chipped 993 wing mirror last night = smart repair london?

[erics]

Gents, i chipped the mirror of my midnight blue 993 c2s last night, thinking smart repair..

Any advice for or against?

Am london based.

Ty in advance.

[lordlee]

I'd take it to a good body shop and get it done properly if I were you. I always feel a body shop job will last longer. Plus the SMART repairers seem to vary vastly in quality.

[erics]

so chips away not recommended for a chip on wing mirror?

[kds keltec]

Smart repairs used to be advertised

for repairs below eye line , ie low down bumper scuffs and scrapes

this was for a very good reason they were best done away from eye line of sight

a Mirror is very much in the line of sight

as said quality varys a lot too.

kelly

[Squiggs]

A mirror casing isn't exactly the most difficult of things to spray - in fact when I did my Smart training some years ago it was one of the first things we did, presumably cos they're easy.

[Squiggs]

lordlee said:

I'd take it to a good body shop and get it done properly if I were you. I always feel a body shop job will last longer. Plus the SMART repairers seem to vary vastly in quality.

If you're trying to imply that any work from any bodyshop will be of the same (high) quality - then I'm afraid you are wrong. There are good and bad in any trade - bodyshops and Smart repairers included.

[kds keltec]

Squiggs said:

If you're trying to imply that any work from any bodyshop will be of the same (high) quality - then I'm afraid you are wrong. There are good and bad in any trade - bodyshops and Smart repairers included.

Nail on the head.


What i have witnessed myself is when my father sold on the bodyshop side of his business with all the customers equipment etc and even 2 of the staff ,but the new owners did not have the same outlook on standards and work.

Went down hill very quickly with staff leaving and left with just the 2 guys who bought the business , both from dealership bodyshops back ground.

After a few years they packed in with a big debt to pay.

They are now smart repairing for a living and make a good living too.

i think on the whole the trades are different offering different services , where the problem lies is that many a good bodyshop will do an average smart repair without the customer knowing.

there are some smart repairers out there that will go the extra mile to do the very best they can.

The ones i know (which is a tiny amount) are very poor with regards to quality

kelly

[Kidders]

A good mobile repairer will have no issues sorting out a complete wing mirror! To imply that 'SMART' repair is inferior is derogatory to the ones that do go that extra mile to make sure their work is of an excellent standard.

For example, this repair was done keeping the repair small yet matching the OEM finish





And it was 1/3rd the price of a bodyshop repair. Thats what I aim to do, save people money, match the standard of a good bodyshop, and improve the reputation of the industry. Yes there are cowboys and its already been pointed out, that they exist in bodyshops too.

Unfortunatly I dont know of anyone in that area I can recommend. My advise would be to lean towards using a local independent company after doing some research for previous work and recommendations.

[Kidders]

kds keltec said:

Smart repairs used to be advertised

for repairs below eye line , ie low down bumper scuffs and scrapes

Times have changed.

[kds keltec]

Kidders said:

Times have changed.

I do know this , but i have NEVER seen a decent smart repair .

Of course i will only the poor jobs as they will be in for us to put right if by machine polishing or by re-painting.

If the smart repair on a customers car is done well then more likely we wont ever get to view it.

But can you tell me that EVER smart repair guys does not use 1k paint ,spray out thinners, properly bakes the paint with correct heaters etc.

I know of a smart repair guy that when he views a scratch on a customers car and can see its going to machine polish out , will do so and if the customer is not around pretend his has repainted it and charge for such.

He got caught short one day and quickly misted water over the panel pretending its the first lacquer coat , this came from the smart repairs mouth.

Of course all of the above can and i am sure goes on within body shops too , as said its done to and person or company doing the job.

So yes times have moved on but not ALL body shops and smart repair guys have .

seen work from Roll Royce approved body shop and the rear quarter panel had blend line from join in top coat, so really is not still a smart repair , as it is in my eyes

when a smart repair is poor is almost everytime needs completely re-painting , when a body shop gets it wrong a lot of the time it can be dealt with by detailing methods to improve the finish.

It just my opinion and what i have seen in the industry



Kelly

[kds keltec]

I may add to this , that no one would know.

The OP is a customer of KDS , and to date i dont mind saying one of the most demanding particular customers i have dealt with.

