Horror Scratch

[Gnar Lee]

Hi all, I have a bloody awful 2 foot long scratch down drivers side rear quarter because reflex silver makes you invisible and stuff. Getting quotes of 600 quid plus to put it right.... Oh bugger. Are the guys that come out to your house/office worth using or will the repair be lousy? Cheers

 

[Dellmassive]

Is it too deep for cutting compound?

Or t cut?

 

[Buggirl]

Did someone do it deliberately do you think?

 

[Gnar Lee]

It's pretty deep in places so I think I'll struggle to cut and buff it. I'll try some products at the weekend before going down the pro route, didn't think it'd be quite as expensive to be honest.
@Buggirl It was a cyclist that cut across the road and into the side of the van. Luckily they weren't injured but I'm gutted about the van, only had it a few weeks : (

 

[Ed Webb]

@RattyMcClelland may have some advice...

 

[RattyMcClelland]

As a mobile repairer myself I'd be a bit reluctant to do a job that size outside on silver unless perfect weather conditions to minimise dust.
Basically the whole side panel and front door will need painting maybe front wing too to blend in. Silver is one of the hardest colours. Basically everything from the window swage line down to paint.
£600...... depends where you are in the country but I'd want that plus vat at least.

Unfortunately sides of cars/vat and repairs done tend to be cheap.

 

[Roadrunner]

That nasty, I'd be gutted

 

[Gnar Lee]

Thanks for the input Ratty. I thought it might be a tricky job for an outside fix.

I'm trying not looking directly at it when I get in or out of the van, which is helping .. Ignorance is bliss they say

 

[BognorMotors]

Definately a body shop job. As has been pointed out silver is the worst colour to match - You’ll end up having the whole side of your van painted .

 

[Jon]

Stupid statement probably but if you could live with it, how about cutting it back so it is as smooth as possible, then putting something like a light grey decal or somthing contrasting the length of the van ? Just a thought its in the right place for it

 

[CaliStu]

It could be a good excuse to wrap the bottom half a different colour

 

[Gnar Lee]

Cheers Bognormotors

Jon, CaliStu I like your thinking, not considered that.

 

[andys]

I know the pros will shake their heads but in the past I’ve had a couple of nasty scratches, including one on silver, that I’ve managed to tone down a lot by running a touch up brush along the scratch to fill in the ‘trough’. I do it once, twice or even three times, sanding down to 5000 grit and then buffing over to get the shine back. It’s not a repair and it doesn’t make it invisible, but it takes the whiteness away and stops it catching the light so much. Until I could afford to have it done properly it hid it enough not to make depressed every time I got in the car.

 

[Mooncat]

I used ChipsAway to sort out council gritter damage and some very minor scratches and wished I hadn't bothered. For the minor scratches they used a paint brush which really drew attention to the area so I used some panel cleaner to remove it before it had fully cured to get it back to the original condition. The gritter damage to the front bumper was slightly better but you can tell they just do a quick job - heavy grade wet and dry sanding marks can be seen and then didn't even fully fill the groove caused by the rock the gritter launched at the front bumper so I'll be getting it done by a proper body shop in the future.

This branch of ChipsAway actually do the work in a proper industrial unit so you'd think the job would be better than a mobile unit too.

So based on other suggestions above - proper body shop!

 

[RattyMcClelland]

Did you complain?
I'm Chipsaway, sounds like they did a touch up job. Usually a 10-15 minute job.

We're a franchise so sometimes it depends on the franchisee on quality. Some are utter numpties.

 

[Mooncat]

No, didn't complain.....although I am tempted to. Not sure if I was expecting too much for a £140 + VAT job. They did do a rub down, fill and paint of the gritter rock gouge and I'm not sure if the filler has shrunk since it was applied as it didn't look that bad initially. The guy they brought in to pull out a car park door ding did a great job though.

These guys are not painters/bodyshop by trade. One is ex Army, the other ex RAF.

 

[RattyMcClelland]

No, didn't complain.....although I am tempted to. Not sure if I was expecting too much for a £140 + VAT job. They did do a rub down, fill and paint of the gritter rock gouge and I'm not sure if the filler has shrunk since it was applied as it didn't look that bad initially. The guy they brought in to pull out a car park door ding did a great job though.

These guys are not painters/bodyshop by trade. One is ex Army, the other ex RAF.

Get pictures up.
For that price it should be a full invisible repair of a bumper corner and carry the lifetime guarantee.
Chipsaway head office can't do much as its a franchise and soley the responsibility of the business owner but they can push the individual who carried out the repair but a polite message stating your not happy should be enough to get a rework or refund. Failing that a negative review on facebook or trustpilot will push.

 

[3shedz]

I'd get it done professionally. You could do a 3 stage cutting compound , heavy first or even the 3m trizact discs first.
I feel for ya . I'd be gutted

 

[Mooncat]

Get pictures up.
For that price it should be a full invisible repair of a bumper corner and carry the lifetime guarantee.
Chipsaway head office can't do much as its a franchise and soley the responsibility of the business owner but they can push the individual who carried out the repair but a polite message stating your not happy should be enough to get a rework or refund. Failing that a negative review on facebook or trustpilot will push.

This is how it was after the council gritter chucked a rock at the bumper


Both pictures show the repair to the gouge, with the second one showing the sanding marks too. There are other sanding marks but a dirty van and poor light isn't really helping.


To OP, sorry about highjacking the thread but it is somewhat related!

 

[$immo]

This is how it was after the council gritter chucked a rock at the bumper
View attachment 25986

Both pictures show the repair to the gouge, with the second one showing the sanding marks too. There are other sanding marks but a dirty van and poor light isn't really helping.
View attachment 25984 View attachment 25985

To OP, sorry about highjacking the thread but it is somewhat related!

Wow they even sanded down your tyres to and made them super smooth. Top job