Bob Petruska

I'm having my brilliant black bumper repainted due to the jerk that forgot to put his A6 in gear and no E-brake on....the run away car hit my A4 and a new A6 Avant. It missed the A8 next to it of course!<p>Question is....will the shine and paint adhesion hold up just as long as the factory paint job?<p>I was very fortunate to have this bumper last 3 winters in PA with 40 mile round trip to work and not a single nick or scratch, looked like new and I was a proud owner...until the A6 jerk arrived!!!

Clair C.

It's possible - my shop guaranteed the paint for the life of the car and insisted it was better than original (eom)

Alan T.

If the paint shop uses the proper flex additives, there should be no problems. Since the bumper cover is flexible you have to do this or it will flake off. Any decent paint shop should know this. Sorry about your accident. I always try to tell myself that it's just a car and don't worry about things. That's why I park in the farthest out parking places in the mall. Good luck; I'm sure your repair will look as good as new. Best regards, Alan in Md.

Bill Shaffer

Bob, I pulled a bone-head manuever in a dark parking garage and scraped my bumper 18 months ago. I took it to a local guy who had done a door for me in the past (hit and run) that was perfect for the 3 years after that I drove the car. The guy does have a very good reputation for working on Corvettes and other exotics. On my A4 He charged me $600 to remove the bumper,repair the minor scrape, and then paint it. Well, this bumper(front) started looking about 10 years old in about 6 months. Someone mentioned that he may have screwed up the flex additive. He also told me that he lost his shirt on the deal because it too him a long time to R and R the bumper. <p>I don,t know what to do now. The whole car? How much for a quality job?(CT) <p>Bill Shaffer

Andrew C.

With such praise can you give us the name of your shop or do you want it secret so their workload won't go up and their quality down? =) eom

Bob Petruska

This shop is really good, I had a '94 destroyed at a light that I was stopped at. I could tell that the frame was ever bent and the paint match was superb! The only problem was that after I picked the car up I looked at the great job, drove it 6 blocks and traded it on my A4. So I don't know how the painted bumper/body would hold up. This shops does mostly Porsche/Audi/BMW.<p>$200 is really the norm around here for bumper refinish. The A4 bumper comes off in less than 20 minutes...quite simple. I was going to paint it myself, but all the bumpers I ever painted didn't hold up well (hazy, peeling)with the flex added to Dupont Centuri enamel. I checked with my local paint store and I would need to purchase special primer, primer reducer, black, clear, reducer for these, flex additive....total $135! Not worth the effort, plus the auto body shop will give a guarantee on the repaint.<p>I'm just a fussy guy on color match, texture, and long lasting. My A4 was really flawless when it came to body scratches, dings, chips, etc after 3 winters in PA!