# m8s scratched volvo c30 after advice



## tomtech (Mar 12, 2013)

always receive top advice here , m8 is in bits over his new Volvo c30 its a r design ... he was pulling of drive in rush and caught wall on way out. No dent or anything just scratched under side of trim. Would this be ok as a smart repair or is it trip to bodyshop. Im thinking maybe smart as its underside of trim but i dont know much about these things and currently learning from people here , if not smart im guessing they will have to do whole of trim maybe more for blend ?

Definitely gone through all coats to plastic , car is silver as can see in pics ... would welcome advice


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

Easy Smart repair mate, couple if hours and around £100 should sort that.


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

^^ What he said ^^


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## tomtech (Mar 12, 2013)

excellent ill let him know tomorrow thanks guy , im sure he will be very pleased to hear that he will be able to smart repair


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## rf860 (Jul 24, 2011)

100 quid would probably get that entire side skirt repainted rather than a smart repair.


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## CD Cornwall (Aug 12, 2010)

rf860 said:


> 100 quid would probably get that entire side skirt repainted rather than a smart repair.


True, but he would lose his car for 3 days....

Cheers
David


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

Slightly off-topic, what are the wheels and what is the colour.


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## tomtech (Mar 12, 2013)

im not sure but will ask 

m8 has no clue , just tells me there standard silver ... i think its the way the flash has caught them


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## gttjames (Jul 23, 2009)

That is standard wheel colour, it is how the light is reflecting in picture.

I work at Volvo and when you order panels/bumpers you can have them ordered and painted at factory. So worth checking how much a replacement skirt is as a option


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

Thanks James, I don't think it will be worth while to get a new skirt, I mean part and painting (assuming there is two ways to buy this, painted and unpainted) would probably work out more expensive than having it resprayed by a body shop.


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## gttjames (Jul 23, 2009)

Yer cheapest option will probably be paint the skirt. But its worth checking - to paint at factory doesnt even cost more usually (stange i know) but that way colour match and good finish. Say a panel from volvo £200, re paint from bodyshop £150 - just a option for your mate anyway:thumb:


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## robdcfc (Sep 17, 2012)

gttjames said:


> Yer cheapest option will probably be paint the skirt. But its worth checking - to paint at factory doesnt even cost more usually (stange i know) but that way colour match and good finish. Say a panel from volvo £200, re paint from bodyshop £150 - just a option for your mate anyway:thumb:


What makes you say the colour match will be better from a factory panel?

We replace bumpers on fords all the time they come painted and we end up redoing them!!


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## tomtech (Mar 12, 2013)

again thanks for all the top advice for m8  will be passing all this info on to him later so he can make a decision. He was originally looking at at smart repair but im sure he will also consider ordering part from volvo pre painted depending on cost etc. Ill post back outcome weekend thanks 



gttjames said:


> That is standard wheel colour, it is how the light is reflecting in picture.
> 
> I work at Volvo and when you order panels/bumpers you can have them ordered and painted at factory. So worth checking how much a replacement skirt is as a option


I was looking to have my front / back bumper done over next month or so as i seem to have quite a few chips etc. Can i order these factory painted parts from local volvo dealer ?


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

gttjames said:


> Yer cheapest option will probably be paint the skirt. But its worth checking - to paint at factory doesnt even cost more usually (stange i know) but that way colour match and good finish. Say a panel from volvo £200, re paint from bodyshop £150 - just a option for your mate anyway:thumb:


Getting a freshly painted factory panel (or a secondhand panel in apparently the right colour) won't guarantee a colour match .....
Would it have been painted in the same factory as the car was? And would the same batch of paint of been used ???? Very doubtful ....
And that's why good sprayers have access to all the mixes of all the alternative shades of any one particular colour.

