For many light truck owners there is nothing more unpleasant than having a chrome or painted metal bumper damaged. And one of the reasons it is so disturbing is that there have been few options available for the owner. In fact, most people would say it is either replace or live with it.
Fortunately that is no longer always the case as a franchise business exists of mobile repairmen that can often make the bumper look great once more. The bumper man franchise has about 100 operators working around the country and naturally most of them are covering the southern half of the country. The reason is that it is outdoors work that often requires them to remove the bumper and fix it on site.
Even today I heard a sales manager of a car dealership tell me that his service department told him that he would have to replace the back bumper of a Silverado that had been bent and pushed inward near the license plate. But his local bumper man was able to repair this bumper for $125. And all light truck owners that have bumpers that been bent or twisted can possibly benefit the same way.
There are several points that will have to be considered. The first is to understand that not all damage can be repaired. These repair people do not re-chrome bumpers. So if the chrome is very severely damaged, it may have to be replaced. The second point to remember is that while these repairs are often done to a very high level, they are seldom perfect. It is not unusual, for example, when a large flat surface on a bumper has been hit that there will be subtle waves in the appearance of the chrome. Bumper men like to say that they can often perform a 90 to 95 percent repair and sometimes better. And it is understanding this limitation which makes it important to consider.
Certainly a perfectionist would be unhappy with a 90 percent repair. But sometimes choosing between a 90 percent repair for 150 dollars or a new bumper for 600 or 800 dollars is a choice that many people find to be very acceptable to have the repair done. I have noticed that it is often very difficult for many people to even tell where a repair has been made to the bumper. It just depends on how much and what type of damage the bumper sustained.
Painted metal bumpers can be repaired using the same techniques by these repair people. But sometimes it makes more sense to have the bumper repaired by a painter. The reason is that if the damage is not too severe but definitely has paint damage, the painter might be able to use standard repair techniques as is done to other parts of cars and trucks.
Just knowing that it might be possible to have the bumper repaired can save truck owners a lot of money. And the prices of many of these bumpers on newer trucks is very expensive. One other thought is that it is not unusual for just the bumper to have sustained some damage. Sometimes the brackets that hold the bumper are bent as well. In most cases, these repair professionals are able to fix this problem as well without to purchase new brackets.
While this article has focused on light truck owners, it is certainly just as valid for car owners having chrome or metal bumpers. You can use the link below to check and see if any of these repair personnel are available within your local area.
