# Door Repair Advice



## minotaur uk (Dec 13, 2018)

Hi,

Back in November I took collection of my new shiny Skoda Kodiaq 

After 4 weeks someone decided to reverse into the passenger door...oh joy! 

The driver admitted responsibility and settled out of the insurance companies. So finally the car went into the Skoda dealership to have a new door fitted yesterday, it should be ready thursday this week.

I got a little bit concerned when they said they would be blending half of the panels either side of the door. When I get the car back what faults (if any) should I be looking for ? I have heard people mention holograms, overspray etc....but wondered what is the best way to spot them ?

Thanks in ancticipation.


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## Tricky Red (Mar 3, 2007)

Would be normal to do a blend to stop the eye from noticing any potential colour difference along a defined edge. 

Look for the usual. Runs, fisheyes, poor masking, overspray. 

Holograms you will probably get, you will just need to refine the finish.


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## Harry_p (Mar 18, 2015)

You really need to see it side on in a nice bright and even light to see if you can see any sort of shadow or colour change along the blended panels.

It's very hard to mix and paint and exact colour match. Obviously the door will need painting but to stop you seeing a panel a slightly different shade they will feather out the colour along the panels next to it so any very slight difference in shade is unnoticable.

They will usually fade the colour out and then lacquer the entire panel.

More extensive damage might need a whole side painted which might then need blending along the wing top or bonnet and roof.

I wouldn't worry too much about holograms, they're easy enough to correct later when the paint of fully cured. You need to be looking for deeper paint defects as mentioned above.

I would hope that being done at a main dealer they would remove and replace trims rather than try and mask them up. Have a close look at the trims and rubbers along the tops of the doors, if possible lift the edges and make sure there's not a hard paint line. Rubbers and trim shrink and move over time, you don't want to start seeing the edge of a masking line appear and provide a weak point for the lacquer to start failing later on.


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## minotaur uk (Dec 13, 2018)

thanks for the advice! They are replacing the passenger door, rather than repairing it. So I would assume that the trims would be removed. I have looked up fisheyes as I had no clue what they were 

I'll let you know how I get on.


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

Dont inspect the finished article in the dark or if the car is wet - tell them you want it dry / inside.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

If you have a paint inspection light at all, take it with you.

Also look for orange peel - some peel is OK as the factory paint will have some anyway, but just make sure the orange peel matches that of the other panels, as it may look a bit odd if that one door has more orange peel than the rest.

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


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## SadlyDistracted (Jan 18, 2013)

A really good paint should should be able to match paint, me I'd tell then to only paint the the door off the car and not alter (vandelise:doublesho) the rest of the car by 'blending'- it will show up on subsequent inspection / use of paint thickness guage and immediately indicate a 'repaired' or questionable car.

It' probably be better to get the shop to paint the door then allow you to view the door next to the car to check match etc. and it it right before refitting & trimming. 
This it what I've done twice with cars damaged by others. It takes time, communication and assertiveness with a bodyshop to understand the quality required and 'comply'. I've had successfull outcomes with both VW and BMW owned bodyshops, after a few iterations, quite a task satisfying a 'demanding' customer who won't accept run of the mill 'quality', particularly with a new pride and joy car! It can be a positive experience for both shop quality and you at the end, when done I normall ensure the painters and contact manager receive a crate of beer or some such ;-).

PS when checkong colour match I use a couple of different light coulours by using a bright led torch and photo filters as paint can look quite different depending on the light source and angle!

Good luck!


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## minotaur uk (Dec 13, 2018)

I got the car back and its looks better than I expected. I told them about the time it takes for oil and solvent to free itself from the panels, so I won't get a true representation....which they already knew. I have done a quick inspection with my light and apart from a couple of wipe swirls....its pretty good.


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