Scratched my Front Bumper

[ChristianT]

I had an unfortunate incident with the wall exterior wall of a house. I'm not exactly sure how to handle it since it looks like it went through the PPF (which seems to have protected part of it) and through part of the paint. It's the bottom left part of the front bumper.

I did a little search and I saw some recommendations, like using Meguiar's Scratch Eraser Kit, but I'm not sure what to do about the PPF. Would that be covered under warranty? Should I try using touch-up paint?

I'm kind of bummed since this is my first post here and it's a sad one . Thanks for the help!

 

[CharleyBC]

Ouch! I am absolutely no expert, but I'd assume the PPF has to come off entirely. Then repair the paint (three distinct layers for Pearl White). Then a new film.

 

[dskid]

Why would damage be covered under warranty? Warranty covers manufacturer/installation defects. This is neither.

PFF will likely need to be redone as well as paint work if you want to do it correctly. There's a some cheap ways to do it but only a re-paint will make it look new again.

 

[Socal3XXXX]

I don’t think anything will be covered under warranty. Scratch remover won’t fix that, either touch it up or bring to shop to repaint. Redoing just the front bumper for PPF shouldn't be too expensive

 

[SMAlset]

Looks pretty much like the long scrape we got on our MS's rear quarter panel and bumper by a utility vehicle backing out of an adjoining space and into our car. Yes the wrinkled effect is the PPF and it did it's job however looks like something dug down deeper and got to the paint. In our case we had the PPF replaced but the gouge had to be repainted and we also had a sensor effected too that needed to be replaced I think. At least doesn't look to be the same in your case. Fortunately for us the other party's insurance paid for everything.

BTW between the Tesla body shop and the party's insurance company they debated a little over whether the bumper could be repaired or needed to be replaced. I guess it was determined the gouge was too deep so we got a new bumper. I'll ask my husband what our repair ran since it seems pretty similar.

As for the warranty, it was caused by you, so no. Really scratching head on this. This isn't like the PPF was lifting up due to an adhesion issue or poor installation. PPF doesn't prevent all damage to the car's paint and if you hadn't run into something that got down deep, it would be a simple save by PPF and just needed replacing...at your cost still. My husband's front bumper got scraped by a wooden fence post as he backed out of a county park parking space and only wrinkled the PPF on his front bumper. No painting needed just replacing of the film on the bumper. I'll let you know the cost of that replacement as well (both happened on his MS btw so not same exact parts).

 

[SaddleSC]

You will need to have the PPF removed, the panel sanded, repainted and then have a new PPF applied.

Could you please clarify something? (and I want to ask in the kindest way possible because I have seen this type of question before and I just cannot understand the logic). Why do you think, logically, that the manufacturer's warranty, which applies to manufacturing defects would apply to repair a car that was damaged by negligently crashing it into a wall?

 

[ChristianT]

Just going through my options. Obviously it's a long shot (with being able to use the warranty), but thought I'd try none the less.

Do you guys think it would be possible to go without fixing it? It seems mostly cosmetic. How would I go about fixing the PPF that got scrapped off?

 

[blackeducator]

It's not cosmetic only. It looks like you have a gash/hole... and water damage will accumulate over the months. you can put white FlexTape over the gash-- if you are not concerned with the "cosmetics".

 

[SMAlset]

Just going through my options. Obviously it's a long shot (with being able to use the warranty), but thought I'd try none the less.

Do you guys think it would be possible to go without fixing it? It seems mostly cosmetic. How would I go about fixing the PPF that got scrapped off?

The PPF is removed from the front bumper. If you don't mind a line in the PPF (which will trap dirt over time), your detailer might try removing only a portion the PPF to save you money. That however doesn't address the gouged part which would need replacing assuming you don't want to see the damage to that area.