[Muscletang]

I'm looking at getting my Mom a used 03 Escape. The back bumper has a scuff on it. How can this be fixed without getting a new bumper cover or major body work?

P.S. I'm not looking for absolute perfection, but the best results I can get would be great.

Thanks guys!

[StangGTR07]

Can't really tell how much texture is in that, but I'd say...

-sanding
-some filler for the deep scratches
-texture if needed
-primer and paint

[CaptainEo]

You'd be thankfully surprised at how far a jar of Playstx or rubbing compound will go at getting that out. I scrapped up against another car one day and you can't even tell anymore.

[travis_afx]

StangGTR07 has the right idea
Those gouges are deep enough, theyd need to be sanded , filled, primed, and the bumper repainted

[Muscletang]

Thanks guys. It looks like I'll just have to see what I can do with it and see if I get the urge just to replace the bumper cover for my mom. I don't think it's painted. I believe it's just the gray plastic trim like most Escape's have. Those bumper covers are reasonably cheap since they aren't painted I believe. They're around $200-300.

My wife took that photo and drove it yesterday. I'm going to drive it today and see what I think and let the negotiations begin.

[travis_afx]

Your right its not painted, i forgot thats how those bumpers are made.


One thing you might try is to cut all the loose stuff off, you know the little plastic bits from the scratch. And then take a little torch, a heat gun might work, and run the flame up and down the scratch a few times and it should make it less noticeable. You might even have to run your finger up and down the scratch a few times after the heat has been applied to get it to smmoth out a little more. It will in no way make it look right again, but it will look better than what it does now. Its a trick ive used a few times when an interior panel gets scratched and it make is pretty much unnoticeable, but im sure those are too deep to fix them all the way.

Could you take a closer picture of them, so i can really see the scratches you know

[Muscletang]

I'll give that a try and take a better picture first if things work out right.

I was getting ready to leave yesterday afternoon to go look at it again, so I called the people and got a long story. Apparently, the man's x-wife and son want to buy the car and they had no idea. So they advertised it and almost had it sold to me. The story I got is that the son and x are horrible with money but it is the guys son. So he gave him two weeks to come up with the money and then he was going to sell it to me.

I hate drama. This is the kind of thing that happens when you buy from a private party. I can't pass up on this deal, so I'll wait. It's a 03 Escape in great shape with 53,000 miles on it for $7500'ish. The bank values it at $10,500. Now I'll try to negotiate to $7k if they come back. I'll keep looking around myself as well. I have the money ready and everything. What a let down.

Thanks again for your help!