Morning, afternooon all :(

Call a mobile paint repair van. like chips away or the local equivalent

Matt ("Matt" ) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

If the car's that new, get it done properly.

I'd be looking to either a mobile paint man as MrC suggested, or a bodyshop. On a 12 month old motor it's worth the few quid I'd have thought.

Thanks for your thoughts, and I do agree. However, as I plan on keeping the car quite some time, and the fact that you can't see the damage when the door is closed, would it be more beneficial (especially to my pocket) to get a Halfords 'matched paint' and a little coat of lacquer - I would go the MrC way if it was obvious on the bonnet for example, but you cant see it when doors are closed and just think it may be a waste of money - but then I really don't want to be seeing rust in 12 months time. Any thoughts?

It will rust. Very quickly.

Most new cars have some form of "rust warranty". Although this is of limited value, if you wanted to keep it active you may find that any repairs must be to the manufacturer's standard. This would normally mean a dealer repair.

Chris

HELL NO. It'll look like a dog.

A bodyshop shouldn't charge more than =A3100 at the most for that type of= =20 job.

--=20 Conor

As a Brit I'd like to thank the Americans for their help in the war=20 against terror because if they'd not funded the IRA for 30 years, we=20 wouldn't know how to deal with terrorists.

Only if it's some kind of low quality car, like, say, a Ford.... something of significantly better quality, for example, an Alfa or VW won't rust.....

DAMHIK,IJD,OK.....

It's a galvanized Fiat

Obviously the best way is to have ir repaired professionally, but IME there is no reason why a DIY repair should not protect the damaged edge from rust over the next few months if not years. My wife scraped the edge of a front wing on my 5 series BM on a wall. Scratched it down to bare metal. I carefully painted it with a Halfords touch up aerosol. Sprayed it into the lid, then used a small artists brush to fill in the scratches. I didn't bother with any lacquer. It's not that noticeable unless one looks at the car carefully. That was over 6 months ago. It's still doesn't show any sign of rusting, but if any does start to show, I'll just do it again. That way It would take years for any rust to become a serious problem. Mike.

It won't rust then - park it in the sea and it still won't rust. Fiat seem to have got rust proofing pretty much down these days.

Which won't help much with a five inch scratch down to bare metal...

Chris

:-)

Chris

NO NO NO A WORLD OF NO! Similar happened to my car when it was only 3 months old, a stone scrape on the bonnet, I used Halfords matched paint and it ended up looking horrible. I managed to buff most of it of but now, 3 years later you can still see it.

I'd take it to the dealer and get it done properly, it'll cost you a few quid but it will be worth it.

If it's down to the *steel* then it bound to rust no matter what badge the car has on it! (If it's aluminum, stainless or fibre-glass then you're ok) :-) As a temporary measure, just to stop the air getting to it and causing it to rust, just rub a generous coat of Vaseline over it for now. It'll give you time to arrange to have it done properly. hth

I've had a shiny bare metal patch about the size of a postage stamp in my inner rear wheel arch for seven years. It was still shiny last week when the tyre was changed. I would say that the Italians do know how to make very rust resistant metal these days.