Ugh... First Accident

[Camper]

thats what you get for messing around on your phone while driving. I cross my fingers that people will crash everytime I see them texting.

[rez333]

Originally Posted by CWI

I have been a member here for more than 4 years and I am rarely cinical of people's comments but everyone has pet peeves and one of mine is the use of the word accident.

I work in quality assurance in heavy industrial settings. Oil refineries, which are some of the most dangerous work sights. I work closely with the safety department. I was just making the point that texting and driving or looking at your phone receiving a text resulting in your car contacting another is an avoidable "incident", NOT an "accident". If it is caused by a person's negligence, it is an incident. Call it what it really is. I have had my share of broken bones and injuries including a broken back and none of them were an accident. They were all the result of bad decisions by myself or others and hardly accidents.

Not a grammatical thing. It's a definition thing!!!

You're talking about insurance type "definitions", not English definitions.

See?:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=definition+of+accident

[Soulrÿche]

Originally Posted by DivorcedDaddy18

Not that anybody cares, but I found the bumper online for $85, but it would need to be painted and installed. Called a place locally and they would do it for $500. Not bad I guess, but I'll keep shopping around.

Saw a black bumper on craigslist for $180, the guy took it off and installed the ZL1 -- but when I called, he had already sold it.

You meant he "accidentally" didnt sell it to you.

[thahemp]

Originally Posted by rez333

You're talking about insurance type "definitions", not English definitions.

See?:
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=definition+of+accident

We're talking about what an accident really is, instead of the status quo idiotic crap that happens all the time because people are completely irresponsible. I have to be 100 times more vigilant when I venture into public because I know the number of people out there that don't take my safety and well-being into consideration is ridiculous.

[DivorcedDaddy18]

[QUOTE=thahemp;5900530]This is exactly what I was thinking the entire time I was reading this thread. What about the poor guy in front that got hit? I would be absolutely livid.

Yeah since it was 10 mph and I hit a truck, he had a metal/aluminum bumper. Didn't have one scratch.

Trust me, the first thing I did was jump out of the car and apologize as much as I could, I felt so bad about it. Even though there was no damage, I gave him my info anyway and told him it's my responsibility.

First accident in more than 25 years. Thankfully it was at 10 mph and nobody was hurt.

[DivorcedDaddy18]

I found a bumper -- http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-CHEVY-C...48e1de&vxp=mtr

And the rest of the car too -- http://www.ebay.com/itm/2012-CHEVY-C...5224dd&vxp=mtr

For $10,000 you can have a whole car. LOL

[thahemp]

I see where you're coming from. I really do. It's like i tell my daughters, the real world is just that... No do-overs. It was such a silly reason to have something like this happen. Then you come here looking for sympathy (and a new bumper obviously). It is just irritating enough to cause me to post in response. I hope that makes sense.

[thahemp]

I'm pretty sure that is the "appeal to the popular" logical fallacy. Everyone makes mistakes, but not of the same mangnitude. For example, I'll never accidentally shoot someone because i know how much caution to exercise when handling a gun. I put the car in the same category as a gun. I cringe when i see them used carelessly.

[DivorcedDaddy18]

I never came here looking for sympathy. I honestly came to the board figuring this would be the best place to find the BEST way to replace it the cheapest way possible. After the pain set it, I said "I got to replace this bumper" and Camaro5 was the reason I posted. People share stories on here all the time, so I shared mine.

I shared a story about being divorced when I bought the car, wasn't looking for sympathy that time either. Its a forum, so I came to share my story and see if others could share theirs.

Damn, you guys all seem to know me so well, but never met me. Strange.

[thahemp]

Originally Posted by DivorcedDaddy18

I never came here looking for sympathy. I honestly came to the board figuring this would be the best place to find the BEST way to replace it the cheapest way possible. After the pain set it, I said "I got to replace this bumper" and Camaro5 was the reason I posted. People share stories on here all the time, so I shared mine.

I shared a story about being divorced when I bought the car, wasn't looking for sympathy that time either. Its a forum, so I came to share my story and see if others could share theirs.

Damn, you guys all seem to know me so well, but never met me. Strange.

Fair enough. Just know that sharing your stories will get you all kinds of responses

If I were you, I would get my sandpaper out and see how much progress you can make towards getting the area prepped for re-painting. If it's just a few scratches and paint chips, then you should be able to sand the clear and base coats off, skim it with some filler, sand it down smooth again, and either get it painted, or hit it with duplicolor yourself.

