# Mini Cooper Panel Damage - Recommendations?



## Anatonic (Mar 8, 2010)

Hey guys,

The OH came home today after a long night shift only to tell me that she's grazed a concrete bollard at the hospital trying to get out of the parking spot.

Naturally, she was tired and upset about it! She's sent me some pictures which aren't great, but thought I'd seek your opinion / advice on the best route forward here. The damage looks repairable in my opinion... the scratches look deep but could be rectified with the pot I have from Paints4u from touching up her stone chips - building up the layers, flatting back carefully and polishing up. However, the panel itself looks squashed inwards and the trim looks a bit scuffed. The bonnet edge also has scratches but again, this could be sorted with the paint and some TLC.

There seems to be reasonable space in the engine bay to get tools behind the panel, but I'm wondering if this is too much of a job for a PDR guy, and if I'd be better just getting a new panel and the car into a bodyshop?

Any thoughts? I asked her to get a slightly 'wider angle' of the car but hopefully you can see roughly where it is... it's on the panel between passenger door and bonnet... sort of a front wing so to speak.

Also, I'm based in Wantage, Oxon, so any recommendations greatly appreciated.


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## steve204me (Jul 19, 2013)

Her definition of "grazed" differs from mine. 


Best of luck with it. 



Steve.


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## Anatonic (Mar 8, 2010)

Yeah! I'm waiting to get home and see it in person before the light fades, but you have to love it... like when the washing machine was apparently leaking a little water... only to find a flooded garage!!


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## Sicskate (Oct 3, 2012)

That's a whopping big dent.


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## [email protected] (Aug 31, 2013)

The dent can be done by PDR, but would deffo need painting, looks like gone down to the metal


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

grazed lol ! its like shes used that to soften the blow ! 

next renewal im going to put my write of as a minor bumper scuff lol 

all the best getting it sorted i reckon a decent pdr and a smart repair job done be cheaper than throwing it in bodyshop


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## Anatonic (Mar 8, 2010)

Yeah two of the marks are down to metal, the others aren't as bad and you can't catch a nail on them - it's like a chalky paint off the post.

Found I can get the panel itself for around £100 and then sprayed up and fitted at extra cost. So it's not the end of the world cost wise depending on the quote for getting the dent out... Might be worth just changing the panel and job done...

Cheers guys!


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## Glaschu (Sep 16, 2012)

Anatonic said:


> Yeah two of the marks are down to metal, the others aren't as bad and you can't catch a nail on them - it's like a chalky paint off the post.
> 
> Found I can get the panel itself for around £100 and then sprayed up and fitted at extra cost. So it's not the end of the world cost wise depending on the quote for getting the dent out... Might be worth just changing the panel and job done...
> 
> Cheers guys!


I'd be ringing round some of the specialist MINI breakers and trying to source a secondhand panel in the correct colour, I doubt it would be more that £30 or so....


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## Dift (May 22, 2011)

Glaschu said:


> I'd be ringing round some of the specialist MINI breakers and trying to source a secondhand panel in the correct colour, I doubt it would be more that £30 or so....


This.


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## Natalie (Jan 19, 2011)

craigeh123 said:


> grazed lol ! its like shes used that to soften the blow !


She's doing it wrong, I grazed the OH's bumper once - so I rang him up and made it sound really really bad, then when he saw it it was nowhere near as bad as he was expecting


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

Natalie said:


> She's doing it wrong, I grazed the OH's bumper once - so I rang him up and made it sound really really bad, then when he saw it it was nowhere near as bad as he was expecting


Women never tell blokes the truth - and us blokes kinda know that! :lol:
..... It's just that we never know if the truth is going to be better or worse than what you first tell us


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