Peeling Paint - Front Bumper

[K9Leader]

The paint on the front bumper of my 2000 OBW Ltd. has started peeling over the past few months. It is doing it in several places, particularly along the indented line along the upper half, but in other places as well.

 

The flakes that are coming off are the metallic titanium. Underneath is paint that is almost the same color, but not quite, and seems to have a "grainier" metallic flake to it.

 

Does anyone know if that "grainier" paint is some sort of underlayer, perhaps a paint layer between primer and the titanium color layer? Or, perhaps, it is the primer?

 

If the flakes are just the clearcoat flaking off, would the flakes look like I have described or would they actually be clear?

 

I bought this car in March 2003 from the original owner -- the paperwork and a Carfax confirm that he was the only owner. But is it possible this is a replacement bumper (or the original that was repainted) and the new paint is now flaking off? He didn't tell me anything like that was done, and did not mention any accidents, and Carfax would not note any accidents that did not result in a title change (i.e., car was totalled by insurance). And, no other parts of the car show even the slightest indication of any accident, although it is possible something happened just to the front bumper.

 

The rest of the car is in excellent condition. There are some chips in the rear bumper, but those are chips due to getting nicked or hit (teenage son and his Scout buddies loading and unloading gear into or out of the car) or along the edge of the unpainted black ribbed section, and not the same type of flaking as on the front.

 

If the front bumper flaking continues, it will soon look pretty bad and will need repainting or replacement. But the entire layer of flaking paint would have to come off or be taken off or else repainting would not work. As for replacement, do the replacement bumper covers come already painted? Unlikely, but since all OBs have the titanium painted bumpers (before going to the monochrome look this year), I thought they might come painted.

 

I suspect that this is a replacement bumper pulled off of an Outback where the titanium paint was slightly different (a 2001/2/3?) and that the previous/original owner had it repainted to match. I could contact him, and maybe he would level with me (even though it appears he may not have when I was buying it).

 

Any ideas or words of wisdom?

 

K9Leader

[Suzam]

Another possibility would be that the car arrived or was damaged at the dealer's before sale. It's not uncommon for a "touch up" of damage caused in transit or on the lot. They don't all arrive in perfect condition and some of those storage lots have them right up against each other.

[theotherskip]

i got in a small fender bender back in sept. turns out, my bumper had been repainted. while no damage was done to the plastic, it has started paint peeling from over the whole bumper. i went to 2 body shops for estimates. both said that they could work with the old bumper, strip it and repaint it. it would take about 3 days and cost around $450. getting a new aftermarket pushed it to over $600. they would guarantee that the new paint would not peel, but i decided against it as $450 is more than i really want to put in the car, and less than my deductible...

[DMc-DE]

Matt Slap Subaru in Newark has a guy that only paints bumpers. Can't be too expensive as I know they keep him quite busy fixing cars in the lot.

 

Rex's Auto Body in Newark off Cleveland Ave near Herman's Meat Market recently did some body work on my 2004 Outback. Did a good job. Guaging from what they did on my car for $550, I could not image them charging more than $200 to repaint a bumper.

 

Take the bumper cover off the car and take it to Matt Slap. They can do it off the car. Same for Rex's.

[K9Leader]

DMc-DE:

 

I would rather repeatedly jab very sharp, red-hot, foot-long needles in my eyes than have anything to do with the incompetent liars and thieves at Matt Slap. They got three strikes before I declared them out -- sales was terrible, service was terrible, parts was terrible. Incompetent and dishonest -- the daily double!

 

It is a shame, as that dealer is the closest to my home (I'm in North Star). I have had much better luck with Castle Subaru in New Castle -- further from home (but it is close to my office), and seem to have some level of competence and integrity.

 

If/when I get to the point of painting the bumper, I will check out a few body shops. Since moving to Delaware in 1996, I have only needed a shop once (for a fender on an Acura Integra), and used one on Newport-Gap Pike, sort of across from Delcastle HS (can't remember the name of the shop, although I drive past it regularly!). The work was good, so I will check them out as one possibility.

 

--K9Leader