If it's a large area, I would probably get it painted by a shop. If it's just a few square inches, there's no reason you can't handle that yourself with a little practice. I found long even strokes (on a deck spoiler) were very difficult to get right with the narrow spray pattern on the rattle can.

[DivorcedDaddy18]

Originally Posted by thahemp

Fair enough. Just know that sharing your stories will get you all kinds of responses

If I were you, I would get my sandpaper out and see how much progress you can make towards getting the area prepped for re-painting. If it's just a few scratches and paint chips, then you should be able to sand the clear and base coats off, skim it with some filler, sand it down smooth again, and either get it painted, or hit it with duplicolor yourself.

If it's a large area, I would probably get it painted by a shop. If it's just a few square inches, there's no reason you can't handle that yourself with a little practice. I found long even strokes (on a deck spoiler) were very difficult to get right with the narrow spray pattern on the rattle can.

Thanks. Yeah good point. I guess I can always try it myself, if it doesn't work out, well -- I was going to replace the bumper anyways.

[nealdiwes]

Had a scratch fixed on my Camaro. The scratch was directly below the side marker light on the left front of the rubber nose and cost $727.50 to fix. So yours would be at least that much to fix I bet.

[thahemp]

I can't tell how extensive the damage is from your pics, but the process should be fairly straight forward, and a little tedious.

Get the wet sandpaper sampler pack from Autozone, tape, some plastic sheeting, white (or light colored) primer, black duplicolor, and a can of gloss clear.

1) Tape a few inches outside of the actual damage zone. You have to remove some extra to help blend the new paint and clear with the old. Then tape the plastic sheeting to the tape you just put down. Taping to tape keeps the paint from building up around your edges.

2) Start with your roughest paper and wet sand the area until the scratches are gone. Some people use a spray bottle, I just use a bucket of water and dunk the sandpaper often. The water will keep the paint from gumming up your paper.

3) Once you're through the scratches... bump up to 600-800 grit and smooth the area. Hit it with a couple coats of primer. Make sure once you start spraying to follow the directions on all of the cans. Flash times are important to avoid surface defects once the paint dries. Sand the primer baby's butt smooth with 800-1000 grit once it is completely dry.

4) Make sure you have a perfect (dust-free and smooth) surface before you start spraying the duplicolor. Literally anything and everything will show through... even the smallest piece of dust. Spray from side to side keeping the same distance and overlapping the last row by about 2/3. My tendency is to go too fast. I would say around 4-6" per second is about the right speed. You'll probably need at least 3 coats. Go until you can't see primer anymore and everything looks like you want it to.

If you screw up on any of these steps... just sand it back down and try again.

5) Hopefully you won't have to sand the basecoat, but that's what the 1500 grit is for should you need it. Be very careful. Use super light pressure, and wet the sandpaper even more often than you did before. Gummed up sandpaper will scratch your basecoat and you'll have to start over.

6) Keeping dust out of the clear is hard. It helps to use a box fan or something to blow down on the area you're painting. I know a lot of people will actually spray the ground in their work area with water to keep the dust on the floor. This may or may not be an option. Spray the clear just like you sprayed the basecoat. Take your time. You'll want 4-6 coats of clear.

Resist the urge to touch your bumper to see if your coat of paint is dry. It probably isn't and you'll have to start over! Warm up your duplicolor rattle can somehow. It sprays WAY better when it is warm. I usually just set it out in the sun for a while. Unfortunately I don't have any experience blending a spot fix. This may or may not be ridiculously difficult. Like you said... you're gonna have to get a new bumper anyways. This should cost you about $30 i would guess. Definitely worth a shot.

[MYDLIFECRISIS]

[QUOTE=DivorcedDaddy18;5901411]

Originally Posted by thahemp

This is exactly what I was thinking the entire time I was reading this thread. What about the poor guy in front that got hit? I would be absolutely livid.

Yeah since it was 10 mph and I hit a truck, he had a metal/aluminum bumper. Didn't have one scratch.

Trust me, the first thing I did was jump out of the car and apologize as much as I could, I felt so bad about it. Even though there was no damage, I gave him my info anyway and told him it's my responsibility.

First accident in more than 25 years. Thankfully it was at 10 mph and nobody was hurt.

The justification you display is surprising!