Ideas on Fixing (or just live with it)?

[RickFLS4]

I was driving in Miami on Friday in the "Express" lanes of I-95 when traffic came to a stop. As I crawled further south, I eventually got to a fire truck blocking off the lanes due to an accident up ahead, forcing everyone over some plastic dividers into the "regular" lanes of the highway. I am referring to the orange things in this picture as the plastic dividers:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/15/f5858459845ae828d211093035f92075.jpg

Despite going over one as slowly as possible, this is what happened:

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/15/5dcfc825c34504adb5b19a5ae55c5d72.jpg

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/15/8885edb221c938547e16ed22b17ace7a.jpg

Certainly not the greatest tragedy by any measure, but pissed me off nonetheless. I have since resigned myself to most likely living with it because (a) it seems like it is part of the bumper, not a separate part that can be replaced and (b) I have Xpel on it, which complicates things a bit. (Car has close to 39K miles on it and was almost entirely clean before this.)

Wondering if anyone has any ideas that would make me think repair isn't quite as involved as I think it might be. Thanks (and stay away from those dividers).


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[shonseb]

I would have refused to go over that. Fuck everyone else, not risking damage to my car.

[GTItoS4]

Sand down the high spots, fill/bondo the low spots, repaint. You could try a diy fix. It doesn't have to be perfect down that low on the car.

[roadkillrob]

You could do a lip spoiler to cover it, a little touch up paint would help make it less noticeable also.

If it was me, I would call my insurance company and find out who you need to make a claim with (or if they will do it on your behalf) as you were forced into doing something that damaged your car, it would be claimed either against the insurance of the person who caused the accident or the fire departments/counties insurance for requiring you to damage your car based on their poor decision to have you drive over something that damaged your car (may not be worth the time depending on who you have to deal with and how much legwork you have to do vs the insurance company).

I recently had a friend who was clipped by a firetruck trying to get around traffic, she was out of the way as much as possible and the firetruck had lots of room but still clipped the car - dealing with filing the claim with the fire department is a pain in the ass and takes them forever as the payment has to be approved etc.

[RickFLS4]

I would have refused to go over that. Fuck everyone else, not risking damage to my car.

This is my plan for next time, if there is a next time. I am leaning against taking I-95 any longer as there are other safer, more time consuming routes to get where I'm going. I was surprised it caused damage, as I have seen many people go through them in the past and I was going under 5 MPH.

In 2012, I had some douche bag in a POS SUV skid on a wet road from the regular I-95 lanes through those dividers into my A6 and then take off. Probably 1,000 witnesses, no one stopped to see if I was hurt of call in license tag of hit and run driver to FHP. At that time I complained to the department of transportation about the stupidity of those dividers and stayed away from I-95 for a while. Should have stayed away permanently.

[amz]

wash the area with dish soap and re-apply any LSP's or protectants you have. I would leave it for now. If you don't have a clear bra already, you're eventually going to need to touch up the front bumper in 2-3 years to deal with the normal rock chips etc...get a pro to fix it then. If you're really good with paint matching/blending then you can try to go for the DIY fix; but I worry about having improperly blended paint in such a central location.

[Casius]

They forced you through those things? WTF Couldn't they pin them down? What a bunch of BS

[ALWAYS4UDI]

Let it be. It's just one of many beauty marks you'll gain over the years.

Party.

[Chapman]

I vote for adding a front lip.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/628266-Options-for-front-lip-splitter-and-rear-valance

[Dr GP]

Sand down the high spots, fill/bondo the low spots, repaint. You could try a diy fix. It doesn't have to be perfect down that low on the car.

Agree. It would bother the $hit out of me. This would be a DIY project for me. Done others before. And GTItoS4 is right. Being low down on the car means that it does not have to be absolutely perfect. Probably take a couple of hrs to do, max. White is easy to match in that area

[RickFLS4]

Thanks for the feedback. The issue I see with DIY is the Xpel film covering the entire bumper, including the damaged area. I've been thinking about getting the Xpel replaced under warranty for yellowing (and installer already said they would), so maybe this is what pushes me to do it. Remove Xpel, fix damage, replace Xpel.

[will13k7]

Take your time and find a really good and recommended body shop, not just one with good yelp reviews, and tell them not to touch the rest of the car, not even to wash it.

[Johnnycash]

you can remove the clear protection with a razor blade or exacto knife just the small area where the damage is touch it up with some white paint and you wont even be able to tell unless you get on your hands and knees to look for it.

[B18b1ex]

I hate 95, always something! If you aren't dodging huge pieces of 18 wheelers tires, you are stuck in traffic because some ass was not paying attention to the road and cause a multi-car crash. Mike @ First Class Auto body in pompano is really good. I would pursue the city agency who forced you over the barrier.

[Brandon@VTR]

I would get a lip to cover that up. If it covers it completely you're golden.

[shonseb]

This is my plan for next time, if there is a next time. I am leaning against taking I-95 any longer as there are other safer, more time consuming routes to get where I'm going. I was surprised it caused damage, as I have seen many people go through them in the past and I was going under 5 MPH.

In 2012, I had some douche bag in a POS SUV skid on a wet road from the regular I-95 lanes through those dividers into my A6 and then take off. Probably 1,000 witnesses, no one stopped to see if I was hurt of call in license tag of hit and run driver to FHP. At that time I complained to the department of transportation about the stupidity of those dividers and stayed away from I-95 for a while. Should have stayed away permanently.
Danm that's terrible. I heard of another driver who was in a similar situation, except it was on a normal road that was blocked and the FD was directing traffic onto a sidewalk by going over a low curb. He refused and instead made them direct traffic behind him to let him eventually reverse out. Of course, people were cursing, FD was pissed etc. But in the end he got out undamaged, and had no regrets. After hearing that story, I decided I would always refuse as well. Sorry to hear you had to go through this

[Intrepid One]

grab a touchup pen and colour it in..It will be damn near invisible…Then hire a lawyer and sue the living shit out of everybody you can..The company that made the traffic stands, the idiot that put them there, and specifically the asshole that held the gun to your head and made you do it !!!!! Then call your insurance company and tell them your car is ruined and demand a new one.

[dalmation53]

They forced you through those things? WTF Couldn't they pin them down? What a bunch of BS
It's miami there are no laws or rules lol is corrupted....

[mr shickadance]

if you were forced over it what you could do is phone the state highway department explain the situation and ask them to cover your expenses, shouldn't be much in terms of a sanding, maybe a dollop of bondo and a bit of paint (maybe $200-300)

other than that i would just deal with it, because it's so low on the bumper I would not think many people would notice it much

[s14roller]

The main thing that even is noticeable is the black scuff...if you get some scratch x, it should come right out. That minor dent won't be noticeable. I'd say clean it an leave as is. You could fix it and then a rock chip hits there anyway...

[JavikoA4]

I live in Miami too and i hate when there is an accident and we have to cross those plastic things...i did that twice last week with my companys work van and left marks on the front bumper...u should had went slowly between the two sticks...anyways, any body shop can fix it for cheap, no more than 100...


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[RhythmAddict]

Live with it...it will happen again...

[Santana's S5]

Another reason I refuse to pay to use the express lanes.