To explain further .... 
Ford Moondust silver - a very popular colour that's been used for years and used so much, and in so many factories, that when they run out in a particular factory that factory simply gets a new batch in - and it will probably be slightly off from the original batch (an alternative). An extreme case granted - but there are 30 different alternatives of this one colour (although there is a 'top five' and usually one of those will do). 
So the chance of ordering a pre-painted Ford part in moondust silver and it matching the exact colour of the part to be replaced is going to be slim to say the least.

This Volvo colour may only have two alternatives - but will it turn up in the correct one ..?.. It's going to be 50/50 - and if it doesn't and shows up as a bad mismatch then it's going to require re-spraying.


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## tomtech (Mar 12, 2013)

thanks for the advice squiggs , I was thinking given that my car isent to old that the colour metallic black might / shouldent be to hard to match and they would probably get a better consistancy / even cover in in the metallic however after thinking about it more and reading over what you said i think i would better with bodyshop for mine and the smart route via bodyshop for mates 

I just need to find a good bodyshop in birmingham / west bromwich area , as i wont be taking it to previous bodyshop again.


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## gttjames (Jul 23, 2009)

wow wow wow, was only suggesting.

Most parts iv had supplied and fitted have looked a good match, i think they have a good chance of getting a decent match. No i wont gaurentee this on a public forum, and finish/orange peel will be similar. (the cars im prepping from volvo paint wise is pretty good, but they have alot of peel!) Then usually the valeters do their bit in getting them swirled up

Yes i totaly agree there are probably bodyshops out there that would paint it better etc but all i offered was a suggestion - if he was struggling to find somewhere to get it done etc there is a option of replacement part


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## gttjames (Jul 23, 2009)

tomtech said:


> I just need to find a good bodyshop in birmingham / west bromwich area , as i wont be taking it to previous bodyshop again.


exactly - sometimes good bodyshops are hard to find - hence my option given might be easier/not much more £

hope you get it sorted either way and isnt to much on the wallet:thumb:


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## gttjames (Jul 23, 2009)

squiggs said:


> Getting a freshly painted factory panel (or a secondhand panel in apparently the right colour) won't guarantee a colour match .....
> Would it have been painted in the same factory as the car was? And would the same batch of paint of been used ???? Very doubtful ....
> And that's why good sprayers have access to all the mixes of all the alternative shades of any one particular colour.
> 
> ...


if it came as a different colour then they would return and get the correct option?


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## Focusaddict (May 31, 2010)

gttjames said:


> wow wow wow, was only suggesting.
> 
> Most parts iv had supplied and fitted have looked a good match, i think they have a good chance of getting a decent match. No i wont gaurentee this on a public forum, and finish/orange peel will be similar. (the cars im prepping from volvo paint wise is pretty good, but they have alot of peel!) Then usually the valeters do their bit in getting them swirled up
> 
> Yes i totaly agree there are probably bodyshops out there that would paint it better etc but all i offered was a suggestion - if he was struggling to find somewhere to get it done etc there is a option of replacement part


Nobody is having a go at you, certainly not me. :thumb:


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## squiggs (Oct 19, 2009)

gttjames said:


> if it came as a different colour then they would return and get the correct option?


It's not quite that simple I'm afraid .......
Going back to the Ford moondust silver ...... In their 'parts rack' Ford won't have 30 bumpers each one in a different alternative, they won't even have 5 in the 'top 5' alternatives. They'll have one bumper in the colour they are currently using.

So a new part may not be available in the correct alternative - which is what robdcrc was hinting at - otherwise he'd be returning parts and getting them re-sent in the correct alternative rather than spending the time, effort and expense of respraying them in the correct alternative.
And if he were to return the part and it wasn't available in the correct alternative I honestly doubt that the parts dept would respray it in the correct alternative FOC - otherwise he'd be doing that.

In short you can order a part in a colour but not in an alternative. So whether it will be of exactly the same colour depends on how far out (or close) the batch of paint that the parts are currently being supplied in is. (And how fussy you are  )

NB. In the cases of many colours there may only be one alternative - either the different batches of factory paint were spot on or the difference in them so small it simply doesn't show.


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