so anyway at christmas my sister backs into my cobalt while i was parked behind her. not much damage but the rear bumper has to be repainted. one local body shop wants 4.5 hours to take the bumper off and another wants 6.5. how hard are these bumpers to take off. obviously the lights need to come out, but how many screws and jun are there. its an 07 ss/sc

 

Just look and undo the bolts.

 

do i really have to look though? i really wanted to get it done with my eyes closed

 

The estimating software at my shop (CCC Pathways) calls for 3.0 hours to pull the rear bumper off and re-install it. Every estimating system varies though.

 

wow 3 hours for removal and installation, not even close to the quotes i am getting. but i am willing to bet its not a difference in software because i work in a shop too, and i see techs shoot high all the time. but i guess it answers my question, i will save a chunk of money removing it and bringing it to the shop

 

when i needed my bumper installed, i took it off the car, brought it to the shop, and installed it myself. cost 250 instead of about 700. and if it takes a shop 3 hours to take off and install a bumper, then they're ripping you off or don't know what they're doing because it took me about an hour to take it off, and that's including smoke and beer brakes, and i had never taken off a bumper, or even looked at HOW to take it off before that point

 

i could no doubt take it off, but i like to ask questions about things no matter how simple they may seem. for all i knew i could have run into some special bolt you need a magic tool from the dealer to take off, lol

 

nah, piece of cake. when i did mine i had never done anything like that, and used just a very, very basic tool set too. it's a bunch of i THINK 8mm bolts. it gets a little tedious because there's so many of them, but it's really not hard at all.

 

sorry to bring up an old thread but im gonna be trying to get the rear bumper off my buddies cobalt sedan so we can get it repainted and im just wondering how you get access to the seam along the 1/4 panel...can you do it from inside the car or do you need ot tak the wheel well off and do it from there??