New Car - 1st Trip Out, Small Dink... How Extreme a Fix?
Discussion
How extreme a fix would you do?
Car is spotless... parked up a petrol station, see car in distance park up dangerously close to mine... see them open back door and it 'gently' hits my passenger rear door. They leave. I come out to see a tiny 7mm ish scratch - no dent / but mark deep enough that a polish won't do it.
If the car weren't new and on its first trip out, I'd still be bothered - but those factors add a little salt to the wound. Told my dealer and they've said that there are 3rd party cosmetic repair insurance options at a cost of £500 ish for three years (which I refused at the time). Sounds great but... you don't know who you're getting, repair wise... they might paint the whole damn door for a 7mm mark (which I don't fancy and I've heard of it being done)... and in some cases, you have to tell your main insurer, I am told (even though I fail to see it's any of their business).
My gut says... get a colour coded touch up stick and get on with life. It won't be perfect, but at a glance it'll be ok. My car mad brother in law agrees. But... what say you?
Car is spotless... parked up a petrol station, see car in distance park up dangerously close to mine... see them open back door and it 'gently' hits my passenger rear door. They leave. I come out to see a tiny 7mm ish scratch - no dent / but mark deep enough that a polish won't do it.
If the car weren't new and on its first trip out, I'd still be bothered - but those factors add a little salt to the wound. Told my dealer and they've said that there are 3rd party cosmetic repair insurance options at a cost of £500 ish for three years (which I refused at the time). Sounds great but... you don't know who you're getting, repair wise... they might paint the whole damn door for a 7mm mark (which I don't fancy and I've heard of it being done)... and in some cases, you have to tell your main insurer, I am told (even though I fail to see it's any of their business).
My gut says... get a colour coded touch up stick and get on with life. It won't be perfect, but at a glance it'll be ok. My car mad brother in law agrees. But... what say you?
Probably not what you want to hear, but I wouldn't do the whole touch-up pen thing yourself - they largely make matters worse / more obvious unless you follow a set of steps (and skills) akin to a smart repair.
I'd either leave it, accept it and move on, or go through a body shop for a proper job.
Sorry though. Bit of a kicker given the circumstances.
I'd either leave it, accept it and move on, or go through a body shop for a proper job.
Sorry though. Bit of a kicker given the circumstances.
A body shop with someone really good would be able to fix that without doing the whole door to a standard no one would ever know. I used to know a bloke that could do it but have lost touch over time. When he was doing work to help out a mate with a body shop when he was really busy i used to love seeing his before and after results, he was as good as it gets.
wc98 said:
A body shop with someone really good would be able to fix that without doing the whole door to a standard no one would ever know. I used to know a bloke that could do it but have lost touch over time. When he was doing work to help out a mate with a body shop when he was really busy i used to love seeing his before and after results, he was as good as it gets.
Where was he based if you don't mind me asking?If you can't find anyone local to you, have a look at these videos from a company called CVR they show some of the techniques that pros use to repair this sort of thing without respraying the whole panel.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cvr+p...
Not sure I'd try it on a brand new car but...
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cvr+p...
Not sure I'd try it on a brand new car but...
Rumblestripe said:
If you can't find anyone local to you, have a look at these videos from a company called CVR they show some of the techniques that pros use to repair this sort of thing without respraying the whole panel.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cvr+p...
Not sure I'd try it on a brand new car but...
Many thanks.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cvr+p...
Not sure I'd try it on a brand new car but...
I’ve fixed similar a few times using paint pots coded to the actual colour and clearcoat. You can get kits with paint, clearcoat, applicators and fine wet and dry sandpaper.
Fill in layers and sand back down very lightly. Then polish and finally wax.
I had better results on silver than metallic blue but all have been a great improvement.
Fill in layers and sand back down very lightly. Then polish and finally wax.
I had better results on silver than metallic blue but all have been a great improvement.
That really sucks 
When my brand new Discovery 3 was a month old, someone keyed every panel really deeply from edge to edge.
Stopped me worrying about it and even helped with being a bit less cautious when off road.
Became a talking point at petrol stops..
Cost me dear when I sold it at 3 years old.
You have my sympathy, people are s
ts.
When my brand new Discovery 3 was a month old, someone keyed every panel really deeply from edge to edge.
Stopped me worrying about it and even helped with being a bit less cautious when off road.
Became a talking point at petrol stops..
Cost me dear when I sold it at 3 years old.
You have my sympathy, people are s
ts. croyde said:
That really sucks
When my brand new Discovery 3 was a month old, someone keyed every panel really deeply from edge to edge.
Stopped me worrying about it and even helped with being a bit less cautious when off road.
Became a talking point at petrol stops..
Cost me dear when I sold it at 3 years old.
You have my sympathy, people are sts.
That's awful. You have to be a real lowlife to key a car like that. Sorry to hear... and yes people are!When my brand new Discovery 3 was a month old, someone keyed every panel really deeply from edge to edge.
Stopped me worrying about it and even helped with being a bit less cautious when off road.
Became a talking point at petrol stops..
Cost me dear when I sold it at 3 years old.
You have my sympathy, people are s
ts. I've fixed similar with touch up paint. Had a 5mm diameter chunk taken out of my old TVR's bonnet when a piece of tile landed on it. Filled it in then sanded back down, polished, nobody noticed it. This was before YT so I didn't have any reference bar guessing what touch up paint was for.
Another thing to consider, even if you can only just paint over it without finishing it nicely, wouldn't that protect the metal that might be coming through?
Another thing to consider, even if you can only just paint over it without finishing it nicely, wouldn't that protect the metal that might be coming through?
Edited by Hoofy on Wednesday 25th March 21:22
Hoofy said:
I've fixed similar with touch up paint. Had a 5mm diameter chunk taken out of my old TVR's bonnet when a piece of tile landed on it. Filled it in then sanded back down, polished, nobody noticed it. This was before YT so I didn't have any reference bar guessing what touch up paint was for.
Another thing to consider, even if you can only just paint over it without finishing it nicely, wouldn't that protect the metal that might be coming through?
My inclination is to do as best a job as I can using some touch up... because, I could get it all done professionally and then have the same thing happen the next day. I'd rather a quick fix and move on as you've described - but there's a little voice saying 'new car, get it done professionally'. And yes... I think a little dab of paint for now, short term might be a good call.Another thing to consider, even if you can only just paint over it without finishing it nicely, wouldn't that protect the metal that might be coming through?
Edited by Hoofy on Wednesday 25th March 21:22
Very annoying. The good news is that there doesn't appear to be any sort of dent.
If you were of a mind to have a go there are tons of chip repair YouTube vids on the subject. Plus you are armed with the knowledge for the future.
Otherwise you'd need to find a pro who would do the same localised repair.
Or you could leave it. I'm usually fuming for a couple of days after this sort of thing, buy the touch up paint, and then I get over it and leave it.
If you were of a mind to have a go there are tons of chip repair YouTube vids on the subject. Plus you are armed with the knowledge for the future.
Otherwise you'd need to find a pro who would do the same localised repair.
Or you could leave it. I'm usually fuming for a couple of days after this sort of thing, buy the touch up paint, and then I get over it and leave it.
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