Charged for a 20mm scratch

[AspiringAndy]

I was charged for a 20mm scratch on the edge of a boot of an Insignia. The scratch has removed the paint. Can anyone suggest how much this would cost to repair? I have initially been charged €150. Many thanks

Edited by AspiringAndy on Tuesday 23 April 23:11

[Ozone]

Give these guys a call http://www.chipsaway.co.uk/. I think if you send them the picture that will help.

[robdcfc]

The problem is that it belongs to a lease company and they will charge what they want!!

I have a Chipsaway franchise and i would charge around £100 to sort that as a small blow in on the edge.

Rob

[MattOz]

Err, pop to Halfords. Touch up stick for £10. Job done.

[G600]

MattOz said:

Err, pop to Halfords. Touch up stick for £10. Job done.

A bit late now they have the car back.

[Squiggs]

A touch up on that would probably look worse than the scratch.
I can assure you if they spotted that scratch they'd definitely spot something trying to be covered with a touch up stick.

[AspiringAndy]

Thank you.. So while it might cost about £100 to repair it, do you reckon if they repaired a few such scratches all at once before selling the car on, there would be some economy of scale rather than each scratch costing £100?!

[AspiringAndy]

I reckon the problem is the automatic boot open button. Someone (a previous renter) has parked up too close to something and pressed the button in the driver's door for it to open.

It wouldn't happen if you were standing behind the car opening the boot manually as you would stop it with your hand.

No doubt the automatic mechanism will break some day as well.

[Ozone]

AspiringAndy said:

Thank you.. So while it might cost about £100 to repair it, do you reckon if they repaired a few such scratches all at once before selling the car on, there would be some economy of scale rather than each scratch costing £100?!

Having leased a few cars and talking to the guys who collect them at the end of the lease, they go to a depot for inspection, you get sent a bill for the 'damage' (scratches and scuffs etc) and the car goes off to auction without the repairs being done. You effectively pay for the expected loss at auction. This isn't always the case but a fair percentage.

[Squiggs]

AspiringAndy said:

Thank you.. So while it might cost about £100 to repair it, do you reckon if they repaired a few such scratches all at once before selling the car on, there would be some economy of scale rather than each scratch costing £100?!

If we were talking about you getting multiple repairs done on a car then generally the answer would be yes.
One lone repair might cost you £100, but three similar on the same vehicle won't be 3 X £100 it might only be say £200.

But rental/lease companies are out to make money (from you!) and they will charge you top rate for each and every piece of damage - whether they get a discount on multiple repairs or not and whether they actually get it repaired or not - so in your case 1 scratch £150 - 3 similar scratches £450.
And they probably won't ever consider something like 'just a bumper corner needs doing' to save your pocket - you're more likely to be a charged for 'the whole bumper needs doing' (and maybe a blow-in to the wing!).

The fact is with so many companies undercutting each other the profits to made in leasing/renting out the vehicles aren't really that great - however the profit to be made from customers damaging their vehicles is a whole different story.