Any ideas on fixing these boo-boos?

[CAMOGIRL]

When I bought my Vibe, I inherited some uh-ohs. One of the biggest ones is on the gray plastic, the other big one is on the front bumper just under the emblem. I'll post some pics and descriptions. I am looking for some ideas to make it look a little better.First, the plastic. The previous owner scraped it down the side of her garage... its kinda shredded! I know that I wont probably be able to match the same texture around it, but can I sand it down smooth or something? Better idea?OK, now the bumper. You can see on the lower left, I just have a large(ish) flake of paint missing. Now, under the emblem there, the plastic seems to be somewhat cracked, and the paint is spidery and cracking and peeling here and there too... looking for ideas to arrest this, or fix it for a while.I do have some other rock chips so I need a goo suggestion on where/what to buy for a touch up paint.THANKS!

[DressedInBlack]

was the previous driver Stevie Wonder?sorry, i have nothing constructive or helpful to add. just a smart-@$$ comment.

[CAMOGIRL]

LOL.NO, but she at least was honest about all the things she clobbered with it. Both side mirrors have been replaced as she took those off on a regular basis.

[DressedInBlack]

oh, your poor car! its in better hands now, i can tell.

[lovemyraffe]

Just as a fair warning, the Lava color fades and so the touch up paint isn't an exact match.

[ou.grizzly]

Plastic trim needs to be replaced and the front bumper cover would need to be repainted.

[A Psycho Martyr]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »Plastic trim needs to be replaced and the front bumper cover would need to be repainted. That is the correct answer....but not the cheapest. I'd put some touch up in the spots where it's peeling to kind of slow it down, but there's rea;;y no "fix" other than ACTUALLY fixing it But on the plastic...I'd maybe clip the stuff that's hanging off. That'd clean it up some. But if you wanna try any refinishing it you'll likely have to do it ALL the way around the car LOTTA WORK lolgood luck either way tho. keep us posted

[CAMOGIRL]

Im really just looking for an "It'll do" fix to keep it looking at least as good as it does now, until I can really get started doing things. Ideally, I WILL replace that plastic. With body color trim, NOT that stuff because I want to add a body kit eventually, and the plastic just doesn't really fit the plan. Thanks for the info so far! I even went to my graphics friends and tried their red vinyls, but they are too different, I thought maybe I could get a good match and "band-aid" it, but no go.

[keithvibe]

That gray cladding that you have is just painted on the othe vibes. Body kits are another story. There are two. The discontinued gm one and the crappy one you can find on eBay.

[BLargal]

Try junk yards, if your lucky you could find new trim to go all around your car so it will match if not at least you got new plastic and you can I think buy paint for plastics of course you would have to paint all of it and paint it properly so it won't look bad and get ruined in a year or so. As for your bumper I don't know...it looks....off kilter like she rear ended someone and in a way spray painted it to cover up the damage, my eyes are likely playing tricks on me but thats how it looks to me right now.

[CAMOGIRL]

Good eye, Blargal. She was sideswiped on the driver side and had to have a new qtrpanel put on. Things are not too badly done, but you can see it when you study the differences in the gaps between things. I suspect that the paint cracks are a result of this accident, but since there was larger damage elsewhere, they decided to leave the bumper as is? Or maybe it's new since that. Who knows. Looking at the texture of the cladding... is that REALLY what they do? Just paint it on the monotone vibes? Seems like it has the wrong texture for that? At least it only looks a little off when you are studying it. I dont notice it just looking at the whole picture:

[yyamad1]

yep stock monotone vibes are your plastic painted, it has the texture even after painting. as for cracking you can apply some clear nail polish to seal out any water and debris, it should be ok.

[CAMOGIRL]

GREAT. Now I have to find one and TOUCH it. Just because I have to now. BUT that is good news, maybe the right shop can purty up the dings and just paint it for me along with the bumper.

[torker]

My cladding was all scarred up along the bottom. I cut away the scarred portion with a razor blade and then used vinyl trim conditioner- like Tireshine on it.

[BLargal]

Ha dude thats awsome you go up to someone and be like "um hey...can I...touch it? Can I touch your vibe?" XD and yea it dosen't look to bad if you got a good deal for the car then be happy with what you have of course. But if what they say is true just buy a new part from a junk yard and then take off ALL your trim and paint it or...find someone to who paints cars who will do it for cheep or free as in from a friend or what not. My car is in the dealer right now as we speak getting its hood repainted for free (just got my vibe last week) I have a question about the paint job in exterior right now actually that i'm hoping to get some answers on.

[CAMOGIRL]

Actually parked next to a Vibe going to class yesterday. I was in a friends truck so no Vibe love, but I DID get out and touch it In fact, it DOES have the texture, and my Kustom guy said he can in FACT paint it for me. I just need to get a new panel for the one that is marred there, and since the bumper has some too.. uh, I guess I better have one of those...uhm...with dual exhaust... and then it would look silly if I didnt have the acutal dual ex done yet... OH MY...I am getting in deep arent I?

[BLargal]

*gives you a thumbs up* just start off with the replacing the plastic part first do the bumper later when your getting closer to doing the dual ex cause it will save you money in the end to just wait on that.Now what I want are some seat warmers living in Michigan those are always nice to have. I just wish someone will answer my paint question thread before I get my car back lol.

[bikes1]

Sooo, I'm slow to respond. Sue me. Lol.

The rough textured parts can sometimes be relatively well repaired with heat. My interior panels were scratched all to hell when I bought my Vibe with 130,000km on it. I used one of those hand held torches that runs on butane, small flame comes out the end.

Wave it over the scratched part carefully and as the plastic heats upit regains it's original colour. Not perfect but it does a pretty good job.