chips away...any good ?
Discussion
I've used their mobile service twice for small repairs to car-park scrapes to our family runabout.
I consider myself super-fussy, and both times I've been very impressed.
The second one started to bubble very slightly after over a year or so, by which time I was ready to sell and just let it go.
The quality of repair these companies can achieve has made me a lot less paranoid about car-park scrapes - though I still park as far from other cars as possible in cars I care about
I consider myself super-fussy, and both times I've been very impressed.
The second one started to bubble very slightly after over a year or so, by which time I was ready to sell and just let it go.
The quality of repair these companies can achieve has made me a lot less paranoid about car-park scrapes - though I still park as far from other cars as possible in cars I care about
bananaman1 said:
Thanks for the replys.don't know much about car painting, so why would a body shop be a better long term job ? Paint thickness I guess ?
They wouldn't paint a bonnet at the side of the road, at best a touch up. Smart Repairs in which you talk (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) needs to be a small area that is easily blended into the existing paintwork, 99% of bonnets arnt really suitable for smart, sure some more experienced techs can do an invisible blend, But because there is a blend its always going to be more susceptible to tear back in the future.fatboy b said:
All depends if you're keeping the car or not.
If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
What is this based on? If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
I have a franchise myself and the materials are as food if not better than most independent bodyshop use.
It all comes down to how good the repairer is, same as in a bodyshop!
I also have a car care centre with a spray booth so can do things like bonnets, full length vandal scratches etc.
Rob
Don't believe the hype of what can and can't be done by a mobile repairer this guy will prove you wrong!
http://m.facebook.com/Kidmans?id=78046539089&_...
http://m.facebook.com/Kidmans?id=78046539089&_...
7even said:
They wouldn't paint a bonnet at the side of the road, at best a touch up. Smart Repairs in which you talk (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) needs to be a small area that is easily blended into the existing paintwork, 99% of bonnets arnt really suitable for smart, sure some more experienced techs can do an invisible blend, But because there is a blend its always going to be more susceptible to tear back in the future.
What would tear back be then ? :-)A visible edge to the lacquer where it blends onto the rest of the panel, often appearing as a dull or 'rainbow' coloured edge. Particularly noticable on horizontal panels. Often caused by using aggressive polishing compounds on paint that hasn't fully cured which damages the blend area.
I was under the impression that Chipsaway ceased doing chip repairs - as in using a tiny airbrush to apply paint to the chips then removing the overspray with a proprietary chemical just leaving paint in the chip itself - when they switched from solvent based to waterbased paint several years ago?
I was under the impression that Chipsaway ceased doing chip repairs - as in using a tiny airbrush to apply paint to the chips then removing the overspray with a proprietary chemical just leaving paint in the chip itself - when they switched from solvent based to waterbased paint several years ago?
Edited by paintman on Sunday 24th March 11:37
I would say its down to which franchise guy you have. On a grand scenic the guy was fantastic, seemed to really enjoy sorting the dent on a wheel arch and made a fantastic blend. That was Basingstoke.
In the swindon area the repair to my wife's grand Picasso was awful with poor blending and alot of orange peel on surrounding paint areas. Both were done just before the car sale.
The hyundai dealer pointed out when our new i800 (don't laugh) arrived that smart repairs would invalidate the warranty and a proper repair would be only fractionally more, which isn't something I had ever considered before.
I suppose body repair prices only seem expensive for small repairs because they seem to ave a setup cost per job. For a small stone dent on my bonnet it cost the same to do a blended repair in that area as to do the whole bonnet.
Lastly colour and location makes a big difference. Some colours like silver repair really well, black looks alright until you polish it particularly on a higher up panel.
In the swindon area the repair to my wife's grand Picasso was awful with poor blending and alot of orange peel on surrounding paint areas. Both were done just before the car sale.
The hyundai dealer pointed out when our new i800 (don't laugh) arrived that smart repairs would invalidate the warranty and a proper repair would be only fractionally more, which isn't something I had ever considered before.
I suppose body repair prices only seem expensive for small repairs because they seem to ave a setup cost per job. For a small stone dent on my bonnet it cost the same to do a blended repair in that area as to do the whole bonnet.
Lastly colour and location makes a big difference. Some colours like silver repair really well, black looks alright until you polish it particularly on a higher up panel.
robdcfc said:
fatboy b said:
All depends if you're keeping the car or not.
If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
What is this based on? If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
I have a franchise myself and the materials are as food if not better than most independent bodyshop use.
It all comes down to how good the repairer is, same as in a bodyshop!
I also have a car care centre with a spray booth so can do things like bonnets, full length vandal scratches etc.
Rob
steve954 said:
bananaman1 said:
to big an area for chips away u think ?.......body shop reckons a 4 day turn around.
Depends on who is doing it!
I'm a SMART repairer, so yes I know that given a large covered area to work in a competent man in a van can turn up and complete a large job to acceptable standards, and usually in a quicker turn around time than a bodyshop.
But in that pic apart from lamps instead of an oven I'm struggling to see anything that says 'this is a SMART (Small to Medium Area Repair Technology) repair' as opposed to 'this is a bodyshop type repair done on site that may have fallen outside of safety regs'.
Good looking job though.
fatboy b said:
All depends if you're keeping the car or not.
If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
Sorry you're wrong.If you want a tart-up to sell, they're great. Otherwise, go to a body shop and get a decent job.
Whether it's a Smart or bodyshop repair - how good or bad it is will always be down to how good the the repairer is.
There is absolutly no reason why a good smart repair shouldn't last as long as a good bodyshop repair.
Many bodyshops have now trained their guys to also do Smart. So where the repair is suitable a Smart repair may be carried out in a bodyshop by a bodyshop guy.
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