Deep scratch in front bumper / fender. Best approach to fix this?

[chopdlck]

Hi,

My 2019 msm model 3 SR+ had smacked into a parkade pillar that left it with some pretty big scratches. Located in Vancouver, BC

I went to a few body shops and they quoted me between 3-5k for a fix.
- Bumper to be repaired and painted
- driver side fender panel is flared out and needs to be repaired and painted
- New side camera thing needs a new one (apparently once you remove it to repair the fender you need to buy a new one)

This seems quite expensive considering the car would only sell for about 30k right now, and a cosmetic repair would cost 10-20% of the value...

I also tried to book an appointment with Tesla, but they said their service centers do not offer collision repair and referred me to the body shops.

Is this repair DIYable?

 

[Soul Surfer]

That unfortunately sounds about right. Colour matching is tough and you might be able to get away with a bumper sling replacement for maybe less? Have you checked at the Tesla service shop?

 

[afadeev]

My 2019 msm model 3 SR+ had smacked into a parkade pillar that left it with some pretty big scratches. Located in Vancouver, BC

Driving by Braille?
That's left (driver-side) front of your car, and a parking garage pillar snuck up on you?

Bumper is toast.
Fender can be PDR-ed back into shop (Paintless Dent Repair).

I went to a few body shops and they quoted me between 3-5k for a fix.
- Bumper to be repaired and painted
- driver side fender panel is flared out and needs to be repaired and painted
- New side camera thing needs a new one (apparently once you remove it to repair the fender you need to buy a new one)

You should be able to fix everything for under ~$1.5K.
Search locally for PDR techs with good reviews. Look online, or at local car club forums.
IIRC, Model 3 fenders are steel, which is very easy and inexpensive to work on. Figure $150-250 total.
Tesla sells pre-painted bumpers. Perfect color match. I had one replaced/installed in 2022. Parts were $900, and labor to install were $175.50. $1,075.50 in total.

This seems quite expensive considering the car would only sell for about 30k right now, and a cosmetic repair would cost 10-20% of the value...

The cost of repairs is what it is.
The residual value of the car has not bearing on the repair estimate, unless you (or your insurance company) is looking to walk aware from the wreck. Which is unlikely to be the case in your situation.

HTH,
a

 

[kpanda17]

Hi,

My 2019 msm model 3 SR+ had smacked into a parkade pillar that left it with some pretty big scratches. Located in Vancouver, BC

I went to a few body shops and they quoted me between 3-5k for a fix.
- Bumper to be repaired and painted
- driver side fender panel is flared out and needs to be repaired and painted
- New side camera thing needs a new one (apparently once you remove it to repair the fender you need to buy a new one)

This seems quite expensive considering the car would only sell for about 30k right now, and a cosmetic repair would cost 10-20% of the value...

I also tried to book an appointment with Tesla, but they said their service centers do not offer collision repair and referred me to the body shops.

Is this repair DIYable?

advice
yes, needs a full body shop repair, dont go with the cheapest, you should seek out a Tesla authorized shop which is shown in the app map
waiting 90 days for paint curing and if a long term keeper, have front PPF installed, this wont protect against that impact, but recommended to protect the front from the minor dings of bugs and rocks
be more careful driving

 

[chopdlck]

I reached out to Tesla, they don't do repairs in the service centers around Vancouver and do not have bumpers on hand.

I am going to give scratch removers and a paint off amazon a try ._.

I attached the quote.. over 2k in labor alone smh

 

[Tha_Ape]

I'd polish it first and see how bad it looks. It will likely look at least 50% better after 5min of effort.

Any mild abrasive would work, but I'd use car wax/ polish and some "elbow grease" to see what I was left with

 

[carpe_diem]

Driving by Braille?
That's left (driver-side) front of your car, and a parking garage pillar snuck up on you?

LOL

 

[carpe_diem]

I reached out to Tesla, they don't do repairs in the service centers around Vancouver and do not have bumpers on hand.

I am going to give scratch removers and a paint off amazon a try ._.

I attached the quote.. over 2k in labor alone smh

There's a reason why it costs $2k just in labor alone; auto body repair technicians are skilled and can restore the car to it's original appearance. You can skip the labor costs and try to do the repair yourself, but unless you're skilled in auto body repair and have access to the right tools and materials, don't expect a good outcome.

$3.5k seems very reasonable for this repair. I've seen less damage cost more in our area (Seattle). If you do as afadeev has proposed I'm certain you can save another $1-2k but then you'll need to coordinate most of the repair work yourself such as scheduling the PDR, ordering a painted bumper cover, finding a shop that will install it for you and touch up the paint on the fender, etc. The choice depends upon your comfort level and ability to take on a larger share of the responsibility; again you're paying someone else to do what you can't / don't want to do.

Whatever you do, don't paint it yourself with rattle can paint off of Amazon. It's a $35k car. Just don't.

 

[Tha_Ape]

If you're looking for a slightly cheaper route, you can buy a bumper cover online and put it on yourself (get OEM!), not sure if those come pre-painted, but if not, a body shop can paint it for you. A lot of money is in labor, if you're willing/ able to do it yourself Teslas service manuals are available online for free.

You won't get the panel to panel blending that they'd do at a shop though.