It’s possible you just ordered your new bumper and are realizing that it’s not color-matched. Maybe the bumper is all dinged up and you are trying to see how much it would cost to update its look.
Either way, you are at the right place. We will walk you through everything to do with painting a bumper. Whatever you decide to do, if you are going to do it yourself or hire a professional, this is the guide you will want to refer to.
Because when it comes to painting your bumper, it’s something you want to do correctly for the first time.
Average Bumper Repaint Cost
Repainting your bumper can come with price tags of around $500. You may think about that amount as a little steep – the reality is, you always have to factor in prep work, paint cost, and also remember you’re paying for the shop to custom match the paint color to your vehicle.
This is a very important step because if you don’t get the matching right, even though you ordered the same shade color as a factory paint job, it will not be the same. As a vehicle ages, the sun does fade the color a bit, but it is hard to notice since it happens over time, and the fading is uniform on the vehicle as a whole.
Now, if you put a straight fresh painted bumper on a car – the newness and different shade of the paint will become glaringly obvious.
In addition, prep work is arguably just as important as the paint itself. When using an inexpensive shop, they often dedicate little to no time to doing the prep work on the surface being painted, and the results often show.
Economy Paint Job
When you ask a shop for a paint job on your vehicle that is low to the bottom of the ladder, you’re looking between $200-300.
Nonetheless, an economy paint job often times will either not be color matched correctly to your vehicle, or even worse, applied with a cheap paint that will fade away quicker than the rest of your vehicle.
Furthermore, inexpensive paint jobs can chip and scratch off so easily compared to a premium paint job – and often brands like Maaco don’t apply the second clear coat to save pennies.
So, even though you might be saving a little money at the time – you can return to being disappointed 2 years later when you pick up the car from the paint shop with your newly freshly painted bumper, or even a couple of years down the road.
If you are on a budget, you will have to settle for someone like Maaco or a paint shop of that nature as a last resort to get your bumper painted, but if you are a picky prick (like most car people), you will end up disappointed whether it is upon pick up or at least a couple years down the road.
That isn’t to say Maaco isn’t capable of providing a good quality paint job, but you will have to pay considerably more than the price advertised because proper prep work will take the time for nearly every paint job, and every action takes time.
Premium Paint Job
In most cases you are better off just letting a highly rated professional body shop paint your bumper. Check their Google business page for reviews – don’t take testimonials on their website into consideration.
This will give a fair chance of getting a color that matches your existing paint color job, a little added protection on the actual paint, and the prep work will more than likely be done correctly.
Premium paint jobs run between $500-600 for a single color paint job, and if you are looking for multi-stage paints or multiple colors – the job price can easily be $1,000.
But spending an extra few hundred bucks is worth it to get a paint job that will last and look better and better the longer you have the vehicle.
When Would a Bumper Be Painted (or Repainted)?
There are a few different reasons you would paint or repaint a bumper. For example, if you are replacing an old bumper, you will need a new paint job.
Why? New bumpers do not come with a paint color, so you will want to paint them to match your vehicle.
You would also need to paint a bumper if you are repainting a bumper after repairs. Whether you dented or cracked your bumper, after repairs you will need to repaint the bumper.
Otherwise, the color will not match your vehicle, and it’ll chip and crack the paint.
Even if the bumper just has some scratches and nicks, you’ll have to consider painting the bumper. That is because small chips and scratches will only get worse over time.
If you have a metal bumper, it can rust, and if you have a plastic bumper, you’ll continue to lose paint until you address the problem.
Lastly, if you are going to sell your vehicle and the bumper is bad shape, it might worth painting your bumper, as you will recover the cost in your sale price.
Tip: Is it just a paint scuff from another vehicle? Often, paint transfer can be removed without painting.
Standard Process for Repainting Bumpers
Repainting a bumper is not just adding a coat and calling it a day. There are maybe 10 different steps involved, and you will repeat several steps.
Here are the steps:
- Remove the bumper.
- Remove bumper stickers.
- Wash the bumper using degreaser combined with soap.
- Wet sand the rough areas of the bumper.
- Wipe down the bumper with a microfiber cloth.
- Paint base coat.
- Wet sand imperfections and wipe down with a microfiber cloth.
- Paint again and repeat; you want at least 3 coats.
- Apply two coats of clear coat.
- Let it dry for at least six hours before reattaching the bumper.
Should I Paint My Bumper Myself?
You can definitely paint your bumpers yourself – but be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort, and in the end, you will probably only get an economics job level of work.
First off, if you don’t know what your vehicle is color matched with, then your vehicle will have different shades of the same color.
That being said, in a pinch, you can probably get the job done yourself for around $100, so it is not the worst decision in the world if you are desperate.
Can a Bumper be Painted Without Removing it?
Yes! But you will have to tape the entire area off first so that the paint doesn’t get where it’s not supposed to, and it usually takes just as long to paint the bumper on the vehicle vs. off of it if you know what you are doing.
When you remove the bumper from the car, you lessen the chance that you will get overspray on the other parts of the vehicle, but if you are careful and take your time, there is no reason you couldn’t paint your bumper on the vehicle.
How Much Paint Do You Need?
As a guideline, at least get 32 ounces of paint when you are painting your bumper. Most likely this will be more than your vehicle needs, but if you run out of paint once you start, then you basically have to start over.
There are a few reasons that you need so much paint. For one, you need at least three coats, no matter the color you have.
Then in addition, some colors need four or even five coats – so having the 32-ounce paint will give you enough to be able to still complete all the coats you need without running out and having to buy more paint.
Again, if you run out of paint, you need to start back over from coat one, which can mean a ton of extra paint if you don’t buy enough paint in the beginning.