Out of curiosity has anyone used the black bed liner (paint/spray material) instead of the bumper pad to protect the rear bumper? I have read the rubber protector is kind of thin. I scratched my bumper today with my luggage and I'm rather upset about it.

Also, The paint thickness/quality on these cars are horrible (just venting)

 

I've scratched my front bumper and was also thinking of buying some of the bed lining material from pepboys or something. I was planning on coating the bottom part of the front and rear bumper, and maybe the sides, just to even out the look. I didn't think of doing the top part of the rear bumper, but now that you mention it, it sounds like a good idea. I would give it a try, I'll post some pics once I'm done. It will probably be a while, since I'm lazy and I don't know who would help me out with this project.

 

Interesting thought on the front bumpers. The reason I thought of this is we did something similar at work one day on a work vehicle to protect it, and I think that stuff is cheaper and tougher than the bumper pad.

 

I used the bedliner mat from my F-150 to go on the inside. I bought this car for my dogs. If you've ever seen the inside of a Matrix, the cargo area and back of the rear seats are lined with a hard plastic, which I thought was great for sloppy cargo such as drooly, muddy, filthy dogs.
So I cut down the mat from my truck to line the back of my Fit (I keep the rear seats down most of the time). I have largish bits of leftover rubber that I'm considering to use as rear doorsills, and after your post, possibly rear bumper sill. It's not the same spray-on stuff that you're talking about, it's 1/8" ground up tire material, and now that I think of it, won't adhere well to the smooth paint due to rubber nubbins on the understide to help it stay in place.


I'd love to hear how the spray-on liner goes and see pictures of it if you decide to try it.

 

That stuff is non-removable, correct? Why not wait until the bumper is scratched to do it?