To respray or not to respray?
Discussion
I'm seeking a bit of advice from any of you who have had a scraped wing etc. and what choice you made to make good the repair. Here's a copy of the origin of this story:
[i]kenny chim 4 Saturday 18th December 2004 [/i]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[small]Two weeks ago I went out to the work car park for a smoke and noticed a foot long scrape and 3-4 inches of paint (down to the GRP) removed from off side front wing.
Blood runs cold.. was it me? It must've been or the alarm would've triggered.. Angry, I return to the office.
10 minutes later a guy who works at the nearby car bodyshop knocks on the door. He says "you man who drive TVR?" (he's Indian) "I saw truck hit your car!". He then opened his hand and there was the truck's reg number written on his palm.
I then spoke to his boss and found that this flatbed truck was delivering a vehicle to the bodyshop. Within an hour, I had the make, reg and colour of the delivered car; the address and phone number of the flatbed's owner and the delivery document reference showing time of delivery etc.
I called my insurance company (Pearts) for advice and it turns out that I have free legal aid. I duly call the appointed lawyer and he has written to the offender's company- which is better than me just bowling in, which I initially was going to do.
Ok, if they admit liability (doubtful despite the evidence- and ultimately it's one man's word against another's), I'll get the wing re-sprayed. If not, and I claim, I lose nearly 7 years No Claims Bonus and face a £500 excess.
And there lies the dilema.
I guess I should get a quote and then decide...
Still don't know why the Toad alarm didn't go off. A passing train is usually enough! [/small]
I got a quote from TVR Barnet for about £1k and, cutting a long story short, my appointed solicitor sued the other party and I have received a payment of £1'300:).
I spent last Friday taking the car to a dozen good coachwork/spray shops and asked for quotes for that damage plus repair to a couple of n/s scratches, that were on the car when purchased, and the inevitable wing mirror respray.
Quotes have ranged from £300 (Chipsaway type bloke- his work does look good!) to around £800 for a full n/s & o/s front wing respray- incl mirrors.
The car is late '94 in Ocean Haze (a very light metallic green) and, due to the panel lines on a Chimaera, I would think that a partial respray wouldn't show too much. But am I right?
Don't get me wrong- I'm not wishing to penny pinch here- just thinking that, if a three quarter respray looked bad, I'd have to go for a full respray (£2k), but if locallised repairs were done and stood out, I could move up to the partial spray option.
Anyone been in a similar situation?
ps- sorry for the long post- and, sorry, I don't have a digital camera to show any pics.
[i]kenny chim 4 Saturday 18th December 2004 [/i]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[small]Two weeks ago I went out to the work car park for a smoke and noticed a foot long scrape and 3-4 inches of paint (down to the GRP) removed from off side front wing.
Blood runs cold.. was it me? It must've been or the alarm would've triggered.. Angry, I return to the office.
10 minutes later a guy who works at the nearby car bodyshop knocks on the door. He says "you man who drive TVR?" (he's Indian) "I saw truck hit your car!". He then opened his hand and there was the truck's reg number written on his palm.
I then spoke to his boss and found that this flatbed truck was delivering a vehicle to the bodyshop. Within an hour, I had the make, reg and colour of the delivered car; the address and phone number of the flatbed's owner and the delivery document reference showing time of delivery etc.
I called my insurance company (Pearts) for advice and it turns out that I have free legal aid. I duly call the appointed lawyer and he has written to the offender's company- which is better than me just bowling in, which I initially was going to do.
Ok, if they admit liability (doubtful despite the evidence- and ultimately it's one man's word against another's), I'll get the wing re-sprayed. If not, and I claim, I lose nearly 7 years No Claims Bonus and face a £500 excess.
And there lies the dilema.
I guess I should get a quote and then decide...
Still don't know why the Toad alarm didn't go off. A passing train is usually enough! [/small]
I got a quote from TVR Barnet for about £1k and, cutting a long story short, my appointed solicitor sued the other party and I have received a payment of £1'300:).
I spent last Friday taking the car to a dozen good coachwork/spray shops and asked for quotes for that damage plus repair to a couple of n/s scratches, that were on the car when purchased, and the inevitable wing mirror respray.
Quotes have ranged from £300 (Chipsaway type bloke- his work does look good!) to around £800 for a full n/s & o/s front wing respray- incl mirrors.
The car is late '94 in Ocean Haze (a very light metallic green) and, due to the panel lines on a Chimaera, I would think that a partial respray wouldn't show too much. But am I right?
Don't get me wrong- I'm not wishing to penny pinch here- just thinking that, if a three quarter respray looked bad, I'd have to go for a full respray (£2k), but if locallised repairs were done and stood out, I could move up to the partial spray option.
Anyone been in a similar situation?
ps- sorry for the long post- and, sorry, I don't have a digital camera to show any pics.
Firstly, sounds like Peart did you proud, which is comforting as that who i am with 
.
Secondly, most competant bodyshops who deal with TVR's will do partial re-sprays all the time. It's almost a service item to have a front-end-respray to remove stone chips, so having the damage repaired shouldn't necessitate a full job. I would seek out a company who has a good reputation amongst TVRCC / PistonHead members that is local to you.
. Secondly, most competant bodyshops who deal with TVR's will do partial re-sprays all the time. It's almost a service item to have a front-end-respray to remove stone chips, so having the damage repaired shouldn't necessitate a full job. I would seek out a company who has a good reputation amongst TVRCC / PistonHead members that is local to you.
Gassing Station | General TVR Stuff & Gossip | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff