Front bumper damage: repaint or replace?

A couple weeks ago I'm ashamed to admit I managed to ding the front right corner of my bumper attempting to secure a deceptively narrow parking space. Go me.

I got two quotes from body shops for buffing and painting: one from Maaco for around $250 and one from an independent shop with great reviews for around $500. Not horrible, but now I'm wondering if it may be cheaper, or at least equally expensive, to simply buy a new bumper cover. It seems like I could get one shipped from Parts Geek for under $200 and install it myself, but I'm not sure what to expect to pay to get it painted to match the OEM gray (a good chunk of the ~$500 quote was assembly/disassembly labor).

Thoughts? Is it worth getting a quote through a local dealer? Or should I just suck it up and have the body shop take care of it? Any advice is much appreciated.

(This is a 2011 V6 Double Cab TRD Sport.)

 

Bump with a photo of the damage

 

So remove the bumper yourself and haul it in the truck bed to the body shop:

http://www.customtacos.com/tech/files/05FSM/data/ileaf/06toyrm/06toypdf/06rmsrc/rm2006ta/06300.pdf

If you've never done it before, budget about half a day.

 

Yep, take your front bumper off yourself & bring it in for paint and save the extra expense of a new bumper.

 

Alternatively you can take it to a shop that does Line-X color-matched bedliner spray. This is usually done right on the truck with careful masking.

 

put a steel plate bumper on and u wont have to worry bout little stuff like that anymore

 

I just went out and got 5 or 6 quotes for R&R and paint for the front bumper cover. Mine has to be replaced because it has a 6" gash in it. Went to dealers and independant shops..... $800. - $1000.

 

Steel.

 

It takes time to undo all the little plastic bits on the bumper. Typical shop rate is $100/hr, hence the cost.

@stretch85: Ironically, if you actually had Jandrew's hybrid-style bumper, it would have probably cleared the parking space with no contact.

 

So did you hit another car? Line-Xing the front bumper is a good idea, but frankly a good buffing is all you need. Just wait it out for a little bit. It doesn't seem that noticeable.

 

Removing the lower bumper cover takes about...2 minutes? I'd think the shop was gouging.

 

^If you've done it once on this truck, it's quick. A mechanic working on the Tacoma bumper for the first time, following the FSM, will probably take an hour.

 

I could see that.