Whether you’ve been in a minor fender bender or your car has been seriously damaged in an accident, finding a reputable body and collision shop you can trust with your vehicle’s repairs is important. At Badell’s Collision, we offer a wide range of services, including everything from auto body repair and dent repair to auto glass repair and painting. We understand the stress and hassle that can come along with seeking out damage repairs, which is why we go out of our way to make the process as easy and stress-free as possible.
One of the most common repairs we perform at our Malvern and Aston, PA locations is that of auto bumper repair. Whether your bumper is on the verge of falling off, has become dented, or is in need of just about any other type of repair, you can trust our team of experienced professionals to get the job done. Not only will we restore the appearance of your bumper, but we’ll also take measures to ensure that your restored bumper is sound for driving.
What Goes into Your Bumper Repair?
What many people don’t realize is just how much time, work, and effort goes into repairing a bumper. While bumper repair may seem like a “basic” fix, it’s really anything but simple. In fact, there are a number of factors that can go into the ultimate cost of repairing a bumper. We like to make our clients aware of these ahead of time so they have a better idea of what to expect from the process.
- Parts
- Paint and Materials
- Related Repairs
- Labor
- Extent of Damage
Parts
Even if your bumper doesn’t need entirely replaced, there are still likely to be a fair amount of parts that will need ordered to complete your bumper repair. For example, when a bumper is damaged, it is not uncommon for other lights or sensors built into the bumper to also become damaged and need replaced. This can become especially complicated if you have a rear bumper with a rear-view camera that was damaged and in need of replacement, as these cameras can be quite expensive to replace. With all this in mind, it’s not uncommon for the cost of parts for a bumper repair alone to total hundreds of dollars.
Paint and Materials
One of the biggest challenges faced in repairing an existing bumper is getting the paint to match the rest of the car. This is crucial to retaining your market value on the vehicle—and besides, who wants to drive around with mismatching paint spots on their car? Depending on how much of your vehicle needs to be repainted or paint-matched, this aspect of bumper repair can be most of the most expensive by far. This is especially true when you take into consideration the labor time that goes into painting a car.
And often times, the paint itself isn’t the only purchase that needs to be made. Before your bumper can be painted, any cracks or other damage will need to be filled using a special plastic repair material. To prepare the surface for painting, it will also be necessary to sand down the bumper, which helps to improve paint adhesion. The costs of these materials (and the labor that goes into applying them) can also add up quickly.
Related Repairs
While it may appear that you’re dealing with just a minor crack in your bumper that should be quick and easy to repair, it’s important to realize that there are often other related repairs that must also be completed as part of the job. For example, many bumpers these days have more than one single layer of trim. If this is the case and if the bumper is cracked in more than one layer, this will require additional parts and labor to ensure that all the layers are replaced and properly lined up. If a headlight or taillight was cracked or damaged during the collision that cracked your bumper, these will also need to be replaced.
Labor
One of the biggest influences of cost when it comes to a bumper repair is labor time. Not only is it time consuming for a bumper to be repainted once it is repaired, but many of the repairs themselves can also be time consuming. When a lot of clients think about bumper repair, they imagine a few technicians replacing a few bolts or patching a few cracks here and there. In reality, it is far more complicated, and a seemingly “simple” bumper repair can easily take multiple workers several hours of time. This is especially true in situations where additional trim pieces need to be installed, sensors need to be replaced, or lights need to be re-connected/re-installed.
Extent of Damage
Of course, no two bumper repair quotes will be exactly the same. That’s because the cost of parts can vary based on the specific vehicle being serviced and the overall extent of damage. For example, a vehicle with a bumper that is going to need total replacement is going to be a more costly job than a bumper that simply needs a crack filled and re-painted. However, our technicians will always go out of their way to carefully assess the extent of the damage on your car and give you a better idea of what repairs we recommend before moving forward. Whether you need scratch repair, dent repair, total bumper replacement, or anything in between, we’ve got you covered.
The Bottom Line
Hopefully, you’ll never be in a situation where you need bumper repair done on your car. If you are, however, this will give you a better idea as to the many potential factors that can influence the total price you (or your insurance company) ends up paying.
To find out more about our services offered or to schedule an estimate, feel free to contact our team at Badell’s Collision today. With locations in Aston and Malvern, we’re prepared to provide you with exceptional service no matter what kind of damage your car has endured. Stop by one of our shops or use our simple online estimate form.