That bonnet ding - pt 2

When I went to fill up with LPG today at the local Calor Centre I went to the car body place near there - ok, it's not a 'paintless dent repair' place as suggested but I thought I'd ask while I was in the vicinity.

He reckoned that they could do a localised repair but that it wouldn't look too good and it probably wouldn't last. He said, "I'm not trying to scam you, by all means go elsewhere and get opinions from others as well" and then went on to say that he recommends proper repair of the dent, complete respray of the entire bonnet, and also take it down to both front wings as well because the bonnet would stand out otherwise.

He reckons £250 + VAT for that. Is that a good price? And perhaps most importantly, is all that work really necessary for an area less than the size of a 20p coin?

TIA

Reply to
Pete Zahut
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"Pete Zahut" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

Does it really make that big a difference to you?

There's a grand total of 1 QX on AutoTrader above £1500. How much difference will that small mark on the bonnet make to the value of the car?

Reply to
Adrian

Probably won't make any difference to the value of the car at all but then value is irrelevant as we intend to keep the car for many years to come. I'm just worried that the paint is broken so it'll go rusty and a small mark now will grow to a big rusty mark or hole later on. Plus, although the car is 8 years old it's in mint condition and I want to keep it that way as long as I can. I just have no idea about car bodywork and what's involved, what it costs, what's necessary and what isn't etc.

Reply to
Pete Zahut

"Pete Zahut" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

So spend five minutes with a bit of wet'n'dry and a touch-up pen.

Reply to
Adrian

I do have some skills but believe me, wet'n'dry, touch-up pen and car bodywork do not fall within my skill-set. Did you miss the bit where I said the car is 8 years old but in very good condition - it certainly would be no more if I went anywhere near it with wet'n'dry. No, I'll have to pay someone to sort this for me but I just wanted to know if what I've been told sounds right.

Reply to
Pete Zahut

By the time it grows to a big rusty mark or hole (if indeed it does), it might be 14 or more years old.

If you want to keep it mint, 250UKP doesn't sound unreasonable. It wouldn't be what I would do however; suppose the next week it gets a trolley ding, the week after a bumper scrape; you get my drift? You could end up paying a lot of lumps of 250UKP!

Sadly, the age in which we live means it's virtually impossible to keep a car mint, unless you are prepared to spend lots of money.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

Yeah, suppose you're right - and I could certainly do without spending that amount on the car at the moment :-)

Reply to
Pete Zahut

y

In that case get the small repair done, and when it starts to irritate y= ou =

get the whole lot done along with any other stone chips/dings etc. it's = =

collected in the meantime.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

I think that's what I'll do :-)

Reply to
Pete Zahut

Well I would be buying some touch up paint and spotting it with a small brush so as to seal the paint cracks.

Don't try and make it any bigger by rubbing the spot etc.

If you have to buy a pressure pack can of touch up just spray some paint into the lid and let it thicken before you apply it with a brush.

Then again you could just keep the polish/wax up the car and that should offer protection against corrosion.

I definitely would not be having the bonnet resprayed for that bit.

Reply to
Rob

Thus spake Pete Zahut ( snipped-for-privacy@valid.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

Buy a smiley-face sticker or something to cover and disguise the dent :-)

Reply to
A.Clews

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