I suck... Bumperettes

Got home late last night and parked my car in the garage... didn't drive it far enough in and when the garage door closed it scratched my bumperettes Left bumperette scratch is minor, right one a bit deeper. Any suggetions on how to fix... dealer, local indy (any recommendations for Charlotte?), any other suggestions? How much do you think it will cost to get it fixed?

Dutchie - Yeah, I have to agree, you suck! Man, sorry that happened. If I were you, I would take the car to "Uncle" Eric and let him take a look at them to see if his guys and fix 'em. At the very least, he will do a core exchange with you for $275 for the pair.

Sorry to hear that - it happens. My A4 just got spray painted by some neighborhood "children" last night - bastards. Anyway, hope there's no damage to the bumper itself. Should be an easy fix - at the worst, send to Eric - if they can be repaired he'll do it - otherwise, get a new set and have them painted. Minor stuff.

Think of it this way - another few inches, and you would be saying how much you suck for letting the garage door scrape your rear spoiler! So, you're actually lucky! I was just thinking of ordering painted ones from Eric - but the black ones are so much more durable in case of a bump, etc.

WHAT???????? Say it ain't so! I am really sorry to hear that, Phil! Is it really bad? Man, I would be really PISSED OFF right now!

Thought about that as well... will send him an email.

That's the attitude... lucky me!!

Ooocch...that must have hurt. Almost like pulling up your zipper to quickly like the scene in "Something about Mary." You could buy a new set of lessor quality painted bumperettes for 75.00 from the ebay guy. I'm happy with mine.

Dutchie....ready for you man. Just drop them off and we'll see what we can do. Or if they are too far gone, we'll get replacements painted and ready for you. Email me.

Hey Eric - What's the core exchange process - You send out a nice set of fresh painted bumperettes, and I send you mine when I take them off? What's the "core" charge? I'm tempted.

Andy - for your 996, yes. Order them online, that's your out of pocket number. When they are ready to ship, we'll send an e-invoice for the core deposit, ship the new ones out, then you install (5 minutes) and send old ones back. When they arrive back to use, core deposit refunded in full, simple as that. And Arctic is usually in stock or in production any time. So no wait in most cases. Email me with any questions. Thanks!

Yeah, stripes and crap all over the side of the A4 especially around the door handles, side marker. But, after reading a bunch of posts, acetone to the rescue! It removed all the spray paint without harming the clearcoat at all - put a coat of Griot's Best of Show over it - great excuse to wax - and the car looks fine. Tim, I appreciate your concern. And yeah, I'm still pissed off!!! As it turns out, our nice suburban neighborhood saw 10 cars get the spray treatment overnight!!

No respect. I'd shoot the little bar stewards. Glad that it cleaned up okay Phil.

Dutchie, sorry to hear about the bumperettes... need to line your side mirrors up with a marker in your garage. I've always been paranoid about the door hitting the car. Black bumperettes have little advantages in not getting scuffed up... one of the reasons that I've not switched.

Hey "Uncle" Eric am I back in the Will yet?

anybody know how to get the bumperettes off? Looked in manual, but can't find details. Thx!

[QUOTE=Wellardmac]Dutchie, sorry to hear about the bumperettes... need to line your side mirrors up with a marker in your garage. I've always been paranoid about the door hitting the car.QUOTE] I have a tennis ball hanging from the ceiling... hit it and I am good to go (gives me about two feet of space between rear bumper and door. Somehow, I had a big brainfart and did not even come close to hitting the tennis ball... No clue how I could have been this stupid!!

Dutchie, A large allen wrench inserted from the bottom. Shine a light up to see your target. Make sure to guard the bumper from scratches as you turn the allen wrench. The set where the wrenches fold out like a pocket knife are better since you don't have the 'L' bend and you have multiple sizes. Only have to unscrew it a few turns and then the bumperette kinda slides off with a slight angle. Oh, I forgot to mention this is the method on pre-facelift. Not sure if they changed after the facelift or not? RB

[QUOTE=Dutchie in NC] Ooops! Not good. Oh well, some days we just get distracted.

