Dent in Plastic Bumper

[billm]

My son has put a dent in the plastic rear bumper on his Nissan Qashqai. I've been looking on eBay for a used replacement but they are all as bad as his and / or the wrong colour.

Do you think the bumper is repairable if I took it off, pushed the dent out, filled it and got someone to respray it ?

thanks

 

[Diyisfun]

have a look on youtube

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=repair+dent+in+plastic+bumper

 

[carmanmemoranda]

How old is your son? 1st car?

I often think in similar circumstances, as long as it is in no danger of falling off, or causing any real issue then it is sensible to keep driving as it is and sort out the damage before re sale or trade in.

They are notoriously difficult to repair well

 

[billm]

How old is your son? 1st car?

I often think in similar circumstances, as long as it is in no danger of falling off, or causing any real issue then it is sensible to keep driving as it is and sort out the damage before re sale or trade in.

They are notoriously difficult to repair well

No not his 1st car, He's asking me to sell it for him and thinks the dent will affect the price

 

[carmanmemoranda]

No not his 1st car, He's asking me to sell it for him and thinks the dent will affect the price

Ask a local car sales place for a valuation with and without any repair. See how much difference it makes?

 

[thomp1983]

Careful heating and pressure from behind should help restore most of the original shape, the it would just need prepping and painting

 

[Burnerman]

I think you'd be amazed what can be pushed out of plastic parts with the careful application of heat.......however this does seem more difficult maybe as it's been pushed and creased from the right.
If you want to continue, check out the strengthening bar behind the plastic for damage - remove it and see what effect you can have with a hot air gun. Careful with the reversing sensor!
There are appropriate fillers and paints available for plastic and they are remarkably good - in the right hands (not mine though)!
You could ask the Chipsaway people for advice, or visit a body shop waving cash!
If the car is being sold to a dealer they will try to extract the maximum price for a repair.
John

 

[mointainwalker]

I think you'd be amazed what can be pushed out of plastic parts with the careful application of heat.......however this does seem more difficult maybe as it's been pushed and creased from the right.
If you want to continue, check out the strengthening bar behind the plastic for damage - remove it and see what effect you can have with a hot air gun. Careful with the reversing sensor!
There are appropriate fillers and paints available for plastic and they are remarkably good - in the right hands (not mine though)!
You could ask the Chipsaway people for advice, or visit a body shop waving cash!
If the car is being sold to a dealer they will try to extract the maximum price for a repair.
John

The bumper is made of ABS and the material will become very "plastic" under a hot-air gun ( if you can apply it from the rear). An approximate repair should be easy, but the material will be stretched and you will also lose any texturing on the surface ( seeming a very fine texture ). I don't know what type of filler could be used, other than it would have to be flexible plastic and not body filler.

I think if you attempt to sell it privately, the effect on the price will not be huge, and you will save yourself a lot of bother.

 

[Burnerman]

The ‘management ‘ drives a 19 plate Honda HRV. A pal of hers forgot to apply the handbrake on her Fiesta which rolled into the Honda......a nice crease on the bumper and boot lid. Not a mark on the Fiesta!
Into the body shop with a fist full of cash and the car came back within a week perfect.....no new parts, a great repair that I would have really liked to have witnessed.
Somehow the bumper texture was fine too....It’s black, not body coloured.
£400 and no receipt required!
We didn’t tell her pal!
John

 

[JohnD]

Sometimes the metal support is bent, and if you take the plastic bumper off it will spring back to shape. The metal part is not visible and you can easily straighten it once the bumper is off.

 

[carmanmemoranda]

A lot of the advice about repairing the bumper is good.

But be warned, it is easy to make it look a lot worse than it is.

Seriously if trading it in, get a valuation between repaired and not, and you might find it's not worth the effort to try

 

[mointainwalker]

Sometimes the metal support is bent, and if you take the plastic bumper off it will spring back to shape. The metal part is not visible and you can easily straighten it once the bumper is off.

That crease is permanent until positive action is taken to re-form it.

 

[JohnD]

Sometimes

 

[billm]

Yeah I think the first thing is to have a quick look behind and see where the metal support is and how much room there is to work. I've seen a youtube showing how to remove the bumper and it's not a big job. Some people recommend using hot water to warm the plastic then push from behind, others a heat gun but used gently. I think there may be a crack in it as well, maybe caused by a metal support behind, hence the weird shape of the dent.
The car is about 10 years old so a private buyer has to expect some marks, but if I can improve the bumper from an obvious dent to "a mark or two" without too much work it might be worth it

 

[mointainwalker]

@billm
Let us know what you do, and what the results are