can this be hammered out or should i replace the bumper?

short version: got rear ended.. here is the only damage, trunk lines up, looks like the damage is limited to the bumper except for a tiny scuff. does it look like this can be hammered out and re-painted, or does the bumper need to be replaced?

 

http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l48/spinny2559/1227081202.jpg

i doubt it, but its worth a try. you can probably knock that big dent out but there will likely be many small imperfections in its place.

You could probably push it out using your hands once you unmount the bumper. The bumper is polyurethane and there will still be folds or wrinkles that would never go away.

I had a similar dent in my bumper, and the bumper and a bunch of stuff behind it needed to be replaced.

 

http://celicaman.f0e.net/albums/lgtsmash/DSCN4477sm.sized.jpg

it's plastic.... not gonna hammer out. At best, you could push it back, bondo it, then respray it.

 

 

or, you could buy a new pre-painted bumper and slap it on

i think there is a honeycomb type bumper behind the plastic "bumper" you see. odds are that is messed up also.

 

cars are meant to crumple now. not like the old days.

i had the same thing happen to me in a home depot parking lot (while i was picking up tint for my tailights) someone backed into me, since i was short on dough a friend and i heated it up and popped it out. you cant tell unless your close up, works fine for now.

you could try popping it out, and heating up the creases with a heat gun to try to relax the material back into place. its not going to be anywhere back to new though.

^haha sorry white knight, i somehow overlooked the "heated" part in your post.

 

+1 for heating though!

ha, no problem! i just thought i would suggest something for now so spinny doesnt have to drive around like that...as a seperate note i am becomming quite infatuated with this forum (being i just signed up today) SICKKK!

I did notice your post count.... welcome to a great forum with a ton of very knowledgeable enthusiasts!

I would get it replaced, I was rearended in my old car, all it did was scratch a little, and imprint their license plate #s on my bumper. Wasnt very noticiable since car was black. But after about a year or so the paint on my bumper just started cracking and lots of spiderweb cracks.

LOL, I was just talking about this the other day with a co-worker. I got rear ended in my Honda 2 times in 3 months. The first time was by 2 lesbians that weren't paying attention when I stopped behind another car letting someone cross the street. The second time I parked the car in a parallel space and some old guy thought he could do parallel parking and drove right into the back bumper.

 

Anyway back to the heating & popping out topic. I need to do that on my front and rear bumper. But it's a little cold to be fiddling with taking off the bumpers.