A typical repair car bumper cost at an independent body shop runs from about $345 for a scuffed cover to $785 for a crack and $1,125 for a new painted cover, before any sensors. Parking sensors, radar or a camera in the plastic can add $130 to $1,600 more, and that line often moves the total further than the damage itself. The calculator below prices both routes, fixing the existing bumper or fitting a replacement bumper, so you can see which one a shop should write.
Pick the damage, front or rear bumper, what’s mounted in it, the paint work, your shop and your state to see fix and replacement prices side by side, split into body hours, paint hours, materials and supplies.
Bumper Repair Cost Calculator
Pick the damage, front or rear, any sensors or cameras in the cover, the paint work and where you will take it. You get a price to fix the cover and a price to replace it, each split into body hours, paint hours, paint materials and sensor work.
Your Estimate
Estimates only, not a quote. Based on 2026 US posted body shop rates scaled to your state, a 2024 survey of paint and materials charges, published estimating times for refinish and sensor aiming, and AAA's 2023 figures for broken sensors. Your shop's figures will differ by make, model, color and parts availability. Sales tax is not included.
Cover, Absorber, Reinforcement Bar: Which Layer Got Hit?
What drivers call a car’s bumper is three parts, and bumper material differs by layer, so each one is priced differently. The bumper cover is the painted plastic skin. Behind it sits an energy absorber of foam or plastic honeycomb, then the reinforcement bar, a steel or aluminum beam bolted to the frame rails.
- Cover: scuffs, dents, cracks and broken tabs are routine plastic work.
- Absorber: crushed foam doesn’t spring back, so it gets swapped. The part is cheap; the labor is pulling the cover.
- Reinforcement bar: a structural part. Most automaker procedures call for replacing a bent bar, not straightening it, and a kink is the first clue to hidden damage in the rails.
To check whether the bumper absorber survived, push on the cover near the impact. If it flexes far more than the other side, the absorber or its clips have let go.
Typical Repair Car Bumper Cost by Damage Type
How much does bumper repair cost by type of damage? Calculator figures for a midsize sedan, independent shop, US average rates, the cover painted but not blended, no sensors.
| Damage | What the shop does | Body hours | Typical | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scuff or minor scratch | Sand, fill and spot paint on the car | 0.5 to 1.5 | $345 | $250 to $435 |
| Pushed-in dent | Remove, reshape with heat, refinish | 2.1 to 3.1 | $740 | $595 to $885 |
| Crack or split | Remove, plastic weld, refinish | 2.6 to 3.6 | $785 | $640 to $925 |
| Loose or pulled off | New brackets, tab repair, touch-up | 1.6 to 2.6 | $520 | $390 to $650 |
| Torn or shattered | Full replacement with a new cover | 1.1 to 3.8 | $1,125 | $705 to $1,545 |
A minor bumper scratch that only reaches the clear coat can often be polished out and cost less, since the table assumes paint damage deep enough to refinish; the car scratch repair cost calculator prices those lighter cases. A back cover prices the same as a front one here, though front bumper assemblies carry more parts to transfer (grille, fog lamps, radar), so a front quote may cost more.
Why do repair estimates differ so widely? Estimating databases publish replace and refinish times, but fixing times are the estimator’s judgment. Two shops judging the extent of the damage on the same crack can write 1.5 hours or 3.0, about $130 apart in body labor. Replacement costs are typically higher but vary less, because those times come from the guide.
Sensors, Radar and Cameras Change the Math
On newer cars, ultrasonic parking sensors, front and corner radars and sometimes a camera are integrated into the bumper. Removing the bumper cover, or fitting a new one, means those sensors are moved over and aimed. A 2024 CCC ONE estimate on a Ford Expedition lists 0.8 hour to aim the parking sensors plus 0.4 hour for the sensor work, and 1.0 hour to aim the radar. At the national $132 mechanical rate that’s roughly $160 per system.
A broken sensor is different. In its December 2023 study of three 2023 models, AAA priced ADAS repairs separately from the body work:
- Front or rear ultrasonic parking sensors: $300 to $1,000
- Front radar for emergency braking and adaptive cruise: $500 to $1,300
- Around-view cameras in the front, mirror or rear: $740 to $1,600
Radar reads through the plastic, and many automakers limit filler and paint thickness over the radar zone, so a heavily reworked cover in front of a radar often gets replaced instead. Check the cover for round sensor buttons, a flat radar panel behind the badge or a small lens. An estimate that skips calibration isn’t cheaper; it’s unfinished, and the warning systems may not work afterward.
Repair or Replace a Bumper Cover?
Plastic repair is often the cheaper route on a plastic bumper: cracks get welded from behind, dents heated back out, broken tabs rebuilt. The math on whether to repair compares the cost of repairing the old cover with a new one plus fitting. Replacement becomes the better call when:
- The bumper is cracked through, torn, shattered or missing pieces, so there’s nothing solid to weld.
