Expert: William Forster - 11/16/2008

Question
My body ship has told me he can't repair the hairline cracking on the front bumper of my 1995 Mitsubishi 3000 GT because the fiberglass has "lost its resiliency". He painted the whole car 8 months ago and told me the cracking I noticed four months later was due to "hitting something". I paid to have him repair the cracks. During the repair process, he said every time he fixed the cracks in one area, the bumper would crack somewhere else. Eventually, he stripped the bumper to bare fiberglass and sprayed it with primer. He then had me come to inspect the problem. When he "flexed" the bumper, the primer cracked. He says the only way to fix the car is for me to buy a new bumper cover. Does fiberglass "age" and become unusable like he has said?

Answer
Milton, the car is 14 years old, and lower facias take a pounding from everything from the wind to concrete parking bumpers. I have a guy with a Chevy s10 extreme, same problem. He's incredibly hard on the vehicle, he uses it as his work truck- he's a mason. Paint isn't Kryptonite- it's paint. Even when you add flexibilizer, it only adds flexibility for long enoug to put it in the vehicle. After a month, it's just as brittle as the old paint. If your guy says it needs replaced, then by all means, stop wasting money on this ratty 14 year old part. Bill