Pro tip: don't buy the $89 plastic bumper repair kit from the parts store, I learned the hard way
So about 7 months ago I picked up this plastic welding kit at a parts store in Fresno for $89 because a guy on YouTube made it look so easy. I figured I would save money doing a cracked bumper on my niece's Civic myself instead of paying a body guy $250. The kit came with these little metal staples and a soldering iron style tool, and I spent a whole Saturday melting staples into the back of the bumper. Two days later the crack opened right back up when she backed into a trash can at her apartment. I called my buddy who runs a body shop and he laughed and said those kits work okay on some stuff but a bumper needs proper prep and the crack keeps spreading if you don't stop drill it first. Ended up paying him $220 anyway plus my wasted $89, so I basically set $309 on fire. Anyone here have luck with those plastic welding kits or is it just a gimmick for bumpers?
Wait, $309 total? That hurts to read. But the part that gets me is the trash can, she backed into a trash can two days after you spent a whole Saturday on it. That is just brutal timing. Your buddy is right about the stop drilling thing too, I watched a guy skip that step on a bumper crack and it ran like a zipper across the whole corner within a week. Those staple kits seem to hold fine on atv fenders and dirt bike plastics where nothing flexes much, but a bumper moves every time you shut the trunk or bump a curb. Sorry man, that is an expensive lesson.