# Why me!



## A1luke (Jan 4, 2015)

Rushed reversing into my drive and caught my gate.. entirely my fault !

Whats the best way to get this sorted, safely and not too expensive!


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## Scoobycarl (Aug 13, 2011)

You Can flat it a touch with 2000 grit then polish it to see if it helps,then touch up the scratch as best as poss or
Give a smart repair guy a call or local body shop who could easy repair it for about £80 to £120


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## staffordian (May 2, 2012)

Commiserations, it's a bummer, isn't it?

I had similar damage and after a bit of research went for a smart repair. I know there are good and bad, but the chap who did mine was ace, absolutely no sign of where the damage was.

Thread here (see second picture, though it doesn't look half as bad as it did when I caught it, cos I'd bodged a bit of touch up paint on it temporarily to make it slightly less obvious)

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=336621


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## A1luke (Jan 4, 2015)

When I hit it, it knocked me sick to my stomach.. couldnt even get out to look at it. I know im being over dramatic (the girlfriend said so too) but my car has to be immaculate all the time... stupid me! Would "chips away" be £80-£120 or is there any other body repair companies that are cheaper than them?


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## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

A1luke said:


> When I hit it, it knocked me sick to my stomach.. couldnt even get out to look at it. I know im being over dramatic (the girlfriend said so too) but my car has to be immaculate all the time... stupid me! Would "chips away" be £80-£120 or is there any other body repair companies that are cheaper than them?


A body shop will cost more than a smart repair, unless you go to a cowboy, is that what you want, is price over quality more important to you?


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## staffordian (May 2, 2012)

A1luke said:


> When I hit it, it knocked me sick to my stomach.. couldnt even get out to look at it. I know im being over dramatic (the girlfriend said so too) but my car has to be immaculate all the time... stupid me! Would "chips away" be £80-£120 or is there any other body repair companies that are cheaper than them?


I'd do a bit of online research before deciding who to use. See what members of other forums recommend.

I'm in North Staffs and would deffo recommend the chap who I used.

I'd say £100 to £150 would cover it, any less and you might be using someone who turns up on a horse wearing a Stetson :lol:


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## asasprey (Feb 26, 2008)

Personally I'd charge £100 to repair that. Smart repair. Being red it can be difficult to match so you may see a slight colour difference. Chips away by me would charge around £180 and do a f**king sh*t job as well


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

Try a local bodyshop you would be surprised how they may not charge as much as you expect.


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## A1luke (Jan 4, 2015)

Got a chips away price and he said it would be roughly £100 which I thought was pretty reasonable. Anyone had a bad experience with this company?


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## staffordian (May 2, 2012)

A1luke said:


> Got a chips away price and he said it would be roughly £100 which I thought was pretty reasonable. Anyone had a bad experience with this company?


I think it's a franchise arrangement, so you're very much at the mercy of whoever has the franchise in your area. So you'd really need to be specific as to the area to get meaningful feedback for the chap you've asked for a quote.


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

£100-150????

May aswell get the bumper sprayed for the same price

Oh and that's what I've been quoted from 3 of the best body shops in the area


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## asasprey (Feb 26, 2008)

And £100 for chips away sounds far too cheap. Considering the company will get a cut of that, it's likely to be a poor job and he will probably make £40/£50 out of it. Chips away by me do shocking work and a few people from around the country have said chips away are terrible. 
Having said that, I know a bloke who works for them and his work is faultless, but he would charge much more than £100. 
Buy cheap buy twice. 
If I charge £100 to do that, I'm probably making £85/£90 out of it


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

asasprey said:


> If I charge £100 to do that, I'm probably making £85/£90 out of it


I'd love to know where you get your products and materials from so cheaply.
Degreaser, panel cleaners, sanding papers, masking tape, masking paper, filler, primer, tac rag, paint, lacquer, polish, gun cleaners - and all the other bits that I've missed out - all for £10/£15?


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## asasprey (Feb 26, 2008)

squiggs said:


> I'd love to know where you get your products and materials from so cheaply.
> Degreaser, panel cleaners, sanding papers, masking tape, masking paper, filler, primer, tac rag, paint, lacquer, polish, gun cleaners - and all the other bits that I've missed out - all for £10/£15?


