[thomvee]

Hi. I bought my Duster RXS used from a friend. Been using it for the past year. The other day my son decided he wanted to climb on the bonnet and stepped on the front guard portion of the bumper and it snapped off. Looks like this is attached to the actual bumper with screws and plastic screw holes. The screw holes seem to have broken off as the built quality is poor. Anyway, I took the car for service and asked the service advisor if it can be fixed. He says that the bumper will need replacing at a cost of at least Rs. 12,000 as they will need to replace the bumper also and to claim it on insurance.
Essentially this is an add on element that normal Duster models do not have and to me it looks like one can easily replace this or worst came even remove this and have the bumper without a guard. I feel like the service guys may be trying to rip me off.
Does anyone have experience or knowledge regarding this? Is it really essential to replace the bumper? Do you think they are trying to rip me off? Are there any alternative things I could try?
Thanks in advance.

[Samba]

Any good fng who deals with body work will fix this. Mostly they will open the bumper and replace the broken plastic screws/clips and fix metal screws with brackets. They may even tie it with a metal wire internally.
In the worst case they will put the screws externally and fix it.
This should not cost you more than Rs 500.
At service centres they generally do not repair, they just replace it. For such small things, its always better to get it fixed at a good reputed fng.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by thomvee

Are there any alternative things I could try?

Damage seems to be minimal. Any competent body shop can repair it, either by plastic welding or some other means of jugad. End of the day, it can be repaired at less than 1k since there is no damage to the bumper (I believe) Obviously Renault A.S.S won't take this route. For them it's a non-repairable part and push for part replacement only. IIRC this add-on with a pair of fog lamps costed around 10k when launched. Not sure about the recent price though.

Originally Posted by thomvee

my son decided he wanted to climb on the bonnet and stepped on the front guard portion of the bumper and it snapped off..
...
The screw holes seem to have broken off as the built quality is poor.

We put the stuff for a different usage than it is designed / meant for and finally if that couldn't sustain our abuse we call it poor quality.

[thomvee]

Originally Posted by Samba

Any good fng who deals with body work will fix this. Mostly they will open the bumper and replace the broken plastic screws/clips and fix metal screws with brackets. They may even tie it with a metal wire internally.
In the worst case they will put the screws externally and fix it.
This should not cost you more than Rs 500.
At service centres they generally do not repair, they just replace it. For such small things, its always better to get it fixed at a good reputed fng.

Thank you. That is most useful to know. I will try it locally.

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

Damage seems to be minimal. Any competent body shop can repair it, either by plastic welding or some other means of jugad. End of the day, it can be repaired at less than 1k since there is no damage to the bumper (I believe) Obviously Renault A.S.S won't take this route. For them it's a non-repairable part and push for part replacement only. IIRC this add-on with a pair of fog lamps costed around 10k when launched. Not sure about the recent price though.


We put the stuff for a different usage than it is designed / meant for and finally if that couldn't sustain our abuse we call it poor quality.

Thanks for confirming. Yes it obviously wasnt meant for a 7 year old to climb on, but at the same time even without accounting for the kid, the quality of the plastic does seem abysmally poor. Not sure ot would have handles a minor bump any better.

[Agarwal_Aayush]

My SA once told me that authorised service stations don't repair, they replace the things even when there is a chance to repair the same.
Like everyone else, I will also suggest you to take it to your nearest competent FNG and get the same repaired at a fraction of the cost given by the A$$

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Agarwal_Aayush

My SA once told me that authorised service stations don't repair, they replace the things even when there is a chance to repair the same.

That's the thumb rule of any A.S.S irrespective of brands for various reasons,
- They make larger money with spares and labor than by selling cars
- Repair is time consuming and labor is charged based on time consumption, end of the day replacement is easier solution
- Certain parts (like bumper, cross beams, etc) are energy absorbing members. Once they absorb energy how minimal the impact may be, they reach end of life. No amount of repair can bring back them to design spec.
- Last reason being, we expect warranty for any job that is done with A.S.S

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by thomvee

...front guard portion of the bumper and it snapped off. Looks like this is attached to the actual bumper with screws and plastic screw holes. The screw holes seem to have broken off as the built quality is poor.
Are there any alternative things I could try?

Well, I've had occasion to use the services of a bumper & cladding repairer (Plastic bumper welding & painting - Vinod & Hassan (Zamrudpur, New Delhi)) in Delhi, and I'm sure they exist in Bangalore too.