He will never be happy unless he has had a sudden change in his standards or this car is him really average run around, and i bet even then he will be super fussy.

smart repairs are not for the fussiest people really.

also one of my staff who i trained while work for my father 15 years ago is one who left and spent time in many body shops until he started work for me.

He seen smart repair in the extreme and knows what goes on.

we have spoken at length about having a KDS smart repair service as i get enough enquires for it, andwe have the van, equipment,scheme, and correct smart repair guys who wish to move onto a new company and boss, but so far have chose not to.

kelly

[Kidders]

No I don't use 1k, not even for sensors. All my jobs are cured with shortwave infra red for 15 minutes after clearcoat. I do everything by the book and it shows by the end result. I don't use the term smart repair for any of my work for the reasons you have mentioned, it has a bad rep in the trade. I can't change that on my own, but as the owner of my own business I can strive to improve it and earn a decent living.

If you were closer I'd do you a demo job. If you've not seen a good repair job, maybe you've not looked hard enough. I see sub standard come out of approved bodyshops , the end consumer won't know the difference but I do. If your not a perfectionist in this trade, there is no point doing it at all.

[lordlee]

Squiggs said:

If you're trying to imply that any work from any bodyshop will be of the same (high) quality - then I'm afraid you are wrong. There are good and bad in any trade - bodyshops and Smart repairers included.

I know what you mean which is why I said a good body shop. Most people will do their homework on a body shop before putting their p&j in for work.

[erics]

Well, gents and Kelly in particular, thanks very much for the contributions!

I danced with the devil today and after giving the chipsaway guy a good brain wash, i let him loose on my mirror..

I thought about it as an experiment. The cost was cheap enough to do it again in a bodyshop if needed.

He stripped it off from all the paint. The whole thing took a couple of hours.

I watched him and he was meticulous explaining me not to leave the heater too close to a plastic mirror.

The end result looks fine. I will take it in bright white light at the weekend and report.

Kelly, you may want to get ready to book me in

[smart repairer]

Hi mate just out of interest what did chips away charge for doing a mirror?

Also for anyone else reading this thread smart is fine if you use a decent company and make sure u get a guarantee! yes quality can vary though because anyone can do a 2 week course and set themselves up! ive got 16 years bodyshop experience, thats the difference.

[7even]

kds keltec said:

I do know this , but i have NEVER seen a decent smart repair .

Kelly

You probably have.... you've just not noticed them

It is like any trade youll get good and bad, I bet you even get good and bad detailers
but I certainly wouldn't dis the industry as a whole because of the minority.

Anyway, glad the op got it sorted for very little cash.

[Kidders]

smart repairer said:

Also for anyone else reading this thread smart is fine if you use a decent company and make sure u get a guarantee! yes quality can vary though because anyone can do a 2 week course and set themselves up! ive got 16 years bodyshop experience, thats the difference.

I agree that you cannot do two weeks training and then go out on the road, it takes years to be good. I'm training up someone at the moment, he won't be let loose on any customers cars without my guidance until at least 6 months shadowing me and I'm confident in his abilities.

[7even]

+1

Im 15 yrs in and still learning.

6 months should be about right for a starting point to be let loose on joe public.

[Vette]

I perform SMART repairs, but from a fixed site with a spraybooth and every bodyshop piece of equipment you would want. There is no difference in the processes I use whether it's outdoors or inside - they are identical. It's the size of the repair that makes it SMART. If anyone is using 1K lacquers nowadays, they should be ashamed of themselves.

Products and techniques have moved on and I would put my repairs up against any conventional bodyshop. As other posters have pointed out, you can't trash a whole industry sector because of a minority who don't care about quality. You have probably seen more SMART repairs which have remained undetected than you realise. We have a forum dedicated to SMART and it's clear from the postings that our members are passionate about quality and raising the profile of SMART. A large number of conventional bodyshops have adopted SMART for small repairs and I also do insurance work using SMART.

I plan to get back to mobile repairs in the future and have no qualms about achieving quality repairs outdoors - in fact, I'm looking forward to it!

Cheers
David

[mneame]

kds keltec said:

What i have witnessed myself is when my father sold on the bodyshop side of his business with all the customers equipment etc and even 2 of the staff ,but the new owners did not have the same outlook on standards and work.

Sorry for going off topic slightly, wasn't in South Woodham was it?