Before and After and After

[n8bachelor]

Ok here's the deal. I got into a fender bender about a year ago (about 2 months after purchase) which scratched up the front driver's side bumper and tore off the chrome. Finally got tired of looking at it that way so I had it repainted and got new chrome. Not 2 weeks later some chick pulls out in front of me and I hit her right between the doors. Her fault but still a PITA. So here's some pictures to share with the group. I am glad to have a new bumper (no more bug butts), head light, and fog light but just didnt have the extra money to do any upgrades at the time of repair. Eventually looking for HID's, chrome corner bulbs, eyebrows, and tinted tails in the rear.
I got it all washed up and posted some new pictures in my photo garage if anyone is interested in taking a closer look.

n8

first accident

second accident

second again

new nose

front side

 

[beaups]

time for an lse bumper!

 

[jumpman6235]

why would he buy an LSE bumper when he just had his car fixed

 

[JES_LS]

Okay, looks good.
Don't worry about the upgrades right now, drive the car and enjoy it. There will be time enough to upgrade later.

 

[n8bachelor]

time for an lse bumper!

I debated upgrading to an 06 bumper when I was in the repair process but there is no chrome on the 06 (or the 05 LSE) and it would not have matched the chrome on the rear bumper. I do really like the style but the extra cost to upgrade the rear bumper was just too much for me to swallow at the time.

Okay, looks good.
Don't worry about the upgrades right now, drive the car and enjoy it. There will be time enough to upgrade later.

I have enjoyed this car since the day I got it! I get a lot of compliments on it too. I would have liked more power (ie v8) but this one suits me well enough with insurance and gas prices the way they are.

n8

 

[lexmarkz00]

The LSE bumper does have a little strip of chrome that outlines the bumper's grille.

Anyway, I had a little "incident" of my own (my fault, although I wasn't about to stick around) almost a week ago and wound up with about $500 worth of bumper damage. It looked kinda like your first accident, but I didn't bother to take any pictures of it, as I took it to get repaired first thing the following morning. Car was fixed by Thursday and now it looks even better w/o the license plate bracket (figured I'd have it removed and the holes filled in since I was already paying for paint/labor/etc.). Just thought I'd share my story.

 

[n8bachelor]

The LSE bumper does have a little strip of chrome that outlines the bumper's grille.

Anyway, I had a little "incident" of my own (my fault, although I wasn't about to stick around) almost a week ago and wound up with about $500 worth of bumper damage. It looked kinda like your first accident, but I didn't bother to take any pictures of it, as I took it to get repaired first thing the following morning. Car was fixed by Thursday and now it looks even better w/o the license plate bracket (figured I'd have it removed and the holes filled in since I was already paying for paint/labor/etc.). Just thought I'd share my story.

True there is that little bit of chrome down on the bottom grill... but it just wouldnt look right with the chrome strips on the rear. I am pretty anal about things being semetric (comes with being an engineer).

Yeah that is about what I was quoted for the first accident.... the second one was $1700. Good thing I didnt have to pay for it. The LS looks 10x better without that license plate on the front! I'm sure glad we dont have one here in AR.

n8

 

[lexmarkz00]

Couldn't someone just make the same holes and place the chrome strips on the LSE bumpers, since they seem to have the same groove where the strips WOULD be?