Bumper repair
 

I am a new member and need some advice regarding front bumper repair on new porsche. I have owned a 997S for less than 3 weeks. I took the car to the car to the store today and when I came out I noticed that a truck had pulled into the space in front of mine and had hit my car. When I pulled back I noticed that the truck had some sort of bolts on the front that had damaged my bumper. They indented the bumper in a couple of places. My question is whether it is possible to repair that type of damage without having to replace the whole thing. The dents are noticable but it did not appear to rip the plastic. Thanks.

Posting a pic might help--but it doesn't sound too good. Generally, there is some energy absorbing material ( i.e., styrofoam) type stuff under the platic skin that comprises the front bumper cover. If those bolts from the truck made a visible indentation in your 997's bumper--chances are high that a replacement is the best bet. This might sound crazy, but you might want to take a hair dryer, put it on 'high' and heat that area and try to rub it out--just might do the trick if the impact was minor. Good luck.

Post high resolution close up picture if you can ..

I will try and get a shot in the daylight. Plan on taking it by the dealer tomorrow to see what they say. If it were not on the very front of the bumper it would not bother me as much. But to have the car only 3 weeks with only 500 miles on it and to have this happen, I am pretty down about it. Lee

Ask your dealer who they use for paintless dent removal. These guys can do miracles. As somebody else mentioned, they may be able to heat it and get the dents out.

Also what is the condition of the paint where it was hit , scratched or cracked ?

Also, what is the condition of the truck drivers face in?

A body shop can fix that. I'm not sure what they'd use to fill it in(Bondo?) but they can and it will require a respray. Did you get the license on the truck? There insurance should pay for it.

you now have an excuse to put this on ..http://img102.exs.cx/img102/2426/front997700x4627cw.jpg

If you are anywhere near ATL pm me, I do the warrenty work @ Jim Ellis porsche .

rn,
I have a small crease in my nose, a parking garage parked it up against a truck's bumper and denied it. Can the hairdryer trick work for that?

Stephen, I am not sure what you mean by pm. Took the car to the dealer's recomended body shop. They said that the entire bumper would need to be repainted. The crease is so small and shallow that they thought that they could smooth it out with primer. Although it is small it seems to stand out because of its location on the bumper. I am concerned about painting the entire bumper. My wife was hit from the rear and in turn was pushed into the car in front around 3 years ago in her Lexus. The bumper was replaced and painted but has not held up as well as I would have thought. I need to decide if I am willing to live with the crease or risk the repainting of the bumper.

C$S Surgeon--the heat from the hair dryer will only work with a minor 'dimple'...someone bumped into my BMW 330ci's back bumper creating a small dimple in a couple of spots. Since the car was silver, you could not see it unless you were looking at it sideways. I used a high heat hair dryer on the spots, and rubbed it with a balled-up cotton polishing cloth soaked in Griot's Speed Shine( just to reduce surface friction). Worked like a charm...you could not see the dimpling afterwards. Now a crease might be a different matter--if the underlying styrofoam is indented to a great degree, this technique might have limited success. I don't see the harm in trying however. P.S. Just don't let the heat sit in one spot too long--keep moving it around so as not to cook the paint. Good luck.

First of all.......bummer......pretty sure, I'd a kicked his headlights out before I pulled away :evilgrin:

I'll assume we're talking about the ABS (plastic) front bumper?......not metal hood etc?........paintless dent repair is no help on ABS.
Heat is always worth a try......depending on how bad a problem is, and as mentioned, whether backing has also been damaged significantly.
ABS plastic can be repaired.
As w/anything on your Pcar........only go to a shop you have a good reference on, that has a good guy, who's good at wkg with ABS......they do fill it (but not with bondo) and will have to re-shoot and clear the entire piece.

There is an upside here........ANYTHING else you want changed on that bumper, you have an op now.......if you have plate holes, fill em, etc

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have decided to have the problem fixed despite its size. It will drive me nuts if I don't. Paintless dent repair is a no go so it looks like the whole bumper will need to be sprayed. I have a referral from the dealer for a shop in Atlanta that I understand does great work. They have assured me that there will be no problems. However, it still concerns me that the repainted bumper will not be as durable as the original paint job. Thanks again for your advice.