Old timer at the shop swore by Bondo on bare plastic bumpers

Bob from the NAPA down the street told me last spring that you can just slap filler straight onto a raw urethane bumper without any adhesion promoter. I tried it on a 2017 Camry rear bumper, and the whole section cracked and peeled off after three weeks of sun. Anyone else run into this or was Bob just blowing smoke?

2 comments

2 Comments

evac7221d ago

And that's the thing - old school guys still think all plastic is the same. Modern urethane actually flexes way more than the old stuff, so filler never bonds unless you use the right prep. Bob probably hasn't touched a bumper in ten years.

patb8621d ago

Cracked and peeled after three weeks sounds about right. I used to think you could get away with it on older bumpers that had some texture to them, but I tested it on a clean 2018 Ford Focus bumper and it lifted right off after a month. Now I always use adhesion promoter or at least scuff it up with 80 grit and hit it with a good plastic primer first. Bob was probably talking about steel or something, not this modern urethane crap.