- Several broken mounting tabs or a cracked sensor bracket molded into the plastic usually require replacement.
- The absorber or reinforcement bar behind it is crushed, which points to structural damage found only after removal.
OEM, Aftermarket or Used Cover
An unpainted aftermarket bumper cover for a midsize car runs about $200 to $600, and luxury or European covers cost roughly 60 percent more. OEM covers from the automaker cost more but match the original mounting points and sensor holes; for aftermarket, ask for CAPA certification (the Certified Automotive Parts Association tests fit). A used cover rarely arrives in your color, so replacing the bumper cover still means painting it.
Severe damage beyond the entire bumper assembly, into the frame rails, belongs on the auto body repair cost calculator, which prices panel by panel.
The Four Lines on Every Bumper Estimate
Every auto body shop estimate gives the same cost breakdown in four lines:
- Body labor: removing, fixing or swapping the cover. Posted collision repair rates for body work averaged $85.48 an hour in August 2026, per the NABR index reported by Autobody News, about half the $161.75 mechanical rate in the same index.
- Paint labor: the refinish rate was $84.56, so the calculator bills paint and body hours at $85. A full cover takes 3.2 to 4.2 paint hours with clear coat, based on two published estimates.
- Paint and materials: primer, basecoat, clear and flex additive, billed per paint hour. The 2024 Who Pays for What survey by Collision Advice and CRASH Network put the average at $48, with most shops between $38 and $55.
- Mechanical labor: sensor aiming and scans, at the shop’s mechanical rate.
That’s why the “$50 to $150 an hour” labor rates quoted elsewhere don’t tell you a lot. A paint hour really costs about $133 once materials ride on top of the $85 labor cost. The auto repair labor rates guide shows how the posted rate in your state compares, and the car paint repair cost calculator prices color work on its own.
How the Lines Add Up on a Cracked Front Cover
Here is the car repair cost when a midsize sedan noses into a post and cracks a front cover with parking sensors. Plain paint, independent shop: body labor $264, paint labor $315, materials $178, sensor aiming $158 and $35 in supplies, or $950 typical ($805 to $1,085). A new cover comes to $1,295, so fixing wins. Change one input, a broken front radar, and the estimate jumps to $1,250 typical ($800 to $1,700), with $900 of it for the radar alone.
Blending Paint Into the Fenders or Quarter Panels
Blending means spraying a fade of new color onto the panels beside the refinished area so the eye can’t find the edge. Metallic, pearl and three-stage colors often need it; solid white or black usually don’t. Blend time is usually figured at half the full refinish time of each adjacent panel, and in the January 2025 Who Pays for What survey, 41 percent of shops rarely got more than that half.
For a bumper that means the two fenders up front or the two quarter panels at the back: 2.6 paint hours, about $350 on the bill. A small scuff can usually be blended inside the cover itself. Dings in metal panels are a different job, priced in the car dent repair cost calculator.
When the Cost to Fix Is Too Big for the Car
A $785 crack on a car worth $8,500 is an easy yes. A new cover with a broken radar and a blend on an older car worth $3,000 is not, because that bill can pass $2,000. Once the estimate passes half the vehicle value, open the repair versus replace car calculator. If the total sits near your deductible, see paying for body work without insurance. A cosmetic scuff can wait. A damaged bumper dragging on the road or a dead sensor can’t.
Start by checking the cover for sensors and a camera, then run the calculator with the damage you can see. Get two written estimates (the steps for getting a car repair estimate help), one from a reputable auto body shop, with body hours, paint hours, materials and calibration on separate lines. If a quote lands far above this repair car bumper cost figure, ask which line differs.
Front Bumper Replacement and Other Questions
How much does it cost to replace a front bumper?
The front bumper replacement cost in this model is about $1,125 typical for a midsize car with no sensors, $705 to $1,545 across the range. Moving parking sensors or a radar adds about $160 each for aiming; a dealer adds about 25 percent to parts and labor.
Will insurance pay for a new bumper?
Collision coverage will cover the repair after your deductible when the damage resulted from a covered crash you caused, and the other driver’s liability coverage pays when they hit you. The adjuster decides repair or replacement from the estimate, so ask for repair procedures and calibration to be written in.
Can I choose paintless dent repair for bumper damage?
Rarely. Paintless dent repair is built for metal panels with intact paint. Plastic covers are usually reshaped with heat from behind, and any paint that cracked still needs refinishing.
How long does bumper repair take?
The cracked cover above bills about 7 hours of body and paint labor plus 1.2 hours of sensor aiming. With drying time, plan on the car staying at least one night.
Estimates only, not a quote. Figures reflect 2026 US body shop rates, a 2024 paint materials survey and AAA’s 2023 sensor costs, and your shop will differ by make, color and parts supply. Last reviewed: October 2026.