? Or do some paints fade badly over time (my car is 5½ yr old) and new paint stands out like a sore thumb?

Lenny, Thanks for the guide & pics. i don't think mudflaps would cover it, as the cracks extend far beyond the curved wheelarech. Although they are minor they are very visible (at least to me).
As for removing/refitting the bumper, the fact that you had to drill out rivets and such makes me think I should get a body shop to do this. If it was just bolts then I'd be fine, but at the end of the day it's the other guy who's paying.
I don't think the bracket/support would be damaged, as I understand it was very low speed, but you never know.

Because of the dent/crease/crack I don't think hot water would do the trick, although the damage is in a small place the dent is quite severe. Perhaps a proper bodyshop can work some magic.

Guess I'll start ringing round for prices.

Thanks again for the replies everyone.

[quote name='Pitmonster' timestamp='1336207270' post='180933']

Lenny, Thanks for the guide & pics. i don't think mudflaps would cover it, as the cracks extend far beyond the curved wheelarech. Although they are minor they are very visible (at least to me).
As for removing/refitting the bumper, the fact that you had to drill out rivets and such makes me think I should get a body shop to do this. If it was just bolts then I'd be fine, but at the end of the day it's the other guy who's paying.
I don't think the bracket/support would be damaged, as I understand it was very low speed, but you never know.

Because of the dent/crease/crack I don't think hot water would do the trick, although the damage is in a small place the dent is quite severe. Perhaps a proper bodyshop can work some magic.

Guess I'll start ringing round for prices.

Thanks again for the replies everyone.
[/quote]

no prob mate,
the body shop may be able to chop out the little square and patch it with fibre glass then sand it smooth and paint,
their shouldnt be too much of a big job mate and if you aint paying then id let the body shop do the whole job for you.

Time for an update. On Saturday I dropped off the car at a local bodyshop, who does SMART repairs.
4 hours later and the car looks like new.
Even though I know there was damage, I cannot see anything and the bumper looks perfect.
The cost was £70+vat, which is being paid by the other person.

All in all I'm pleased with the outcome :-)

Before:

[img]http://i49.tinypic.com/mihvk5.jpg[/img]


After:

[img]http://i46.tinypic.com/s14ww7.jpg[/img]

Good result and good price (even though you didn't pay it yourself).

Yep, I'm mega-pleased with the result. The colour match is immaculate and the repair is invisible.

I'm happy to provide a link to the bodyshop website, but not sure if it's bad manners and breaks forum rules.

Can't hurt to post the details.
If you got good service and recommend them, that can only help others.

Here's the link
http://www.expressautopaintrepairs.co.uk/

The guy's name is Neil, and his workshop is in Wigan.

thats a really good repair Dave, glad its worked out for you. On another note, i have out that the ST3 rear bumper fits the non facelift models if anyone was thinking about a change....Lenny

ive had hell with my bumper too this week. Rear bumper where reverse light side is. big gash in it not happy to say the least. Anybody help me out hunting down new shape 2008+ sea grey rear bumper. In desperate need. tried ebay but not much my colour there and no joy at any local car dismantlers .

ARGHHHHH!!!