Ask Cars: Body Repair Before Resell?
Hey Lemmy. I have a 2010 Toyota Camry with 150k miles. The front bumper's bottom segment (maybe 2 inches) has a crack and the grill is out of place. Also, there's a couple small scratches in the paint elsewhere. Would it be worth it to have the bumper repaired as well as the paint touched up before selling it? I was given a quote of $1500 for the bumper repair but haven't inquired about the scratches. Thanks in advance!
Personally, if I'm buying a car with 150,000 miles on it, I'd expect and be fine with some cosmetic damage. $1500 bucks just isn't worth it; you aren't going to get that return on investment from the sale price. The things that I think could boost sale price without too much cost from you is clearing up the headlights if they are cloudy, and a good deep clean of all the upholstery.
No reason you can't do those repairs yourself. $1500 is ridiculous, you'd be a fool to pay for that. Some bondo in the grill and touch up paint for the crack. Anyone buying used cars will expect some wear so I wouldn't worry about small scratches. Try buffing them out, but repainting scratches usually does more harm than good, cosmetically.
If you're doing bondo, you'll have to paint the bumper and blend it with the fenders which is way beyond your average DIY
I've spot patched dozens of cracked bumpers before without needing to do that. Maybe if you're repairing a car for personal use or show, you're right, but for prettying it up for market a spot of bondo and good spray job should be good enough. You can literally get rattle cans of Toyota OEM paint from Autozone
Thanks I appreciate your insight. I'll do further research and see if it's within my scope. My technical experience with cars is limited to changing cabin/engine filters. Worst case scenario it sounds like selling the car as-is wouldn't be terrible.