I've never really worked it out to be fair mate. I use maxmeyer 0300 clear which I pay £100 for 7.5 ltrs. Standox paint. Upol panel wipe. Cheap gunwash. Indasa masking tape. I don't use tac tags unless it's a big job. G3 polish. Cheap filler and indasa 1k primer.

Never added it all up but I use everything very sparingly. 
That said, I have just got a job at a dealership doing smart repairs. I haven't been self employed that long so haven't been able to work out expenditures as yet but I can't see it being more than £20.

If anything, what you have said has highlighted just how little the chips away guy must be making. Maybe I don't / didn't charge enough. It is hard to compete when some places here will charge £100 for a bumper respray


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

In every trade there's always somebody that will do something cheaper - it doesn't mean to say you have to have a price war with them.
If that were the case a Bentley would be the same price as a Dacia


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

asasprey said:


> I've never really worked it out to be fair mate .... I haven't been self employed that long so haven't been able to work out expenditures as yet ..........
> 
> (


I think you're mobile aren't you ..... in which case there's also fuel, road tax, insurance, mot, servicing and depreciation on your van.
Public liability insurance, NI, income tax, VAT (if you're registered) tools and equipment insurance and tools and equipment depreciation/replacement.

All of this has to be paid to run your business and as such a percentage from every job has to go towards these costs. Then, and only then, can you say what you make. :thumb:


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## asasprey (Feb 26, 2008)

Very true mate. I was mobile yes. I seemed to be making good money but hadn't been doing it that long to work it out. Maybe Il go back sel employed of I get fed up of this new place. If so, il try and find out if I'm charging too little  in


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## A1luke (Jan 4, 2015)

After getting a smart repair guy to come and sort my bumper out whilst at work (my partner paid him after a quick look) the sun wasn't shining on the car so it was hidden but when the sun came out, it showed how badly the job was done. I phoned him and asked him to return to sort it, granted he came back within 20 minutes and attempted to repair it (polishing I think). After a lot of apologizing he handed back to money and went on his way. leaving me with this when I returned home.

I do feel sorry for the guy as he was really apologetic. he worked for a company called "scuff-Fix" Where do I stand at the moment with this as he left me a voicemail apologizing and recommending I take it to a body shop. Do I phone scuff-fix and get them to pay for a full respray of the bumper? It looks alright but its NOT perfect which I wanted. I dont want to get the guy in trouble but it needs sorting and im not up for paying a body shop to sort it...

In some places the paint looks worn out with no shine then in others it looks too thick and has ran


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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

Yeah, that's quite grim 

I don't know what I'd do...

How much was you going to pay him?

At least he had the decency to come back and hand the dough over.

I guess you could try polishing it up in a few days and see how it goes.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Could try a machine polish with something with minimal cut before you go any further. Let's be bones it's not perfect BUT you get your cash back and it looks better than it did so at least buys you time to work out what you want to do


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

He has given you a refund, so I don't think it is fair to force him to then pay for a bumper respray. You have to take into account the money you paid was for a small smart repair and not a full bumper respray. 

Has he really left you in a worse position than before? You had a few chunks out of your bumper before, now you've got paintwork that still needs done. It seems like a six or half a dozen situation to me.

Just move on and pay someone better to do the job.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

quick flat with some 2000 and a machine polish. could only give it a try.

a smart repair will never be perfect, if you wanted perfect, you should have done a body shop in the first place and paid £200-300

you are now in a tricky position, all the best sorting it


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## A1luke (Jan 4, 2015)

When he came back he admitted he did a bad job, think he tried to use a machine polisher to get it looking better but gave up, thats when he gave the money back. It may also look worse as the rest of the car has bee SRP then sealed with topaz.. Ill try doing that this weekend..


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

A Smart repair could be perfect - if carried out by the right person.
You get good and bad in profession - carpet cleaners, hairdressers, bodyshop guys and smart repairers!
My betting is a cheap lacquer has been used (possibly even 1K which unless used to the rules 100% won't give the best results)

Out of interest how long did the job take?

But the guy hasn't made things worse and he hasn't charged you. 
It's time to move on - either find a Smart repairer that can do a job properly or take it to a body shop that can do a job properly.


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## PootleFlump (Jan 1, 2006)

Nice guy giving a refund, what did I say earlier about finding a bodyshop, I still stand by that.


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