scratch and dent repair advice needed :(

[tamzzy]

it appears some **** bay-parked straight onto my door and left a massive ~12-15 inch scratch.
the scratch is down to the base layer and there's a visible dent on the panel itself.
there's a few other scratches, but i think those look superficial enough to be polished off...


the **** didn't have the courtesy to leave a note, so i guess i'll be footing the repair bill, unfortunately...

just wanting some advice really...would a dent and scratch repair done by a third party be enough?
bmw are quoting £500 for the paintwork :/

 

[tamzzy]

Any CCTV about?

no, unfortunately

 

[tamzzy]

Any smart repair would be able to sort that.

would the smart repair fix the dent as well?

sorry if it's a silly question...never had to deal with this crap before :x

 

[tamzzy]

No, I'm afraid that looks like a write off.

totes lol. wanna take it off my hands?

@tamzzy - man, that's your 3800x/3900X money :/

ikr ffs

who were scared to get their own car scratched

definitely this. i still can't believe someone can just bay-park into another car's door...like wtf...how bad can you get...

I researched a guy who came to the house with everything - even a heating rail and a thingy that pulled out dents (i know all the technical terms). He: pulled, filled, sanded, painted, heated, taped and covered whole car- spent most of the day - and repairs looked like new at the fraction of the dealer price.

how much did it cost?

Were you planning on dealing with it using the bog roll in your hand?

LOL! that was to dry the water. i sponged down the side to try and remove most of the bumper marks...

 

[tamzzy]

Sorry, bud, not sure. I may be able to find invoice but was a few years ago.

ah crap. this is gonna get expensive.
went to a private body shop. got quoted £1500.
went to bmw...got quoted £850...

and I'm pretty sure @tamzzy's noddle would't be able to compute if he suffered the same.

totally lol

i'm in two minds about getting a smart repair...it is quite a substantial amount the side (coupe door)
and i don't know how it'll look like with a smart repair

 

[tamzzy]

How can the damage shown be £1500, that smacks of 'don't want to do it'..

no bloody idea.
i asked the guy, he said he'd have to paint match and then remove the side panels etc...can't be masked etc etc... have to match to the front and rear quarter panels, and these will have to be removed and sprayed too...
tbh, i got a bit bored once he said £1500 and turned off at that point lol

chipsaway quoting £300...but as mentioned earlier, i don't know what the quality will be like with a smart repair.
basically whether i should stump up £850 and get BMW to do it, or chance it with chipsaway for £300...but if it sucks, then having to pay another £850 for bimmer to do it... :/

 

[tamzzy]

Only way I'd consider £1500 is if they had some kind of decent guarantee included in the price as to the quality of the final product - some of these cheaper ones good luck if the end result isn't great :s one of the big problems with these jobs is individual companies can be very good and reasonable priced but unless you know someone who knows someone it is a bit of a gamble.

Yeah, that's the trouble I'm having. I don't know of anyone...so the el-cheapo ones like chipsaway are literally a gamble. But the OEM one is (probably) overpriced...

 

[tamzzy]

Might be worth asking main dealers slightly further away if you have them, my local BMW dealer is trying to pay for a swanky multi story glass showroom and over charges on most things compared to other dealers within 20 miles

All of the nearby dealers are sytner so they've probably seen I got a quote for the repair and give me the same quote...

 

[tamzzy]

Considered claiming on insurance? I know it'll probably affect premiums but it would get the job done properly I guess.

I did, but I've got a £500 excess...so it's not really worth it as my premium will probably go up by more than £350 next year, even though my NCB is protected

 

[tamzzy]

What age is the car?

The only thing that worries me about the mobile repair services, is that you really can't be spraying a panel on the side of the road and expect to be getting great quality out of it. These things have to be done in a workshop.

5 years. (Was) an immaculate 428i
But yes, my thoughts exactly with respect to road side repairs...

 

[tamzzy]

I've had similar scratches and dents repaired by my local Chipsaway franchise for £250ish. Quality was good.

yeah, i've got a quote from my local chipsaway...but the thing with franchises is that quality is very variable...

Also, just checking around my area, but lots of body shops advertise 'Smart Repairs' as well, so basically the best of both worlds, get it repaired at a properly equipped body shop, but only selectively repaired to save money. Surely that's quite universal around the country?

Go round and get a few more local quotes. I'd be surprised if you can't find somewhere that can do a good job on that for under £500

yeah, been round a couple body shops (not including bimmer) and all suggested a full respray to the door...wonder if i'm being taken for a ride lol

Looks like new: /snip

lol

 

[tamzzy]

New door would be cheaper ?

lol?