Bodywork

It depends where the damage is, and how fussy you are. If there's a swage line or end of a panel you can lose the join in, then you might manage with a rattle can, but most of the time it will look crap- the middle of a panel is a definite no if you're at all fussy as you're unlikely to match it perfectly. Remember you'll need lacquer too.

I've had very good results on small bits like mirror casings: given enough time and effort you can get them looking as good as the original.

Problem is, if the spots are all over, then you could end up painting half the car to get it right.

Tiny spots are best done with a touch up brush or the end of a cocktail stick, polishing in afterwards, but anything bigger than tiny starts to look a mess.

Mostly they are low down on the sides - but still several inches into the panels.

That's what I was afraid of.. like ending up with a 6" high table by cutting the legs down to make them the same length.

Presumably a bodyshop wouldn't be *too* extreme as the same paint mix(?) would do for all the spots at once. Any idea what it would be likely to cost?

Is it worth me preparing it then just getting them to do the paint, or is that just a fast road to crap wavy panels and ending up paying them to do it all over again?

To fill and paint a small dent (air gun pellet I think :-/) on our Lupo is going to cost £80ish. The same outfit charge 150 to prep and paint a bumper, which seems reasonablish to me based on experience. The dent is a small area, that they have to blend into the paint- it's on the area just above the door, where it joins the roof.

It's hard to say how much your repair will cost- it all depends, but yes, they should only need one lot of paint.

They'll probably want to prep thenselves. Best thing is to ask.

There is a franshise company called Chips Away, I don't yet yet know their prices but I will be checking later with my local one as like you I have a couple of rusty stone chips on my car. I found my local one from their web site.

I'm not sure that they deal with rust spots, but they are worth speaking to about other minor repairs.

I've just had a quote from a dentman type paint bloke who's quoted me £70 to sort a light scratch on the tailgate, stone chips on the bit between the headlamp and bumper and a light scuff on the corner of the front bumper. None of it is heavy, but he is going to have to paint to sort 'em.

Mine's dark blue and will be a bugger to match, but he's bloody brilliant at matching paint.

I'll ask around then - that's an order of magnitude less than I was expecting it to be... although you probably get a trade price in the expectation of more work?

Well, he is our regular dude, but I shouldn't think it'd be more than £120ish retail.