StumpJumper

so Friday I'm heading through Somerville MA on my way up to Jay Peak for a nice weekend of snowboarding, I'm stopped at a red light with a bunch of people in front of me

I notice this person on the side street to my right screaming and flipping off the explorer in front of me. Apparently he was trying to turn left and the explorer blocked him in. This guy starts making what looks like a 3 point turn and decides he's going to sneak in between me and the explorer... yeah well there wasn't enough room and he hit me as soon as he turned his wheel

so... I jump out and he stops, turns and looks at me then guns it, I sprint after him and catch his plate but he's gone

call the cops, they show up, take down everthing, while the cop is in his cruiser calling in the station tells him that this guy called in saying he'd left the scene because he was intimidated and afraid of me... right

but now I've got the guy's info, got my accident report and everthing, but i'm wondering what they'll do with my bumper, if it were paint it could be buffed out but it's plastic and I don't know what to do

oh, and to top it off, got a ticket for 74 in a 55 in VT, cop was hiding just after it dropped from 65 to 55 and I had just tapped the brake to turn cruise off... damn what a bad car day

Dr.quattro

did his paint rub off on your bumper? If so then you should be able to buff.....

StumpJumper

yeah, paint rubbed off, any idea what type of compound I'd use?

Dr.quattro

followed by hand applied showroom glaze. Took it right off. If you don't have an orbital, I guess you could do it by hand, but it may take a while.

StumpJumper

got the orbital but I'm worried about the plastic, is the bumper painted?

Rhoomba

... and you are right to be worried (or, at least cautious).

Good effort wanting to DIY, but remember to go S-L-O-W-L-Y with the orbital... with too much speed or pressure, you can deform that plastic quickly. I've seen some nasty damage left in paint by some over exhuberant buffer owners ("I can't understand why this spot is getting darker" "Um, it's because you have burned THROUGH the surface paint and are into the primer, doofus").

A modest suggestion: Try to rub it out by hand first to get the biggest damage out/paint off... Use the random orbital (you do have a random orbital buffer, right?) only when you're done in order to put a surface back on your handiwork.

Sort of the same idea for going 4-wheeling in 2-wheel drive mode. Means you don't get stuck as far off the road, and - when you DO get stuck - you just put the car into 4wd, get unstuck and immediately turn around and go home...

Just my $.02

Dr.quattro

Good points...I forgot to mention the "tread lightly" disclaimer.