Some jerk hit my rear bumper when he/she was parked behind me. The damage to bumper is minor: scuffed, small crack, bumper slightly dislodged from body (you can barely see unless you stand next to car). Is it worth fixing. I’ve been told because of the crack; it’ll need to be replaced with new one and painted to match car. Do you see any possible problems down the road? I guess water can get into it?? Thank you.
It is a bumper cover not a bumper . They usually can’t be repaired so replacemant is what is done most of the time . There is nothing that water will harm so if you can live with it just do that . A body shop will give you an estimate price .
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You are correct. The damage is to the bumper cover. A new one costs about $200. The real cost would be the labor to swap it out and paint it. I’ve had it done before on an old Maxima. After a few years the paint comes off and you see the original black plastic, which in my case would probably look worse than the current damage.
Tester
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What year Civic and how much does it bother you? If you plan to keep it for a while, then you might wait on fixing it. Another possibility is to find a cover at a junk yard and do the replacement yourself. Post a picture and we can get a better idea of what the damage is.
To be honest, it does not bother me at all as long as it’s only cosmetic. I’m only concerned about potential hidden problem if I don’t fix it. It’s a 2019 Civic; not a Porsche 911 
If I had a crack on my hood, I would have it fixed the next day out of fear of getting water in the engine.
I have a 2017 Accord and I’d give serious thought to fixing it. That’s a personal choice though. BTW, did the guy that bumped you own up to the accident? I suppose not, otherwise I’m sure you would have had him fix it.
Great video. I’ve used the JB Weld Plastic Epoxy on smaller bumper cover cracks, it actually works works and on small, clean cracks the repaint wasn’t even necessary.
And a tip if the plastic was dented, a hot hair dryer or a $10 Harbor Freight heat gun can warm up the plastic enough so it can be bent back into shape.
Or boiling water.
Tester
The scuff mark might be able to compound it out depending how deep it it. if it is just the other persons paint marks it should come off. the dislodged bumper might be able to be clipped back in if the clips are not broken. on some vehicles the clips can be replaced if broken. as far as the small crack well, that is up to you if you can live with it or not. if you cannot your car insurance may cover the damage depending what coverage you have. minus the deductible.
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I have fixed them and replaced them. Some can be repaired if you do it yourself. If you have to pay someone one cheaper to replace. It is only cosmetic though to be deducted from trade in value if you can live with the way it looks.
If they paint it right it should look new for the life of the car .
Another option is to browse eBay for a good used one in the same paint code as your car. That would make it a simple bolt on repair and save labor costs associated with paint work. All depends upon price of the eBay part, free shipping or not, etc.
Most collisions involve the front so a good used rear should be easier to locate.
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I had a pickup driver put his ball hitch through the back bumper of my 2004 PT Cruiser. The shop I used was certified in urethane bumper repair and it was cheaper than replacing the cover and guaranteed for life.
In that case I would just re-attach and let it go at that.
For what it’s worth, when I’ve had this done in the past, the paint looked fine for as long as I had the car.
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Rubber bumpers flex so a flex agent is used with the paint when they are repaired. If the paint flakes off, either the primer was not properly repaired or a flex agent was not used. None of my bumpers flake. Just sayin is all. If I had damage I would repair it.
Good ideas above. There is some possibility the actual bumper underneath was damaged in the dust-up, so for safety reasons should probably be given a visual check to verify it remains structurally sound. If you want the bumper cover to look like new, newly installed cover painted the same color is the way to go. But if you don’t mind the bumper aesthetics a tad askew, I’ve used plain-old 5 minute setting clear epoxy to repair small cracks in plastic parts, works pretty good as long as part isn’t subjected to big temperature extremes or forces. Next day, a little sandpapering with increasingly finer grits to smooth it out, might find you are good to go. I wouldn’t leave the crack as it is, b/c it may widen with each bump in the road.
There is a bumper repair kit with the proper filler that will flex. Works like body potty or jb weld. Under the rubber bumper is just a big 3 or 4 inch c channel. Not much to damage. Some say to check the torsion units to make sure the still work but not likely a problem.