Rear Bumper Issues

[Majic]

I own a Ford Focus Sport 1.6l. Unfortunately the rear bumper met with a bollard and has caused some damage. I took it to the local bodyman and he told me it was repairable but with the time taken to do this it would be cheaper to buy a second hand one off eBay and for him to spray it and attatch it. He told me this would cost £150 for the work plus I would need to buy a bumper. I said I was looking on eBay for my colour (Sea Grey) but he said it would not matter what colour it was as he would spray it Sea Grey. He said there were 6 variations of the Sea Grey colour.

I'd welcome any comments about this as originally I was just going to buy a Sea Grey bumper off eBay as this would be a lot cheaper but this does not seem now to be a good idea especially as there are 6 colours. Is it easy to remove and replace a bumper-could I do this myself? Would any Focus model do or does it have to be the Sport-mine his 07 reg.

Thanks

[Bigdaddycain]

Hello fellow Sea grey ford owner! To be fair mate, your old bumper colour would have been a milliion miles out of shade of the rest of the body of the car anyway bud... The bumpers are not only painted in a different factory as the body, but in a different country! The only fords with matching bumper colours to the body in the past ten years have had the surrounding panels blown in to match the bumpers. (like on my car).

Your bodyshop will really struggle to match the colour i'm afraid mate... Now these water based paints are used, sea grey is near impossible to get even close in shade i'm afraid... I had the same issue when my car was in for major modifications at my local bodyshop.

After many failed attempts at getting even a close match, my bodyshop guy had to buy in a few litres of (illegal) oil based paint from a dodgey contact... The match was absolutely bang on! Best of luck...

[Lenny]

:o I hope Anne Robinson from watch Dog doesnt read this forum

[Majic]

_{Thanks for the repky Big Daddy. So do you reckon I'd be better off buying a sea grey bumper and fiiting it myself or getting the bodyshop to respray any bumper?}

_{I'm still not sure what to do?}

_{Option 1) Buy any second hand Ford Focus bumper,get Body Shop to paint and fit, approximate cost is £210 (£60 for Bumper £150 for Bodyshop)}

_{Option 2) Buy second hand Sea Grey Ford Focus bumper and fit it myself, approximate cost is £60}

_{What it boils down to is would a second hand Sea Grey bumper look right on my car or will it stand out and I should instead use the Bodyman's skills to match up the colours?}