New tires or body repair?

[pokekevin]

Hey Guys,

I need your help on a decision. Recently i just got into an accident (if you remember i just got the car fixed and got a fender bender right after picking it up from the shop), The lady who hit me agreed to pay for the repairs...so now im thinking...repair the bumper or leave it and get some new tires since my old ones are weared down . What do you guys think? The bumper just has paint chipping off... kind of annoys me when i see it in the morning

[new echo owner]

Can you drive on your bumper?

N.E.O.

[uibalnme]

Tires 1st, paint doesn't keep you on the road.

[desentrix]

Tires of course. Your bumper is important for collisions, but if you have bald or damaged tires, should you be driving in the first place?

Prioritize vehicle maintenance before aesthetics.

[JCamry94]

Just to sum up what we're all saying... make the lady pay for some kick ass tires!

[pokekevin]

Alright sounds good....Now what kind of tires would you guys recommand? I was considering the Bridgestone Turenza Serenitys. Seemed to get alot of good reviews.

[desentrix]

You can check out ratings and performance off tirerack.com 's site.

[IronNam]

Yokohamas!!!

[mandyfig]

Yoko's can not go wrong!

[TheKevin]

can't go wrong with a set of BFG G-Force

[Tom 2000]

For mostly elbow grease and not much money (I spent less than $80), you can make your bumper look like new. I sanded and finished my rear bumper in my garage after the wife backed into a Lexus 4 years ago from products I bought from this site. After I was done, you could not tell anything ever happened.

http://www.paintscratch.com/

On tires, Bridgestone Serenitys are likely a good choice. I assume you just want some nice quiet riding tires with good traction. Tirerack.com or Discounttire.com are good places for tire info.

[N35QU!K]

Originally Posted by Mr. E

can't go wrong with a set of BFG G-Force

I second that nomination. Back before I installed the Tokico/Intrax's, i rocked a TRD RSB with BFG G-Froce sports, and the car handled beautifully.

After a year of having them on, the first time I heard them screech was during the trip down Mt. Hamilton Rd. this past weekend.

[pokekevin]

I can't seem to find the G-force tires for the camry size (noob at tire sizes). Can anyone help me?

-Kevin

[pokekevin]

Originally Posted by Tom 2000

For mostly elbow grease and not much money (I spent less than $80), you can make your bumper look like new. I sanded and finished my rear bumper in my garage after the wife backed into a Lexus 4 years ago from products I bought from this site. After I was done, you could not tell anything ever happened.

http://www.paintscratch.com/

On tires, Bridgestone Serenitys are likely a good choice. I assume you just want some nice quiet riding tires with good traction. Tirerack.com or Discounttire.com are good places for tire info.

Ive never really used touch up paint before. So would i just sand off (what grit?) the damaged area and apply a coat of the touch up paint?

[Tom 2000]

Read here for full instructions.

http://www.paintscratch.com/automotive-paint-tips.htm

Take your time, follow instructions and you'll be amazed how good the end result will look. The key to successful repair on my car was feathering the paint at the edge of the bumper. My car is lunar mist metallic, which is pretty much impossible to do a partial repaint of any given part.

Even though the damaged area was relatively small, I sanded the entire FACE of the rear bumper, primed it and painted it. The transition to the exisiting paint occurs on the edge of the bumper where I feathered the paint, so you can't tell that I ever repainted it.