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My beloved Mercedes was involved in a light fender bender on the way to Savannah for New Years. An elderly guy backed his Sienna into it, and put a hole in the rear bumper cover with his trailer hitch. I've spotted no other damage so far. His insurance company called me today, and said "Get an estimate, fax it to us, and we will write you a check."

I looked a long time for this very well preserved car, so I want this done really well. Who's good these days? My most recent experience was with Gibson's Autoworks in Mebane. Even after seeing some excellent work done by them in the past, I was left disappointed with the job they did on my S2000's front bumper. The match isn't a match, and I've seen sanding marks all over the place. I expected a hell of a lot better for what that work cost.

Who's good these days? Thanks!

(Note: I may very well try and find a bumper off another car. This color is very common, and that might be a better choice than trying to match 18 year old paint)

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Performance Automall in CH has done stellar work on my WRX, Accord and SI but they are expensive. When I picked up my SI after the foam incident, I got to talk to one of the body shop guys, who happened to be working on a 997 4S (which looked perfect). Anyway, even on the metallic silver accord after the bus hit and run, the blend across the hood, bumper, and fender was perfect and a year later, it looks flawless (other than the scratch I put on the hood ).

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2011/2012 Autox VP
2013/2014.5 President
2013 Top Gun

2015 Fit

22R-EC => 4G63 => D16Y7 + D16Y8 => EJ255 + K24Z2 => K20Z3 + K24Z2 => K24Z2 + M54 => L15B

Luckily I have not had to have any body work done lately. But Bob Kendrick and his family has had a number of jobs done by Capital Collision, 310 Kennedy St, Raleigh. (919) 231-7270. They have worked on Bob's fire truck, his F250, his wifes Sebring several times. They were able to match the paint on his dad's white pearlesent Lexus. I should have had them do my Focus but I didn't.

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George Bright Member # 141
One of the youngest of the old farts.
Yes I voted against you joining the club.

When I needed to get the rear bumper cover replaced on my 2007 Mustang a few years ago, Holland Hale recommended Triangle Auto Body.
http://www.trianglebodyshop.com/
5122 Neal Rd Durham, NC 27705-2363
(919) 383-0337

I think they did a good job - I can't tell the difference between the silver paint on the bumper and on the rest of the car.

You should not have a problem finding them - they are just across the street from the guy who put the flames and other graphics on the original club bus. Too bad he's out of business now, you could have the bumper fixed AND get flames on the Merc

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

The question I'd ask when I talk to someone about painting it is "do you match the existing paint, or just shoot it the original paint code?" If the latter is all you can find, then try to find a used bumper cover. If the former, see if you can get a feel for how good they actually can do with the matching.

I'm pretty sure with most modern stuff, they just do the paint code thing. But maybe there's a cut-off at which they'll match it...


--Donnie

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My Blog

I was surprised, but Performance doesn't do any OEM paint. When the Accord was getting worked on, I asked if they were going to got get Alabaster Silver Metallic paint from the Acura parts desk, and they said no and that they match for all cars....including $100k P cars and BMWs.

Colors on Parade said the same thing. As did the place Karl mentioned that didn't go a great job on his S2000. Seems that spraying with OEM paint is the exception nowadays.

_________________
2011/2012 Autox VP
2013/2014.5 President
2013 Top Gun

2015 Fit

22R-EC => 4G63 => D16Y7 + D16Y8 => EJ255 + K24Z2 => K20Z3 + K24Z2 => K24Z2 + M54 => L15B

call Martin's Import Salvage in Wendell - they might have a bumper cover.

Or, maybe Jeremy Gast can find something for you.....

Thanks all!

James - good suggestion, thanks. I never even thought about them, since they don't have a Mercedes dealer, but it can't hurt to ask. I was always happy with the Acura place years ago, and bought the S2000 there. Their sales staff has treated me very well over the years.

George, I'll call those guys too, thanks.

Art, if Holland recommended them, then they're probably worth a call, so thanks. It'd be a nice side effect if I could spend my money with a locally owned business.

Donnie, that's a particularly good point. It's difficult to tell if this car spent most of its time in a garage or not - the signs are a bit mixed. In any case, that's a great catch. The bumper is a different color than the body, so if the match isn't dead on with the cladding between the wheels, I might not notice it all that much, but you never know.

More excellent suggestions just came in from Bret, so I'll try those too.

Incidentally, the more expensive the shop, the better, in the event that I source a bumper from a junkyard. I have a wedding to pay for, and every little bit helps.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Interesting. Thought it was the other way around. So I guess Karl just got a poor match job? Hopefully that's not the norm at the better places, too.

And Karl has a wedding to pay for? I think this is new news...congratulations! No wonder he's not more fired up about his baby getting run over!


--Donnie

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My Blog

Capital Ford did the rear bumper and adjacent bodywork on our laser red metallic 97 Mustang after a neighbor rear ended us a block from home. Absolutely perfect match with the adjacent original paint using color match. They used and strongly recommended using a used bumper cover to replace ours rather than start with a new cover. They explained that painting an healthy original was better than using a new one due to better fit and maybe less other prep. Of course it is easy to find good used bumper covers for high volume cars.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Assuming you're not just being a generous guy paying for someone else's wedding... Congratulations!

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

Hopefully so. The matches I saw the guy in Mebane do on other S2000s were all pretty perfect. Since this is the bumper on a two-tone car, I suspect that "close' will be good enough in the end. There are no other dark panels for the new bumper to sit directly against. I'll talk to the shops and see what they have to say.

And yes, it's true, it's true, the world is coming to an end. Thanks! Full disclosure: I was pretty upset when I found out that the guy hit my car, but a few hours later, I was pretty much over it. It's just a car and there are plenty of them to be found.



It's a pretty high volume car, maybe not like a fox body Mustang, but MB sold over two million W124s world wide. I think that'll help some. It looks like taking the bumper off an old Mercedes is actually rather easy, so this may be the route I take in the end. The car is very very original, so I'm going to get quotes for having the skin replaced with new. And then spend the money on flower arrangements or catering or some such. Maybe.



Thanks! Nope, not being generous at all. Weddings are incredibly expensive, I really had no idea. I could have Motons for the S2000 *and* the Mercedes and still have money left for gas for a trip to Gatlinburg to get hitched at Dollyworld.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Congrats again Karl!

On topic I can't say who to use but I can say don't go to Foster's Collision in Raleigh. They have the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced and their work wasn't even all that good. They came highly recommended to me but I will never let anyone I know ever go there for anything.

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

Kenny Hawkins out by the fairgrounds has always been know for having higher than normal pricing! Just an idea.

Triangle in Durham are good people. You can tell them what is going and on and I bet they would help with the estimate as well.

James- Performance is weird when it comes to paint. They have to use(under contract) a certain type of paint because of the P-cars and the BMW's. But everything I have seen from there is great stuff!!!

For used either check with myself or Mike at Martins!

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[color=#FFFFFF][/color]http://www.usedmiatapartsonline.com for all your used miata parts needs
http://www.wagnersauto.com for your salvage needs
2000 miata se Estreet,going to rally
2004 mazdaspeed miata bsp #77
shifter kart also(someone buy this $1500)

Which one Keith? Capital Blvd or Ice drive(brier creek). Both have just revamped there entire staff and Ice drive won some kind of award for customer satisfaction for body shops in Wake County.

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[color=#FFFFFF][/color]http://www.usedmiatapartsonline.com for all your used miata parts needs
http://www.wagnersauto.com for your salvage needs
2000 miata se Estreet,going to rally
2004 mazdaspeed miata bsp #77
shifter kart also(someone buy this $1500)