Scratch...

[yellowplum]

I went to take the car in the morning and noticed a gaping scratch on the side of the car. I have made some enquires about having it repaired and have received varying quotes. After the farce with the repairer last time (and the ongoing one with Sainsbury's) I have lost faith...how do you find a person who is capable of repairing the car to the same quality you had when it was new.

Anyone have any tips?

[Billc]

Depends where you live yellowplum! If within spitting distance of Northamptonshire I can strongly recommend Intense Paint & Design in Raunds, Northants. Prior to getting my Roc they repaired some very nasty paint damage on my old Jaguar - badly blistered paint on the bonnet from bird ***t and a wide and deep scrape on the rear bumper where I dropped a punctured tire covered in gravel - it came back absolutely perfect, I couldn't believe the results and on metallic red paint too.
http://intensepaintanddesign.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They aint the cheapest but by 'eck they're good.

[yellowplum]

I am not very close but will give them a call to see what they say. I have had some strange quotes around here, one quoted £280+VAT and the other £160+VAT a third quoted £240+vat. It is difficult to ascertain what you are actually paying for, it is just a scratch no dent has been made on the door. How much work is actually involved - the £240 was broken down as £180 labour and £100 paint and materials, thought it was a bit much - but I haven't had anything repaired for ages.

[maisbitt]

Yellowplum: That damage looks malicious, do you think it was done at home or out on your rounds? The cost of the damage depends on how deep that scratch is, but even so, £100 for the materials seems a little steep, i'd reserve judgement on the labour cost because I have no idea how long it will take to do properly (again, dependent on how deep the scratch is to how much work is involved, whether they do anything to cure the paint etc.

Get it done by someone reputable - pearlescent paint repairs are very difficult to blend in (had a delivery dent missed in PDI on a pearl black Polo 10 years ago, and even after 3 attempts at the VW repair centre, site of repair could be seen in certain lighting).

[yellowplum]

Well the police came out took pictures and filed a report, no CCTV in the are so not much could be done. I went out on the Tuesday evening to check oil and screen wash for a drive up to Sheffield the next day, closed up and went in at 2200. Left the next day at 0700 and that was on the passenger door. It seems it's probably from someone who doesn't like the car or to see nice things around.

I did think paint and materials charge was a little high...

[Ryy]

I had a bumper scuff from a kerb that stupidly sticks out when leaving the motorway, of course now I avoid like the plague as it STILL hasn't been reapired

I took it to Listers paint shop in Coventry, I wanted it just to look gorgeous again and it did. I reckon that would cost around £200. Trick is to say you called up earlier and someone stated £200 for the scratch (use the "I don't recall his name, but he had a normal voice, not gravelly" make it sound legit), you've tried elsewhere and balancing travelling, you WANT (use that word) it done by them as the guy seemed to know what he was talking about and that's what you want.

I've had that work a couple of times at different places, didn't try it at Listers cos I was happy to pay their price anyway. You've got nothing to lose, you don't even need the gift of the gab. Who knows, they may even of said £150 / £170, so if you're happy to go for a certain price, always try it

BTW, Hope the fkers that did it seriously get injured somehow that doesn't involve anyone else suffering (falling of a bike and snapping some bones would be nice). Karma does exist.

[yellowplum]

Well I found another one in Chichester, he seemed reasonable - I wasn't quite sure of the one in the area that I went to first for £160, it just didn't gel with me. The one in Chichester seemed better and more knowledgeable (as I asked about something else at the same time). So will take it for him to see on Tuesday and see what he has to say for himself, he quoted £200 over the phone, I will try and keep him to that, don't mind around the £200 mark, it's when it gets ridiculous beyond that.

I took the liberty of contacting a friend of mine at Zurich and asking her what he going labour rate they authorise at is and she said anything between £35 and £38 per hour, that will give an indication of how long they think it would take.

[yellowplum]

I got it back, good job £200+vat for the door and rear quarter panel. Although what was interesting, it was explained that they couldn't remove the door handle because the previous repair (brand new door from the bad repair job - see previous post) has gone and stuck the handle on with Super Glue!!

Me thinks I will be moaning again to the insurance company....oh dear poor them...this repair must be costing them a fortune.