Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

My Cayman S was recently involved in an accident where another vehicle rear-shunted it hitting the tailpipe, which resulted in nothing more than a slightly bent tailpipe and some scuff marks on the bumper near the tailpipe.

It has been in the garage for nearly a month now during which time they have painted the bumper three times! And each time, they say their paint is reacting with the existing paint on the bumper, which they believe to be from a previous repair.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to information about the previous paint job as I've not had the car for long.

Because of this issue, though, they said the only way forward is to replace the bumper completely using a genuine Porsche part. My concern is that this might devalue the car because it won't be the original factory-fitted bumper.

Should I be concerned?

Hi

To be honest they dont sound like they know what they are doing.... ANY old type of paint can be "sealed" off and new paint applied...


Having said that, assuming the work is being done on someone elses insurance I would let them change the bumper....its not a part that you can get a copy of so its GOT to be an original Porsche part...which will then need painting...if they are capable of that ???

If it was done in a Porsche approved bodyshop you would NEVER know it had been changed or painted....I would think about moving the car to whomever is your local Porsche bodyshop....

All the best Brett

Totally in agreement with Brett, sound like a bunch of incompetents. After the first failed attempt they should have either:- stripped the bumper back to bare PU & repainted from scratch or rubbed it back & used a sealer coat to stop the reaction & then repainted. Neither should have taken more than a few days, week tops.
What colour is it as a matter of curiosity?

I asked the insurer about moving it to a different repair centre, but they seemed averse to that on the basis that a new bumper is the perfectly reasonable way to go and the insurer's engineers have stated as such.

And the repair centre (Libra ARC) also seemed averse to "sealing" off the existing paint. Are you sure this can be done in every case?

And yes, this is being done on someone else's insurance

tr7v8, I suggested stripping the bumper back to the bare plastic, but they don't see that as an option - I think they think getting a new bumper is an easier and/or cheaper option.

It's black - it's the car in my avatar pic.

In total agreement with Jim & Brett. They don't know what there doing. Often wax is a big problem but can be cleaned off with bleach. Barrier coat can easily be applied in minutes. No way does it need a new bumper. Maybe they just want to put the bill up for more profit. They will get a mark up on the parts. Then we all pay.

Unfortunately I can't agree Brett. Mine was repaired and 'glass out' resprayed at Lloyds Autobody near Manchester Airport. This is the approved Porsche repair centre. When the sun shines on the car at certain angles you can see where the paint hasn't covered properly, and within a year rust was coming through where they had resprayed. I would never use them again, crappy job that took 13 weeks to do.... and I spent the whole of the summer driving around in a Ford Fiesta courtesy car.

Neo - As for the lack of original bumper affecting the value of the car - I assumed you paid the going rate not knowing that the bumper had been repaired, so that theory is doubtful. If you telephone the OPC Porsche dealer where the car came from they will have records of any work they carried out on the car, as will any other OPC that is mentioned in the service book. That's how we found out about a repaired bumper on a Cayman we were looking at recently.

Just spoke to the garage and apparently they have tried sealing off the old paint several times. The problem is, it seems fine after they paint it, they bake it, then in the morning it's all soft again. He said the paint underneath has gone all soft and if you run your fingernail over it, it scores it deeply due to being so soft. And he said sanding it to the plastic is not an option as it this would require lots of labour to ensure the smoothness and it would be cheaper to get a new bumper. He said he's been in the business for 30 years, and the suggestions I've been told (on here) are not wrong, but they don't apply in this case as the sealing option isn't working and sanding back to the plastic is too expensive.

Also, he said the bumper replacement is coming out of the garage's own pocket and they're not claiming any extra off the insurance company. So, I guess that rules out them trying to swindle.

I'm thinking a new bumper is probably easiest at this point. And it just arrived at the garage this afternoon. So, it will be ready by Friday!