GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello, I have a 2009 Vibe GT and I need some advice on restoring the front bumper of marks/damage. The bumper is completely covered small white marks from 100k miles of use. It looks like the clear coat is damaged because there is very small cracks in some of the bigger marks. They are littered all over the entire bumper and the front of the hood. I've tried using a bit of Turtle Wax car rubbing compound on a small section, but found that it leaves it noticeably dull and only slightly improves the marks. I didn't continue to use rubbing compound on the whole bumper because I don't want to do more harm than good. If anyone has this same problem can you please help me out? Should I continue with phases of rubbing compound then wax to restore the shine? I want to avoid repainting the bumper if at all possible, however, I will understand if that's my only option.

Check out the pic to see exactly what the problem is. It just looks horrible out in the sun because it sticks out so much (to me at least lol). That's is right after a wash, and I waxed it a week ago.

Thanks in advance!

Don't waste your time, it looks to me like the paint is chipped.

Not just the paint... the plastic bumper itself is chipped. You will need to sand the whole thing and repaint or buy a new bumper.

X3 on a repaint job Like Beemerphile1 & my son"s 2009 GT & you, the navy blue metallic really looks like S H I T when these chips of paint are missing. My son's is also bad BUT not to the extent of what you seem to have. How many miles/km's of road abuse did this Vibe see so far? Are you the original owner? Give us more info. Bottom line, either live with it for now OR repaint it

Okay thanks for the responses guys. My father bought the car brand new (never abused it lol), and I bought it off of him a couple months ago. It just passed 100k miles a couple weeks ago. It sucks because the car was and still is garage kept, so the rest of the paint is still fresh looking. Most of the miles are from highway use. I guess I will have to go with repainting it. Thanks again for your input.

Ouch ! Seeing that makes me glad my 2009 GT is not one of the dark colors .

As everyone else said, having it re-painted is pretty much your only option. Hopefully the re-paint will hold up better. Best of luck getting it taken care of. Keep us updated on what you do with it, etc.

What about that plastic film paint protectant stuff, to go on top of the new paint? It's that stuff that's similar to a bra...argh, can't really remember much about it.

lannvouivre wrote:What about that plastic film paint protectant stuff, to go on top of the new paint? It's that stuff that's similar to a bra...argh, can't really remember much about it.

Lamin-X makes a clear film protectant, great to keep paint in shape but the damage has been done. If the bumper was repainted or a new bumper was bought the Lamin-x will protect it very well. http://www.lamin-x.com/Pontiac-Vibe-s/633.htm

my 45,000 mile '10 looks very similar. cheap, cheap paint...

Painting would be your best option. I had a couple of quotes for mine, since it actually has a few screw holes in it (PO installed fog/driving lights) and the bottom edge on the front and sides is all scraped away from running up on curbs from him parking. The quotes were about $300, which I thought was extremely good for the work involved in removing the cover, filling, sanding, priming, painting and clear coating it, and reinstalling it.

Another option is to replace the bumper cover every year or two like me.

In 2010, some moron cut his turn too tight and hit my front end while I waited for a traffic light!

Two days before Christmas last year (2012) one of Santa's reindeer jumped in front of me and broke the plastic front end!

Thank goodness for insurance.

I had to have a new bumper put on mine after a small accident. The paint the shop used was much better as it has very few chips in it now and is cracking slightly in one of the corners. I have almost 107,000 miles and my hood by far looks worse than my bumper.