Hey Lemmy. I have a 2010 Toyota Camry with 150k miles. The front bumper’s bottom segment (maybe 2 inches) has a crack and the grill is out of place. Also, there’s a couple small scratches in the paint elsewhere. Would it be worth it to have the bumper repaired as well as the paint touched up before selling it? I was given a quote of $1500 for the bumper repair but haven’t inquired about the scratches. Thanks in advance!
Personally, if I’m buying a car with 150,000 miles on it, I’d expect and be fine with some cosmetic damage. $1500 bucks just isn’t worth it; you aren’t going to get that return on investment from the sale price. The things that I think could boost sale price without too much cost from you is clearing up the headlights if they are cloudy, and a good deep clean of all the upholstery.
+1 on cleaning the headlights. A restore kit is like $30 and can earn you hundreds when it comes to resale.
Take good photos too, it helps more than you’d think.
No reason you can’t do those repairs yourself. $1500 is ridiculous, you’d be a fool to pay for that. Some bondo in the grill and touch up paint for the crack. Anyone buying used cars will expect some wear so I wouldn’t worry about small scratches. Try buffing them out, but repainting scratches usually does more harm than good, cosmetically.
If you’re doing bondo, you’ll have to paint the bumper and blend it with the fenders which is way beyond your average DIY
