Well, tonight when my uncle was coming out of his garage, he rear ended my car... There doesn't seem to be a *whole* lot of damage, but it is scratched up a bit and there looks to be a crease (I'll be able to see for sure in the day light in the morning) in the actual bumper... Something like that, it would need to have the whole bumper replaced, or would that be reparable? I work for an auto group (with a Ford Dealership and a body shop) so I get discounts on everything, so I was kinda hoping I could take this opportunity to upgrade the rear bumper to the Shelby Cobra Bumper... Anyone know off hand what the price differences are on all the rear bumper choices? I am hoping to make the best out of a bad situation... The funny thing is that I have been wanting to upgrade my bumper for a while... Now, hopefully I'll be able to.

 

You can have it repaired, but if you really want it replaced you can always just run into your uncle's car a little harder...

 

replace with the GT/CS or GT500 bumper and run dual exhuast, the GT500 has the little fins and so does the GT/CS but the plastic runs all along the edge for the GT500 where the GT/CS just arches around the tips

 

I have been wanting the GT500 one (it flows better with the V6 rocker panels), but either that one or the CS one would work...

I will be heading over to the body shop in a bit... I checked out the car more this morning and it isn't too badly scratched, but there is a definite crease in the bumper... You can kind of see it come to a point at certain angles. And I didn't see any damage to the lights or back frame, so it looks to be isolated to just the bumper, thank God...

 

Check with 05StangKC, he's got good prices on the GT/CS and GT500 parts. Like stated above (sort of) they're the same bumper, but the GT/CS comes with just the area around the exhaust and diffusers painted black and masked off, where the GT500 has the whole lower section painted black. That should be easy enough for the body shop to do either way. The GT/CS is less than $200 for the bumper.

 

Iceknyght: GT/CS rear bumper doesn't go with the V6 rocker panel as good as the GT500 one does.

Just as RedDragon777 mentioned, the lower sides of the GT/CS are paint-to-match.. different finish than that on the diffusers (fins) or the v6 rocker panels
whereas on the GT500 rear bumper, the satin black finish is seamless, and would flow straight from one side to the other.

 

I just got back from the body shop a bit ago and the CS bumper is only like $15 more than the V6 bumper, but the GT500 bumper was over $400! I think I can live with the CS bumper even though it doesn't look as good... I really wanted the GT500 one, cause I do like the way it wraps around with the V6 rocker panels, but I don't think I'd get my uncle to spring a couple hundred more and I sure don't have it... Especially if I am going to need to do the duals!

They said the bumper *is* repairable, but that they would have to use filler to fill in the creases (they're small, but noticeable) and the bumper wouldn't line up the way it should (it bows in on the driver's side), so I am going to press for the replacement.

 

The actual pieces (GT500 and GT/CS) are the same, it's just that they charge more for the name GT500 (of course) and they come with different area's pre-painted black. If you like the look, just order the GT/CS and have the body shop paint the whole bottom textured section black when they're painting it.

 

I acually have a spare mineral grey GT rear bumper. It was involved a very minor rear-ending. There is pretty much no damage, just a quater sized dent. The guy that hit said he would pay out of pocket to fix it.

 

I am not sure if the 'painted' black would match the rocker panels very well, so in that case, I think having them paint it normal would probably look okay... Worst case scenario, I could always get some GT rocker panels or paint mine... We'll see what happens...

And thanks 69, but I am looking more for the CS bumper... I like the smooth bottom rather than the raised edge the GT has...

And I didn't see my uncle tonight, but hopefully tomorrow... I was thinking maybe it would be cheaper also to just buy the bumper and have the body shop paint it and install myself, but I don't have any way to haul the bumper or dispose of my old one... I doubt my apartment complex would like me very much if I stuck it in the dumpster...