That sucks man, I hate to see those little injuries. Do the old school tennis ball on a rope for the garage. I have a laser one that shoots to the hood..

[QUOTE=Dutchie in NC] Maybe you should replace the tennis ball with a bowling ball. When you hear the thunk , you can stop.

[QUOTE=gota911] Then how would he differentiate from the occasions where he's banging his head against the wall after reading a thread here at Rennlist?

You can slide a screwdriver up under the cap and pry gently. The tabs can fight you though. The hard shell bumperettes on the '03 are held into slots with tabs on the covers. Go slowly.

[QUOTE=Wellardmac] Well, one of the "thunks" should sound a little more hollow than the other one. He has to figure out which is which!

[QUOTE=gota911] That might be a very close call...

Couple of preventative measures you might consider for the future: 1. Move the garage door electric eye safety xmitter and rcvr up or down as required so that they are at the height of the part of your car that protrudes the farthest on the rear end, e.g.: the bumperettes on a 911. That way, door will not come down until the car is clearly inside. 2. invest $15 - 20 and buy a laser parking indicator to mount above your car. Park in your desired spot (I leave enough room to walk behind my car and open the hood while the garage door is down), then spot the laser on a reference spot on your dash. Always pull in so that the red dot is hitting that spot.

This is a GREAT idea. I have never really had a problem with this, but I would rather not take the chance. Now I have a weekend project.

Could have been much worse!

Sorry to hear about your mishap, but it sounds like Eric's already got you covered. After I park my car in the garage, I always walk by the rear to check on the clearance before going into the house. I have a laser parking device also, but the indicator I trust the most are my own eyes.

That's a total bummer, but it could be worse... My garage door spring broke, the door was pulled from its tracks, and the entire door fell on top of my car on the 4th of July.

Not to say a man couldn't use this also, but for my wife I got her this http://www.garage-toys.com/parkingspot.html Now the challenge is when she totally misses the thing driving in!!! ha!

Thats pretty smart, I have began parking my car backwards, like a parallel park to get as far in the corner as I can..... My wife drives an infiniti and is still careless with her door.....

That could be grounds for divorce. My wife knows better!

Michael - ask CosmosC4S what he thinks about backing the car into his garage.... with the car door open! Sorry Cos, I couldn't resist that little "jab" in the ribs!

All this talk of garages is making me envious. My garage is a car cover. (On the other hand, I've never dented the car by dropping the cover on it.) CP

That's OK, my garage is a backdrop to a snuff film. Major renovations coming this fall...

Your website mentions "special equipment rentals." Just what exactly do you rent?

For the right budget... just about anything.

Years ago for my mom's birthday I made her a wheel stop. Find a big old truck mudflap (easy to find on the side of the road if you keep your eyes open) and a 2x4. Screw the 2x4 to one of the edges of the mudflap and your done. Bevel the 2x4 if your feeling frisky and just make sure no screws are poking out anywhere. Throw the whole deal down in the front of your garage where the front of one of your front tires would be when your pulled all the way forward. Just slowly ease into the garage until you run into it. Once a month or so you have to kick it back an inch or 2 as the car slowly pushes it forward a smidge.

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+1 will you guys please start beating some sense into your kids.....literally. if i did something like that i wouldn't have to worry about police...my parents would have killed me with their bare hands.

Originally Posted by Kims996Cab 1. Move the garage door electric eye safety xmitter and rcvr up or down as required so that they are at the height of the part of your car that protrudes the farthest on the rear end, e.g.: the bumperettes on a 911. That way, door will not come down until the car is clearly inside. LOL, I JUST did that!! Screw the dogs & cats if they can't get out of the way..no little kids here to worry about! I also use those self stick/glue down wheel bumps from Home Depot. If you HAVE to you can drive over them, as I usually leave my car in neutral and that way I don't have to worry about rolling.